Pro-Palestine protesters stand down Warwick encampment after 60 days

Student-staff protest group Warwick Stands With Palestine has stood down its encampment demonstration on the University campus after 60 days. 

In a statement, the group said: “While our encampment has been integral to the strengthening of our movement and has acted as the focal point for our organising over the last two months, we have decided it is in the strategic interest of coalition to redirect our energy.”

Protesters from the group set up their initial encampment on the Piazza on 26 April, becoming the first student encampment of its kind in the UK. The demonstration was later relocated to outside of Senate House, where it remained until its dissolution. 

We have shown that the masses refuse to accept Warwick’s institutional complicity in the genocide of Palestine

Warwick Stands With Palestine statement

Announcing the end of the encampment at the University, Warwick Stands With Palestine said that: “On our own campus, we broke down barriers between students, staff, and the community in forming a popular front for divestment that now bears the name of over 70 organisations.

“By mobilising all sectors of campus life and beyond, we have shown that the masses refuse to accept Warwick’s institutional complicity in the genocide of Palestine.”

Though the announcement marks the end of the Senate House encampment, an occupation of the WMG International Digital Laboratory (IDL) by student protestors is ongoing, with Warwick Stands With Palestine stating the demonstration would continue until “favourable terms for negotiations” are agreed with the company.

The group has previously suggested that they would require amnesty for all those involved in the protest before they would stand down.

Protestors argue that the occupation, which began on 15 June, is “crucially disrupting business as usual” for WMG, who they see as “complicit” in the ongoing war in Gaza and Israel. 

The end of camp will enable us to […] strengthen our coalition so we can return stronger than ever in the autumn, ready to escalate should our demands not be met

Warwick Stands With Palestine statement

The group says that they will continue to use other methods, including the IDL occupation, to call upon the University to end their partnerships with the defence sector – a demand that Warwick Stands With Palestine claims that the University has dismissed so far.

In a meeting held on 22 May, the University’s governing Council declined to meet the group’s demands for the ‘demilitarisation’ of campus, insisting that none of Warwick’s agreements with the defence sector are linked to the production of offensive weapons.

Warwick Stands With Palestine added that: “The end of camp will enable us to sustain negotiations, further our research into Warwick’s complicity, and strengthen our coalition so we can return stronger than ever in the autumn, ready to escalate should our demands not be met in their entirety.”

A spokesperson for the University declined to say whether any attempts had been made to open a dialogue with the IDL demonstrators, only repeating an earlier statement that: “We continue to manage these demonstrations in line with our legal duty to free speech, as well as our commitment to ensuring the safety and security of everyone on campus.”

The spokesperson would not be drawn either on whether they were prepared to allow the occupation to drag on into the summer holidays.