Pro-Palestine camps are set up at UK universities

As in the United States, students at some UK universities have set up pro-Palestinian camps in recent days.

At Newcastle University, a small pro-Palestinian camp was set up on a lawn in front of college buildings, videos and photos on social media showed.

The X account “Newcastle Apartheid Off Campus” shared images of their camp, which show about a dozen tents on the lawn, some with Palestinian flags hanging from them.

The group describes itself as a “student-led coalition fighting for an end to the University of Newcastle's partnership with defense companies that supply weapons to Israel” and said, in an X post on Wednesday night, that they would spend the night .

“The first day of camp is coming to an end,” the post said, adding that “the numbers are growing by the hour.”

Students in the English cities of Leeds and Bristol also set up tents outside their university buildings on Wednesday in protest against the war in Gaza, according to the PA news agency. The agency also reported that a camp at the University of Warwick, in central England, was set up on the campus for a week.

On Friday, the University of Warwick said it was aware of an “ongoing demonstration” on campus organized by “Warwick Stands With Palestine”, a coalition of student and staff organisations. The university said it was “speaking with rally organizers” but reiterated that freedom of expression is a “vital component of university life.”