Edinburgh University Occupation Ends
Preoccupied | 17.02.2009 13:04 | University Occupations for Gaza | Palestine
The Edinburgh University Occupation ended today, with demands partially met. The press release concerns what was achieved and what remains to be done, as well as some comment on what took place.
At 8:45 on the morning of Monday 16/02/2009 the student occupation of George Square Lecture Theatre came to an end.
We, the occupying students have secured the following…
• A complete end to Eden Springs bottled water on campus by the start of the next academic year (2009/10).
• An opportunity to bring our case regarding the university's unethical investments directly to the University Court.
• Scholarships for 5 Palestinian students in Gaza to study at Edinburgh University, with consideration for fee waivers, reduced accommodation fees, travel allowances and visa support.
• A collaboration between the university management, student body and an NGO to collect various materials for shipping to Gaza and to fundraise for the implementation of this.
• A lecture and debate series, involving university staff and guest speakers, on various subjects relating to the Palestine/Israel conflict. There has already been interest in this from prominent scholars Ilan Pappe and Noam Chomsky.
We feel that this is only the beginning of the movement to end the university's role in the occupation and oppression of Palestine by the Israeli government and military. There remain serious issues to which the university's response was completely inadequate, including the active role of arms and defence companies in university research and on-campus recruitment.
The occupation also provided a place to stage educational events, encouraging active engagement and participation about the issues in question. Highlights included a discussion on the ongoing occupation of Palestine, with the participation of the President of Scottish Jews for a Just Peace and a workshop on 'direct action' with ways of defusing confrontational situations. As the week progressed, we at times numbered over 60 students, with a total of several hundred passing through the theatre doors.
We feel it's important to emphasize that the student occupation should be understood not simply as a tactic or a bargaining chip in getting our demands. Within the space that we took control of, we used consensus decision making to initiate a radically non-hierarchical way of making collective decisions. At it's best, the occupation provided a space for a process far more democratic than what conventional university structures are able to achieve. The changes we want to see will be attained through our direct action but also by creating such spaces, and expanding them indefinitely.
Two key outcomes of the occupation…
• A planned open forum for reflection and discussion on the student occupation and the university's reaction in the context of the Gaza conflict.
• An online network to consolidate the occupation group, welcome all who wish to be involved in future action and to take the movement forward immediately and effectively.
We would like to extend a huge thank you to the countless groups and individuals who provided us with material and moral support.
Lastly, we wish to assure Palestinians of Gaza and the West Bank that we will struggle alongside them in solidarity until such time as they are a free and sovereign people.
We, the occupying students have secured the following…
• A complete end to Eden Springs bottled water on campus by the start of the next academic year (2009/10).
• An opportunity to bring our case regarding the university's unethical investments directly to the University Court.
• Scholarships for 5 Palestinian students in Gaza to study at Edinburgh University, with consideration for fee waivers, reduced accommodation fees, travel allowances and visa support.
• A collaboration between the university management, student body and an NGO to collect various materials for shipping to Gaza and to fundraise for the implementation of this.
• A lecture and debate series, involving university staff and guest speakers, on various subjects relating to the Palestine/Israel conflict. There has already been interest in this from prominent scholars Ilan Pappe and Noam Chomsky.
We feel that this is only the beginning of the movement to end the university's role in the occupation and oppression of Palestine by the Israeli government and military. There remain serious issues to which the university's response was completely inadequate, including the active role of arms and defence companies in university research and on-campus recruitment.
The occupation also provided a place to stage educational events, encouraging active engagement and participation about the issues in question. Highlights included a discussion on the ongoing occupation of Palestine, with the participation of the President of Scottish Jews for a Just Peace and a workshop on 'direct action' with ways of defusing confrontational situations. As the week progressed, we at times numbered over 60 students, with a total of several hundred passing through the theatre doors.
We feel it's important to emphasize that the student occupation should be understood not simply as a tactic or a bargaining chip in getting our demands. Within the space that we took control of, we used consensus decision making to initiate a radically non-hierarchical way of making collective decisions. At it's best, the occupation provided a space for a process far more democratic than what conventional university structures are able to achieve. The changes we want to see will be attained through our direct action but also by creating such spaces, and expanding them indefinitely.
Two key outcomes of the occupation…
• A planned open forum for reflection and discussion on the student occupation and the university's reaction in the context of the Gaza conflict.
• An online network to consolidate the occupation group, welcome all who wish to be involved in future action and to take the movement forward immediately and effectively.
We would like to extend a huge thank you to the countless groups and individuals who provided us with material and moral support.
Lastly, we wish to assure Palestinians of Gaza and the West Bank that we will struggle alongside them in solidarity until such time as they are a free and sovereign people.
Preoccupied
Comments
Hide the following comment
Well done
17.02.2009 15:59
This is a major problem for every university, college and secondary school in Scotland, large sections of which are geared up to churn out 'defence' workers. The UK is the worlds leading arms exporter which I find appalling. I doubt this occupation could change that without wrecking the students education, which is important not just to themselves but to every future movement they will participate in, as too much money is involved. That's the acid-test that awaits you, our national 'heart of darkness'. I hope the students also reach out to other Edinburgh and Lothian colleges and schools who face the same problems without a similar defense, go and give talks about what you achieved and why.
Be creatively destructive in negating the bomb-makers who visit you in future, this can be as simple and safe as letting external anti-war groups know when and where these people are on site.
From an outsiders perspective, I appreciate the meetings were consensual but they maybe lasted too long. No single meeting should last more than an hour in my opinion, simply because people get tired and start to drift no matter how bright you are. This means dividing agendas into numerous meetings or imposing some limit on them. The way some corporations focus meetings is to make everyone stand so that eventually you'd rather sit than talk. I counted 60 students in a circle at one point but I only heard about half of them talk.
I feel the thing the students should feel proudest of isn't the Chomsky email but this letter of support on their website, and I hope they are motivated by it to maintain contact.
Dear fellow students of Edinburgh University,
We would like to express our sincere thanks and deep appreciation for all your conscious efforts, endeavours and demands to support the right to education, justice and freedom in Palestine.
We wholeheartedly support your peaceful protests against the blanket bombing of Gaza in general and the Islamic University of Gaza (IUG) in particular which suffered extensive destruction and damage to all its buildings, academic facilities. Additionally more than 20,000 students, whose families have been agonizing from the suffocating siege of Gaza, have lost some members of their families and many others have lost their houses.
With great respect and admiration, we have been following all activities taking place in 19 British universities. Your brave campaign has strengthened both our hope and will that we are not alone in this just battle against unprecedented blatant injustices and flagrant violation of human in Palestine.
We are absolutely proud of you all and proud of your solidarity and support campaign for the right to education in Palestine which gives us bright light in the heart of the military occupation darkness.
We wish you full success in your supportive campaign and in achieving all your sensible demands which show a high level of awareness and commitment to defend basic human rights in Gaza at a time of obvious media bias and hypocrisy of many governments.
We hope to cooperate with you soon to establish mutual academic cooperation between our academic institutions. In this regard, we confirm our high interest and strong willingness to provide you with any information, facts, plans, courses, etc related to your practical demands.
In solidarity with Edinburgh university students in Occupation
Rifat Rustom
Vice President for External Relations & IT
Professor of Civil Engineering
skipper
Homepage:
http:// http://edinburghunioccupation.wordpress.com