The protest at KCL in London on the day of action for Palestine
Hundreds of workers and students joined the national day of action for Palestine on Thursday.
They were demanding an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza and annexation of the West Bank and escalating state repression in Britain.
The day of action was called by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Stop The War and others.
At King’s College London (KCL), the UCU branch organised a rally to demand the reinstatement of Usama Ghanem. Usama, who was suspended for Palestine activism, faces deportation to Egypt where he could be imprisoned and tortured.
They are also demanding full divestment of KCL’s endowment fund in companies on the United Nations blacklist for doing business in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Usama could not attend the rally, but he sent a message thanking activists for their support.
“At a time when liberties are being restricted across so many spaces, universities should be among the few remaining places that defend free thought,” he said.
“Instead of defending those ideals, KCL has sided with oppression. It has bowed to the influence of a Zionist lobby that advocates on behalf of one of the most violent regimes our time has seen.”
Usama’s case is part of a broader crackdown. Over 20 KCL students have faced disciplinary procedures linked to Palestine activism, while far right and Zionist groups have repeatedly targeted demonstrators on campus.
A KCL student told Socialist Worker, “We know that this university is complicit in genocide and oppression, which is why it’s even more important for us to walkout.
“We know of specific professors who’ve been doxxed and attacked by Zionist organisations. They’re putting pressure on students who show up to these events, which is why you see so many people masked up.”
The KCL UCU vice chair told that rally, “We’re here today to show management that we’re not going to stand for the continued and worsening complicity in genocide.”
“We are looking to ballot in the coming year to build collective action. There is the potential for a strike on Palestine and for democracy and reform to governance in this institution.”
Anne spoke on behalf of the University and College workers for Palestine. She told the crowd that campaigners had already raised over £17,000 in under two weeks to support legal action connected to Usama’s case.
She said that the collective resistance shown by students and workers at KCL “is the only way to defeat this kind of crackdown”.
At the nearby University College London (UCL) university, similar tactics of repression were on full display.
Police arrested a student speaking at a rally organised by the UCL Action for Palestine coalition. Around 45 police officers and four police vans arrived on the scene to take him into police custody.
One Palestine activist told Socialist Worker, “I’ve attended many protests before in solidarity with Palestine and that’s the most police I’ve ever seen on campus.”
At the University of Bristol, Unison union members are striking this week. They held a rally drawing links between university bosses pushing cuts and accepting money from arms companies that support the genocide.
UCU union members at York university wore keffiyehs, badges and Palestinian colours.
The repression of the Palestine movement shows that the British state and institutions complicit in genocide are trying to silence activists.
Students and workers are right to keep speaking up for Palestine.
And the trade union movement as a whole has to mobilise against state repression—it is a threat to all of us.
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