A student ‘Protest for Palestine’ took place under the Arches this Friday. The protest was organised by the Newcastle University Palestine Society and Newcastle Apartheid off Campus.
Much of the chanting, and many of the banners and placards directly targeted members of the Executive Board of the University of Newcastle, specifically Vice-Chancellor Chris Day.
The University’s connections to defence companies were also alluded to. The Courier reported on a protest in February of this year that focused on the connections between the University and defence company, Leonardo S.p.A. A Press Office statement published on February 26th stated “we confirm that the University has not invested in Leonardo as we do not invest in companies making armaments”.
The speakers at the protest spoke about their disciplinaries. One speaker told The Courier that one disciplinary pertained to the use of the chant “I would rather be a picket than a scab”, which was also used at Friday’s protest. This alludes to the 1980s Miner’s Strikes, with ‘scab’ being a derogatory term for those that crossed the picket line and broke the strike.
They stated that the chant “was not meant to be used in an offensive way, if anything it was used in a celebratory way, for us to remind ourselves that we’re from the northeast, that we’re protesting in the northeast”.
Reference was also made to the encampment, which was present on campus during the end of the last academic year. The police presence at the protest did not dissuade speakers criticising the actions of the Police regarding the encampment.
Part way through, protestors were encouraged to turn and direct their chants towards the King’s Gate building, the ‘one stop shop for Student Services’.
The protest lasted just over an hour and primarily featured speeches and chanting. The open mic was used by several speakers to address the university, and students both new and old.
