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Students at University of Leicester begin hunger strike over University’s financial ties to Israel

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22 January 2025

The MEE reports that five students at the University of Leicester have begun a hunger strike in an effort to persuade the University management to end its financial ties with Israel on account of its genocidal policy towards Gaza. The Universitymhas gone some way to meet protestors demands but evidently not nearly far enough.

Leicester University students begin hunger strike over Israel arms ties

Pro-Palestine activists have criticised the university’s ‘complicity in genocide’ and financial links to arms manufacturers

Students at the University of Leicester began their hunger strike on Wednesday (Leicester Action for Palestine)

Students at the University of Leicester began their hunger strike on Wednesday (Leicester Action for Palestine)

By Imran Mulla

Middle East Eye, Published date: 16 January 2025 15:26 GMT | Last update: 5 days 2 hours ago

Five students at the University of Leicester in the UK have begun a hunger strike in protest at what they call the insitution’s “complicity in genocide”.

In a statement on Wednesday evening, Leicester Action for Palestine, a coalition made up of staff and students at the university, urged the administration to stop banking with Barclays, which is accused of “substantial financial ties” with companies that sell weapons to Israel. 

Barclays has said in response to accusations that it “trades in shares of listed companies” on the instruction of clients and is not an “investor” in them.

Leicester Action for Palestine further demanded that the university releases information on its investments, saying it has “denied all freedom of information requests”.

The group called on the university to end a £7.5m ($9.15m) research deal it has with Rolls Royce and Siemens, noting that Rolls Royce has produced weapons supplied to Israel. 

The hunger strike follows the university arresting 11 people for allegedly occupying a university building as part of a protest last November. 

The statement says the strike “is inspired by the thousands of Palestinian political prisoners who have gone on hunger strike in the past, as well as our comrades at the Swansea encampment who went on strike for over a week”.

A 28-day student encampment at Swansea University in Wales led to the university committing to divest from Barclays last June. 

Leicester Action for Palestine said: “We will continue to protest against the normalisation of violence and genocide on our campus, and we will continue to fight for the basic human rights of Palestinians by any means necessary.

“The university cannot continue to claim to support peace in the Middle East while working with warmongers. Its hypocrisy must end.”

A University of Leicester spokesperson told Middle East Eye: “The health and wellbeing of our students is a priority and while we will continue to work closely with our community to review concerns raised, we urge students who are involved in the upcoming action to be mindful of their health.

“The devastating events in the Middle East have had a significant impact on our students and staff, including tensions between different perspectives and groups. We strongly condemn the loss of innocent and civilian life, and we continue to offer support for all of our University community.

“We have been engaging with student and staff groups on this issue over the last year and we are committed to listening to their concerns. This has resulted in the University reviewing what can be done in respect of the companies identified as part of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement as well as initiatives such as our scholarship schemes and support for displaced Medics.”

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