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Student Protestors Clash with Security and Audience at Graduation Ceremony

Screenshot: @bristoloccupy4palastine

By Mihai Rosca, 2nd Year Philosophy and Politics

Five students conducted a protest at 1.30pm on Wednesday 22nd of January during the University of Bristol’s (UOB) Graduation Ceremony, protesting the university’s complicity in the ongoing genocide in Palestine.

The student protestors are calling for the graduating students to reflect on how they are graduating from a university that is complicit in the ongoing genocide of Palestinians. University Of Bristol has an estimated £92 million in partnerships with weapons companies.

Student protesters highlighted that the graduation ceremonies that they disrupted had Aerospace Engineering students graduating, and that the Aerospace Engineering department in particular has strong links to weapons companies. The student protesters asked graduating students to think about what companies they are willing to work with, 'Are you happy to be paid in blood money?' the speaker asked.

The protest, which consisted of a banner being dropped, a 2 minute speech being read out and dramatic music being played on the organ was met with a violent audience member. The audience member, presumably the parent of a graduating student, shouted 'get off' and violently grabbed the megaphone from a student protester. The audience member then pushed another student protester onto the stairs, and said to the student protester,

'I can be extremely violent, I know how to break your arm'.

The audience member, now joined with other audience members, then physically dragged the student protester up the staircase, through forcefully grabbing the student protester by his shoulders and arms. The security officer, upon arrival, didn't protect the students, but removed the protestor.

On the same day, University of Bristol posted on Instagram to celebrate Gurvin's achievement. Gurvin graduated yesterday with a master’s in Human Rights Law, and performed a speech on the importance of education and justice. She said,

'Wherever we might find ourselves in the future, we must above all advocate against injustices.'

Gurvin also talked about how students have the responsibility to ensure that other people also have the opportunity to be educated. Some said that UOB celebrated Gurvin's speech in vain, as some sources suggest 85-90% of schools in Gaza have been significantly destroyed or damaged.

It's unclear how much of the speech the audience was able to hear as videos on the Instagram page of Bristoloccupy4Palastine suggest that they were stopped before they could finish.

Bella, one of the student protestors, commented:
'We felt it was our duty as current student of this university, to remind the graduates today that no one is graduating in Gaza. There are no more universities in Gaza. With the help of Western powers including this University, Israel have completely destroyed the Gazan education system.'

'Therefore, we have decided to disrupt this graduation ceremony no matter how the University will respond. 'Decolonisation is not a metaphor', UOB must genuinely commit to decolonisation.'

Another protestor Ethan, spoke about the freedom to protest at UOB:

'The University of Bristol claims to be progressive and an advocate for protest rights. However, the action of UOB reflected how they actually do not care at all. I have to witness my friend getting physically assaulted by audience members and the security. It was a peaceful protest. UOB cares not about students safety or right to protest, but only their partnerships with arms companies. After we left the Will's Memorial Building, the security followed us for 10 minutes even when we were walking into a park. Shame on UOB.'

In addition to the 22nd action inside the graduation ceremony, on 24th January, UOB students and staff did a rally and bake sale outside Will's Memorial Building for Palestine, since 24th January is the UN International Day Of Education. All money raised will go towards a UOB graduate's family in Gaza, and Hebron International Resource Network, an organisation that support education for girls and women in Palestine.

The University of Bristol maintains that it holds all partnerships to high ethical standards, and a spokesperson said: 'We graduated thousands of students last week and were delighted to welcome them to celebrate with their friends and families.

'A small group of masked protestors expressed their views using a loudhailer at one of the ceremonies during which there was a minor altercation with a member of the audience. University security arrived quickly, and the protestors left the building.

'We support the right to freedom of expression and to engage in protest when it is lawful and peaceful and understand the deeply held concerns that many in our community feel about the situation in Israel, Gaza and Lebanon.'

'The University’s association with a wide variety of organisations helps drive innovative research and improves our students’ future careers. All our partnerships undergo stringent diligence checks and ethical reviews.'


What do you think about protesting at graduation?

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