GLASGOW University students have set up an encampment as part of ongoing calls for the institution to end ties with Israel and the arms industry.
A number of students have set up tents on the grass outside of the university's library, saying they won't leave until bosses have made a "firm, public commitment to divest from these merchants of death".
The latest protest tactics have been organised by the Glasgow University Justice for Palestine Society (GUJPS).
Last week, around 25 students from the group occupied the Charles Wilson Building as part of their demands, prompting a response from the police. There are now also five students on hunger strike as part of the group's efforts.
On Monday hundreds of students demonstrated outside the library, calling for an end to arms firm investment and backing the hunger strikers.
GUJPS argues that the university’s £6.8 million of investments in arms companies like BAE Systems make it complicit in war crimes, including the genocide in Palestine where Glasgow University alumnus Dima Alhaj and her six-month old baby were killed.
One student said: "[The university] invest over £6 million in the murderous arms industry – including in BAE Systems, who make missile systems for F-35 fighter jets, the same jets Israel used in its genocidal bombardment of Palestinians in Gaza.
“Enough is enough. We will not leave until the University makes a firm, public commitment to divest from these merchants of death.”
And a Palestinian student involved in the encampment added: “I’m here today because Glasgow University cannot keep profiting off the blood of my people in Palestine with immunity. As students of conscience, we’re here to hold this university accountable and show them that no repressive action they take will deter us from fighting for Palestinian liberation.”
Encampments for Palestine have been a common sight in the US, with law enforcement violently responding to the demonstrations in some cases.
Last week more than 30 pro-Palestine protesters at the UCLA sued campus bosses and law enforcement agencies for civil rights violations and excessive force during their demonstrations.
The White House is trying to stop pro-Palestine protests from taking place at universities, with Donald Trump's administration withholding funding from institutions unless they can commit to restricting such incidents. The US president argues that Jewish students have felt intimidated by the scenes, and that antisemitism has been allowed to grow on campuses.
