Manchester Leftist Action have announced on their social media that they have occupied the Roscoe building with other Pro-Palestine groups.
This occupation comes after the 3-day Simon Building occupation on March 19-22.
This action is part of a continuing campaign against the University to cut all ties with Israel. Their demands of the University mostly remain unchanged from the last occupation and are as follows:
- End Partnership with BAE Systems
- End ties with Tel-Aviv University and Hebrew University of Jerusalem
- End Unethical Research
- No Disciplinary Action against Students involved in protests/occupations
The University has consistently denied all connections to the Israeli defence sector, with a clarification statement being made on November 2 regarding its export policy in relation to graphene.
Manchester Leftist Action have outright rejected this as false in an interview with The Mancunion, going on further to say that the “web of connections runs quite deep.”
This occupation follows on from a series of student occupations in recent years.
Pro-Palestine groups occupied the Samuel Alexander Building on November 10, to protest against alleged University involvement in the conflict in Gaza while UoM Rent Strike occupied the Simon Building in February 2023.
Manchester Leftist Action have also announced that they plan to hold a protest on April 10, against what they believe to be University complicity in the Israel-Gaza conflict.
A University spokesperson said, “We are aware of a student occupation in the Roscoe Building which began on Monday evening. Campus Support and Security are in attendance. The wellbeing of staff and students is our priority, and we will continue to monitor the situation carefully. The Roscoe Building is open and operating as normally as possible.”
Previous University Statements regarding the Israel-Gaza conflict can be found here.
