Students claim Gaza 'victory' (From Oxford Mail)

Students claim Gaza 'victory'

6:27pm Friday 23rd January 2009

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Student campaigners who occupied a Oxford University building in protest at its perceived stance on Israel claimed ‘victory’ last night, but refused to say if their demands had been met.

About 80 pro-Palestinian demonstrators swarmed the Clarendon Building, in Broad Street, on Thursday and called for the university to agree to five proposals.

They asked it to: l Release a statement condemning Israeli attacks on Gaza and its university l Provide scholarships for five Gazan students l Cease investment in arms business BAE Systems, which supplies Israel l Provide resources to help rebuild Gaza University l And for Balliol College to cancel a lecture series inaugurated by, and named after, Shimon Peres, the president of Israel.

The students had said they were prepared to stay in the building for “days, even weeks”, but the protest ended six hours later following negotiations with university officials.

The university declined to comment last night, but campaign spokesman Juliette Harkin, of St Antony’s College, said the talks had resulted in “victory” for the demonstrators, although she would not confirm if the demands had been met.

She said: “We have reached an agreement with the university, but the exact text of the agreement requires some further work. The spirit of it has been reached and it has been satisfactory.

“We believe that all of the demands have been add-ressed and the exact formulation will be made next week.

“We are satisfied with the outcome and we are definitely claiming a victory in this process and for the movement of solidarity with the people of Palestine.”

Ms Harkin refused to comment on any future protests, adding: “For these specific demands this action has worked very satisfactorily and has got the message across.

“There’s a very big wave of occupations across the UK. I think they are very successful, as proved by the sheer number of students invol-ved.

“We had about 100 participants in the actual occupation and they were from a very broad spectrum of societies and religious opinions.”

Honor Brabazon, of University College, said: “This wave of actions will contribute to raising awareness and mobilisation in solidarity with Palestine.”

tairs@oxfordmail.co.uk

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