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Student Activism on Brum Uni Campus – The Criminalisation of Lawful Protest

mima | 06.02.2009 00:41 | University Occupations for Gaza | Education | Palestine | Repression | Birmingham

The occupation of Arts room LR4 in Birmingham University, conducted on 20th January 2009, which was in solidarity with Gaza and the people of Palestine ended after 12 hours because of the University’s heavy handed approach. The Arts building was shut down early, preventing many people wanting to get back into the occupation from doing so. Then after hours of negotiation the university security used force to compromise the door into the lecture room. Students blockaded the door as negotiations continued to maintain a hold on the room, but eventually due to the threats of removal by force from the police students voted to leave the room. They left with chants of “free free Palestine” and a written document issuing them a meeting with the Vice Chancellor of the University to discuss their demands.

Banner by day
Banner by day

Banner by night
Banner by night

First police arriving on the scene at the occupation
First police arriving on the scene at the occupation

PC Julia Roberts, the university's ‘assigned’ police officer
PC Julia Roberts, the university's ‘assigned’ police officer

University police were also keen to be first in to break up the occupation
University police were also keen to be first in to break up the occupation

Police attending the eviction of the occupation
Police attending the eviction of the occupation

One of two police cars...
One of two police cars...

...one of two vans full of tooled up coppers.
...one of two vans full of tooled up coppers.

Posse of university security force students off campus.
Posse of university security force students off campus.

Police on 'Free Gaza' demo 22/01/09.
Police on 'Free Gaza' demo 22/01/09.


Non-violent peaceful protests on campus are often met with security and police, but the latest is of an unprecedented scale. Outside the Arts building on Tuesday evening there were two police vans and numerous police cars, amounting to around 30 police in total. Unfortunately, for the student activist, this proves that the university are prepared to use extreme and unnecessary levels of force against its students.

The intolerance of the university to this non-violent peaceful protest conducted and supported by many students demonstrates huge disparities between The University of Birmingham and other Universities across the country where other occupations have taken place. As of today (Jan 29th, 2009), there have been a total of 14 occupations the latest being Nottingham, with LSE and Warwick holding their occupations for over a week. Although in most of these occupations university security presence is high, police and the threat of removal using police force has not been heavily reported.

It seems that The University of Birmingham are so intolerant of student activism, however peaceful, that they deem it necessary to rely on the threat of arrest to remove their students from campus. This is not the first time students at the University have been threatened with arrest whilst undertaking peaceful protest. Only last term 2 other students were threatened with arrest on separate occasions, both of whom were protesting at careers fairs.

In addition to this it has also been reported that on Thursday 22nd January when a coalition of societies hosted a demonstration on campus in solidarity with Gaza and Palestine there were plain clothed police present. This is just another example of unwarranted police presence on campus. The demonstration was peaceful, despite the presence of a counter-demonstration which was advocating peace through the destruction of Hamas, who are in fact democratically elected in the Gaza Strip.

The ongoing use of excessive police time and ‘intelligence’ for non-violent peaceful and most of all lawful protests is only present at the University’s request, which simply stresses how the University are striving to criminalise student action and quell any murmur of student activism on campus. This does not bode well for our already threatened future, as many students continue to live in their ‘student bubble’ those that attempt to raise awareness and be the change they want to see are repressed by University management. This does not mean that this attempt of suppression will dampen the activist movement on campus, it will only politicise it more and ignite future actions.

mima
- Homepage: http://j15committee.baylott.org