Dozens of tents of people are scattered across the lawn of Pitt Rivers Museum in protest of Oxford University's stance on the war in Gaza. 

Students in the Oxford Action for Palestine group have been fighting to get the university to meet demands including ceasing financial support for Israel, and supporting Palestinian-led rebuilding of education in Gaza.  

Oxford University students have joined those at universities such as Cambridge, Sheffield, Manchester and Newcastle to protest what they called government and institutional "complicity" in the ongoing war. 

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After launching in the rain with around 70 camping students, the Oxford Encampment for Palestine held a vigil on Monday evening (May 6) before hundreds more students passed through on Tuesday. 

Medical student Anna Serafeimidou was one of hundreds on site. 

"The stories we're hearing about online and also from Oxford healthcare workers, (have made me) very grateful for the fact that I have a university that I'm attending and can study medicine at, given that there are no universities in Gaza anymore," Ms Serafeimidou said. 

"Our governments have been complicit in this, they have been funding and arming Israel. 

"Institutions have also been complicit in this not only in their investments in Israeli business and companies but also in their lack of calling this what it is - which is a genocide."

Oxford Mail: Students covered the space with signs of support for Palestine.Students covered the space with signs of support for Palestine. (Image: Lucy Williams)

Ms Serafeimidou said the camp had so far been quite positive with students bringing home cooked meals and baked items to feed their friends, as well as wooden panels for the muddy grass. 

The medical student called on her university to, "at the very least", change the wording it used to refer to the situation instead of "approaching this as an issue where there are two equally-capable sides". 

Another student who did not wish to be named said this was an "escalation" of their advocacy after months of talks with the university. 

"We have no more patience for their inaction," the student said. 

They said Oxford was "so seeped in colonialism" and said students inherited that legacy.

"The onus is on us to fight that," he said. 

The student said they would be camped out until changes are made, and said they wanted the camp to turn attention back to the situation in Gaza. 

The University, which also owns the Pitt Rivers Museum, has issued the a statement about the protests. 

"We are aware of the ongoing demonstration by members of our university community," it reads. 

"We respect our students and staff members right to freedom of expression in the form of peaceful protests.

"We ask everyone who is taking part to do so with respect, courtesy, and empathy.

"Oxford University’s primary focus is the health and safety of the university community, and to ensure any impact on work, research, and learning, including student exams, is minimised."

The statement stressed there was "no place for intolerance" at the university, and said The Museum of Natural History and the Pitt Rivers Museum remained open.

Separately, hundreds of individual members of staff from the university have signed a petition in support of the encampment, with an open letter calling the present situation in Gaza "catastrophic".