by Carmen, UAL Socialist Students
“Workers and students will never be defeated”. This was shouted through south London on 28 November.
Students and staff from Goldsmiths and UAL universities came together in solidarity with the Palestinian people, and frustration with our universities’ ongoing complicity in genocide.
We marched from Goldsmiths — with speakers calling shame on the institution for trying to silence staff and students — to UAL Camberwell campus.
Photo: London SP
UAL students are angry with the university refusing to divest from Israeli state terror, blocking positive action from staff and students.
The Dean of Students has threatened UAL Students for Justice in Palestine. When a student was physically attacked at a Gaza rally on campus, the university did nothing.
We temporarily occupied the entrance of the Camberwell building. But while police stood with intimidation, we made our voices louder.
Another speaker reminded to us that this is not just a fight against Israeli state terror, it’s a fight against capitalism. To stop education systems funnelling finances to weapons manufacturers, we need to fight for a socialist future.
Another speaker stated: “If management can’t change their institution, then we’ll do it for them, from the ground up, whether they like it or not.”
As well as a ceasefire and divestment, Socialist Students believes that the education system needs to be transformed all together. We fight for fully funded higher education, paid by taking the wealth off the super-rich. A education system democratically run by the staff and students, more accessible to marginalised students.
UAL hands out only four scholarship places to asylum seekers. Many young people are displaced because of capitalist war, universities must do their best to support those in the most desperate of circumstances.
UAL Socialist Students and UAL Students for Justice in Palestine will continue to oppose the war on Gaza, alongside the Funding Not Fees campaign.