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A swathe of universities are witnessing a surge in student-led protests demanding the institutions scrap investments and research partnerships with arms firms allegedly implicated in the Israel-Gaza war.
On 14 May, LSE students occupied the Marshall Building, setting up an encampment that organisers say hosted 150 participants initially.
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Occupations and Sit-Ins Mark Protests
The action is part of a broader wave of student occupations that took off in the US and is now spreading far beyond.
Representatives from the encampment say they’ve already met with LSE senior management to discuss their demands.
On the same day in Yorkshire, students began a 12-hour sit-in at the Diamond, one of the University of Sheffield’s main engineering buildings. The protest marked Nakba Day, the 76th anniversary of the displacement of Palestinians in 1948 which saw the establishment of the state of Israel.
The sit-in aimed to draw attention to the university’s alleged complicity in ongoing human rights violations, again calling for divestment from arms companies and a shift towards research for non-military purposes.
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LSE Students and Staff Demand Divestment
Both protests come alongside digging into the universities’ investment portfolios, and research work with arms firms. At the London School of Economics (LSE), students and staff presented a damning report titled Assets in Apartheid, hitting out at the LSE’s alleged “complicity in the genocide of the Palestinian people” to university management.
Compiled by the LSE Student Union Palestine Society, the report highlights the institution’s £89 million investment in 137 companies involved in alleged “egregious” activities, including weapons manufacturers who provide arms to Israel. The report also alleges that over £1.6m is invested in four businesses listed by the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights as involved in illegal settlement activities.
The report calls for LSE to divest from these companies and “democratise” the governance of its investment portfolio.
At a press conference earlier this week, Andrew Feinstein, a former member of the African National Congress, brought up parallels between the movement and the historic support for Nelson Mandela’s fight against apartheid. Speakers from War on Want and Campaign Against Arms Trade have also lent their support to an occupation at the London campus.
An LSE Spokesperson told Byline Times: “We will carefully consider this report and respond in due course. LSE is committed to strengthening our approach to responsible investment in line with our Environmental, Social and Governance Policy, which was adopted in 2022 with the aid of student input.
“This policy includes LSE not making direct or, as far as possible, indirect investments in companies engaged in tobacco manufacture or indiscriminate arms manufacture. It also seeks to eliminate direct investments, and greatly reduce exposure of indirect investments, to the worst polluting fossil fuels.”
The University of Sheffield also faces intense scrutiny following the release of the “Genocide and Apartheid Complicity Report” by the Sheffield Campus Coalition for Palestine (SCCP).
The research, endorsed by the University of Sheffield branch of the Universities and Colleges Union (UCU), details the university’s extensive ties to arms manufacturers.
Authors say the university’s prestigious Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) has been implicated in developing technology used in Israeli military operations against Palestinians, including helping to design fighter jets.
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Partial ‘Victory’ at Trinity
The growing movement claimed a victory at Trinity College Cambridge this week, where campaigners said the institution had offloaded its investments in arms companies following pressure from the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) and students. (Byline Times understands that Trinity denies this).
Trinity College Cambridge has been pressured to divest from arms companies, amid a formal complaint to the Charity Commission from the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians. The complaint linked the College to complicity in alleged breaches of domestic and international law, due to the college’s investments in companies linked to Israeli military activities.
The ICJP’s campaign efforts included issuing legal warnings to Trinity College, arguing they faced potential “individual criminal liability” for maintaining these investments.
This action was part of a broader campaign targeting 82 British universities. The divestment marks a symbolic victory for the movement, given Trinity’s status as Cambridge’s wealthiest college. However, ICJP stresses that further action is needed to divest from companies involved in illegal Israeli settlements and other oppressive activities. A spokesperson for the College told this outlet: “Trinity College continues to review its investments regularly.”
Beyond Campus
The student movements at LSE, Sheffield, and Cambridge form part of a growing global demand for greater accountability and scrutiny over who and what educational institutions are funding, or conversely, taking cash from.
Peter Frankental, Amnesty International UK’s Economic Affairs Director, praised the efforts, saying: “This report provides a vital wake-up call to LSE and other universities to urgently improve the stewardship of their investments, ensuring they no longer profit from activities linked to serious human rights violations.”
And Legal Officer Mira Naseer from ICJP highlighted the wider implications of Trinity’s decision: “This is an important win for the movement. Students across the world have campaigned tirelessly to urge their universities to divest from arms companies potentially complicit in Israel’s genocide, and now we are starting to see results.”
Students at other universities may be spurred on by the win. But given the wave of anti-protest laws passed in the UK since 2022, occupations could be met with a heavy police response. Then we risk the kind of scenes that have shaken the US in recent weeks.
The University of Sheffield was contacted for comment, which we will include when received. We have added some background and a quote after publication from Trinity College Cambridge.
If you have a political story or tip-off, email josiah@bylinetimes.com.
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Josiah Mortimer also writes the On the Ground column, exclusive to the print edition of Byline Times.
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