Camping, chaos, and confrontation.
A wave of pro-Palestinian student protest engulfed UK universities last year when thousands protested against the war in Gaza. Most started out peacefully on encampments with students pitching tents on university greens.
Now new evidence, uncovered by Sky News and Liberty Investigates, has shed some light on how some of those protests were policed.
We’ve seen instances of universities reporting protesters to police, starting dozens of disciplinaries, and in some instances we found universities collaborating with private surveillance firms.
What data tells us about handling of protests
Through Freedom of Information requests to more than 150 UK universities by Liberty Investigates, shared with Sky News, we found that at least 40 universities discussed Gaza protest activity with police forces or private intelligence organisations. Thirty-six universities had direct communication with the police.
Thirteen universities also discussed protests at meetings with police, including the University of London, Cambridge, and Manchester. Twenty-eight universities launched investigations against as many as 113 students, and staff were investigated for possible disciplinary breaches linked to their pro-Palestinian activism.
More than 20 universities also disclosed emails with a professional body for campus security, and correspondence appears to show collaboration between campus security departments and police to monitor student protesters, some even using intelligence from private security firms.
Though this is currently the clearest public picture of the scale of protest activity during that time, 47 universities did not provide the information requested. Most universities refused to specify the reasons and outcomes of the disciplinary investigations against students and staff, citing confidentiality issues.
Antisemitism on campus
The Community Security Trust, a charity that protects British Jews from terrorism and antisemitism, says it would be concerned if the number of student disciplinaries had not risen alongside the uptick of student protests and that otherwise, it would worry universities weren’t responding properly to anti-Jewish hatred.
Dave Rich, director of policy at the Community Security Trust, said it has seen a rise in the number of antisemitic incidents on student campuses since the 7 October Hamas terrorist attack on Israel in 2023. The Community Security Trust says these incidents have gone up fivefold compared to the previous academic year.
David-Lior Banoun Rappaz, an undergraduate student at LSE, says: “There have definitely been a lot of antisemitic incidents on campus. It’s about being in the minority and having the other group being extremely loud about it.”
The rise in antisemitism has also concerned Dov Forman, author, activist and an undergraduate at a London university.
“University is a place where you should develop your opinions, where there should be freedom of speech, but that has to be within the confines of the law, and that can’t be at the expense of Jewish students like myself, who at times feel like we’re being dehumanised and even criticised on campus.”
Universities UK acts as the collective voice of 141 universities in the UK and insists it is always trying to balance the tension between freedom of speech and freedom of expression.
The body also defends the right to police protests and says it is legitimate for universities to liaise with the police, adding that this happens only “occasionally” and where action is taken it has to be proportionate.
Students feel unsafe after Newcastle incident
For some pro-Palestinian student activists at Newcastle, one incident stands out to them, they say, for police using “heavy-handed tactics” to break up a protest.
On 29 May last year, a rally that was described as non-violent by academics at the university quickly descended into chaos with officers intercepting protesters with batons.
From footage obtained for our investigation from protesters who were there, more than 40 officers including dog handlers are seen attending a building being occupied by students. Dozens of officers were earlier seen pushing and struggling with crowds of agitated protesters outside the entrance, before drawing their batons as the police line collapsed and skirmishes broke out.
Footage taken outside a different entrance to the university’s Armstrong building shows police carrying and dragging limp protesters out of a building by their limbs. You can make out one student collapsing – who we found out was later taken to hospital by paramedics after having a fit.
One student, Ivy*, has photos of bruising on her arm – which she says were caused by being grabbed by an officer.
She says “it was really, really overwhelming” and “it took a long time to feel okay afterwards”.
Another, Hana*, a medical student volunteering to provide first aid at the protest, shared a medical letter describing her knee injury after she was trampled by the crowd. She says “as a visibly Muslim woman, being on campus at the time, even being in Newcastle, was just terrifying”.
The student protesters we spoke to all said they no longer feel safe on campus.
Since the summer, academics have been calling for the university’s leadership to explain the handling of the incident.
The university maintains there were “legitimate concerns for public safety” and explained that is why they contacted the police.
Newcastle University said: “Where protest activity goes beyond the bounds of lawful protest, we reserve the right to seek assistance from the police to ensure the safety of everyone in our community. All complaints to the University regarding staff and students have been investigated in line with our relevant policies.”
In a statement, a Northumbria Police spokesperson said: “Police attended the scene to engage with all parties involved, with the safety of everyone in attendance including the protesters, members of the public and officers paramount.
“While the activity mainly passed without incident, a number of protesters outside the building refused to comply with police instruction and seemed intent on gaining entry. The right to a lawful protest is a key part of any democracy, which the police uphold. However, we will not accept people using them as a means to commit crime.”
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‘We have a right to speak out’
Suffian, a Leeds University student who is head of the Palestinian Society, feels that free speech on this issue is being restricted.
He was under a two-month investigation for “engaging in unauthorised protests and being a member of the encampment”.
The 21-year-old said he felt the university was using its disciplinary process to prevent students from taking part in protests.
He says: “There is no right way to protest… no protest should be authorised.
“We have a right as people to speak out about it. No child should be a child of war.”
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As part of the disciplinary, he says he attended a meeting where he was shown footage of himself entering a building and leading chants.
He was then issued a “formal warning”.
Since filming with him his investigation has concluded and the university says it will not be taking any further action.
A spokesperson for the University of Leeds said: “The right to lawful protest must be carefully balanced between the rights of protesters to assert their views on the one hand and the rights of others to go about their business safely, unimpeded, and free from intimidation and harassment.
“The university has a clearly communicated student code and guidance on protests. Where students engage in misconduct, as outlined in our regulations, they may become subject to disciplinary action.”
* Not their actual names
