British university students protest against defense projects with Israel

(MENAFN-NewsIn) By K

Colombo, May 3: University students in Britain are protesting against their institutions’ defense-related agreements with Israel. While American campuses are also in turmoil over the ongoing genocide in Gaza, India is strengthening defense deals with Israel.

The “Newcastle Apartheid off Campus” said students were outraged after Newcastle University apparently signed a partnership with Leonardo SpA, a defense and security company they claim is responsible for producing the laser targeting system for the F-35 fighter jets of the Israeli army. used in the war in Gaza.

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The Telegraph reported that although the students’ union had passed motions with 95% of people calling on the university to end ties with Leonardo, and several ‘Leonardo off Campus’ protests on campus, the university had not spoken to the students listened. to assure.

The University of York said in a statement that it “no longer invests in companies that primarily make or sell weapons and defense-related products or services.”

This followed prolonged pressure and protests from students and staff since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023.

In Manchester, fifty students demanded that the university end its partnership with BAE Systems and other arms companies, cut ties with Tel Aviv University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and halt all “unethical research”.

A spokesperson for Universities UK, which speaks on behalf of 142 institutions, told the Telegraph:
“Universities are monitoring the latest news about campus protests in the US and Canada. As with any high-profile issue, universities are working hard to find the right balance between ensuring the safety of all students and staff, including preventing harassment, and supporting lawful freedom of expression on campus. We will continue to meet regularly to discuss the latest status with university leaders.”

The “Sheffield Campus Coalition for Palestine” started an encampment in solidarity with the Palestinians. The SCCP is a coalition of staff, students and alumni from the Universities of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam.

The SCCP said there was a massive lecture strike, followed by a demonstration, and that many students were prepared to camp “indefinitely” in tents outside the student union.

This followed an encampment at the University of Warwick, which began last week.

One first-year student told the Telegraph: “The courage these students have shown in the face of extreme police brutality – it is like a call that needs to be answered and picked up around the world.”

United States

In the US, at least 17 student protesters were arrested and charged with trespassing after police were called to the University of Texas at Dallas to break up anti-Israel camps set up on campus in violation of the school’s code of conduct.

In Florida, among other places, police have dispersed campus gatherings with tear gas. In Wisconsin, photos showed officers detaining a Madison professor with blood on his forehead, the Washington Post reported.

In California, masked men attacked a pro-Palestinian encampment on a Los Angeles campus. Students criticized the police for not intervening sooner. Fifteen injuries, including one hospitalization, were reported after officers quelled the violence.

At Portland State University, students barricaded themselves in a library and painted “FREE GAZA” on the wall.

Since mid-April, student groups have urged institutions to cut ties with Israel and companies that support the military campaign against Hamas, which has killed about 34,000 people in Gaza.

More than 300 protesters were arrested at Columbia and City Universities in New York. In the past fortnight, 1,700 have been taken into custody, the Post said.

Columbia has opted to maintain a police presence on campus — an unusual move that surprised Edward Davis, a former Boston Police commissioner who now runs a security consulting firm.

“It’s an indication that this is not a problem that’s going away anytime soon,” he said.

Protesters, his office added, had ignored “several” orders to disperse.

In Wisconsin, four police officers and three sheriff’s deputies were injured while trying to shut down illegal camping, a spokesperson for the University of Wisconsin at Madison said.

Authorities arrested nearly three dozen protesters. At least two Wisconsin University Madison professors who were detained described injuries on social media or in interviews at the scene.

The striking images of officers flooding college campuses have drawn condemnation from union leaders and left-wing politicians, the Post said.

“When I was 11, I was a victim of police brutality just for being black in America,” said Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) at X. “Now I see brutality being inflicted on peaceful students in Columbia and elsewhere. the country.”

Counter-protests

At the University of California (Los Angeles), counter-protesters attempted to tear down makeshift barricades around an encampment and aim fireworks at where students were camping.

Some pro-Palestinian activists tried to defend themselves with wood and pepper spray.

The New York Times said that whatever your views on the pro-Palestinian demonstrations engulfing the country’s colleges, the New York Police Department’s decision Tuesday to ban journalists from witnessing the raid on Columbia University is a clear violated the First Amendment.

“The public has a right to know what their law enforcement authorities are doing on America’s campuses, and they were left in the dark at a critical time. Instead of firsthand accounts from professional journalists or student journalists, Americans had to rely on the accounts of Mayor Eric Adams and police officials, as well as videos posted by the department on social media.”

New York City officials said Wednesday that 109 people were arrested in Columbia and 173 people were arrested at City College in Manhattan.

Views of political leaders

On Capitol Hill, Washington, Republican party leaders prepared to introduce a bill that they say would give the federal government the power to curb anti-Israel protests on campuses by codifying a definition of anti-Semitism that would eliminate certain criticisms of includes the Jewish state.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) denounced what he saw as leniency toward “pro-terrorist anti-Semites.” The legislation passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 320 to 91, with a majority of Democrats joining Republicans.

Several Republican lawmakers have urged President Biden to call in the National Guard to dismantle camps.

Former President Donald Trump said, “To every college president, I say, remove the encampments immediately. Destroy the radicals and take back our campuses for all normal students who want a safe place to learn.”

Trump called the protesters “raging lunatics and Hamas sympathizers” and added: “Your cities and towns will now accept people from Gaza and various other places.”

India

Meanwhile, India plans to expand its defense cooperation with Israel, the Mint reported on March 28.

The Israel Aerospace Industries launched its Indian subsidiary, Aerospace Services India, with plans to set up a large-scale hub in Gurugram near Delhi for maintenance and repair of the Medium-Range Surface-to-air Missile (MRSAM) system. It is a joint venture of the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and Israeli Aerospace Industries.

The missile system is being manufactured at Bharat Dynamics Ltd (headquartered in Hyderabad), with active participation of Indian public and private defense industry partners including Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

According to Bharat Dynamics, MRSAM is a supersonic missile that can be launched vertically with a fast response time and is intended to intercept various aerial threats such as guided bombs, aircraft, missiles and helicopters. It has several variants for use by the Army, Navy and Air Force.

“We are already working to expand the MRSAM program to other defense programs and other products that customers require from us,” Danny Lauber, CEO of Israeli Aerospace Industries, told Mint.

In 2022, it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) to convert civil aircraft (passenger aircraft) into multi-mission tanker transport aircraft (MMTT) in India. In 2023, it signed another MoU with Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) to leverage opportunities in short-range air defense systems.

“Some of the new technologies will be acquired, others will be jointly developed in India. We also look at production.” Lauber said.

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