News / University of Bristol
Pro-Palestine students lock themselves inside Wills Memorial building
A group of students have occupied the University of Bristol-owned Wills Memorial Building to protest what they describe as the institution’s “complicity in genocide”.
Students walked into the building at approximately 12.30 on Tuesday, before peacefully locking and barricading themselves into the Hall.
The doors remain locked at 4pm on Tuesday afternoon and occupiers say no one will be able to enter the hall until their demands are met.
is needed now More than ever
The occupation comes after another group of students locked themselves in the Victoria Rooms on Queen’s Road a week earlier, before moving to Tyndall Avenue to target the university’s management.
A student from the Tyndall Avenue occupation told Bristol24/7 a group of students had met with the university vice chancellor Evelyn Welch on Wednesday, minutes before the second group entered the Wills building.
Aarun Parmar-Cunio, a third year Politics and International Relations student at the university, who wasn’t at the meeting but spoke to those who attended, told Bristol24/7 communication had broken down between the students and the vice chancellor.
He said Evelyn Welch had criticised the students’ tactics and told them the way they had chosen to go about bringing change was wrong.
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He added that Evelyn Welch told students the issue was a complex one, that people have lots of differing opinions on, so it wouldn’t be right “to just succumb to us as a movement”.
“We have the backing of the UCU and Unison, and over 600 people through our open letter petition,” he said. “But she has disregarded it”.
“We’ve been branded as this radical group and painted out as extreme, when we have the backing of so many different sections of the university. We’re not trying to be unreasonable.”
Aarun was part of the Vic Rooms occupation for five days, and six people now remain at Tyndall Avenue.
Students are demanding “no repercussions for anyone involved in occupation and that anyone can leave at any time, for basic necessities to be met, all ties with arms companies to be cut, for the university to support Palestine and Palestinians and expand protest rights at the university so that students can attach banners and disrupt commercial and educational activities”.
“We respect it as a complex issue. We are just trying to open up a discourse and form some sort of communication with the university,” Aarun added.
“We think the open letter is really clear in detailing what our demands are but there has been a complete failure in trying to make any progress discourse-wise.”
A University of Bristol spokesperson said: “We are aware of this protest. We would always respect the right of our students to peacefully protest within the law.”
A peaceful protest was held outside Wills Memorial Building at around 7pm on Tuesday evening to support those inside the building and demand a ceasefire in Palestine.
Main photo: WillsOccupiedforPalestine
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