Student protestors who staged a ‘Die in’ in the Steel City have continued to mount pressure on the University of Sheffield, citing justice and demanding apartheid off the University’s campus.
The University of Sheffield’s Student Union saw Pro-Palestinian supporters rally together in opposition against allegations of the University being complicit in arming multiple genocidal states.
A ‘Die in’ is a visual disruptive protest which shows support for the casualties in the conflict between Palestine and Israel.
Reports of a Sheffield student trapped in Gaza whilst mourning the death of over 40 of his family members were announced by The University of Sheffield’s Palestine Society a day before the protest took place.
The reports sparked further outrage from protestors, who have since accused the University of acting in ill-faith by failing to carry out their duty of care towards Said Zaaneen, 41, a Palestinian PHD student of the Urban Studies and Planning Department.
The ‘Die in’ followed over half an hour of speeches.
Protestors took up space within the Student Union building by lying on the floor to represent the martyrs lost in the conflict.
An anonymous protestor slammed the University for their alleged role within the conflict.
The Protestor said: “This is not the first time, and it won’t be the last time either we have action on campus.
“These kinds of protests have been happening ever since the information regarding arms trade and the complicity that they (the university) are in, and the amount of money that the university gets from weapon manufacturing investments has been released through the FOI (freedom of information request).
“We’ve seen escalation of student-led protests since then, and this will not cease, this is not going to be a reactionary movement, this is going to be a sustained thing that will last years until we see divestment from arms trade.”
Plans to continue protesting are in the pipeline, as negotiations continue between Israel and Palestine to secure a second extension to the truce which ends on Thursday.
“It is absolutely integral that we continue putting pressure on the University because at present there is great evidence that the University has been complicit in arming multiple genocidal states,” the Protestor said.
“When it comes to Israel, the part that they have taken in complicity is that they have aided in designing the F-35s that are currently bombing Gaza.”
The Protestor slammed the reports surrounding The University’s role in the safety and wellbeing of Mr Zaaneen.
“Additionally one thing that is most important to note is that we have come across that they are hiding the fact that we have a phd student right now stuck in Gaza, that they have been doing a piss-poor job at trying to get him out.
“There has been an air of secrecy and silence regarding it, it wasn’t until we’ve been able to contact his family and figure it out through them that we were able to hear about his story and start lobbying his case.
“He’s already lost over 46 members of his family, he lives in the North of Gaza and he had to leave to the south.
“Resultingly he is in a very dire situation and yet the University has been sitting on its ass doing fuck all.”
The University’s duty of care to all students was underscored by the protestor, who accused them of dragging their feet.
“It’s a breach of their duty of care.”
The University of Sheffield have been approached for comment.