Students at the University of Manchester participated in protest action across three days, from October 7 to October 9 2024.
Demonstrators disrupted the World Academic Conference, which coincided with the anniversary of October 7, by occupying the Samuel Alexander Building (starting Friday, October 4).
This included demonstrations outside of University Place on both October 7 and 8, along with a large protest outside the Whitworth Gallery on the evening of October 7.
Manchester Leftist Action described October 7 as a national day of action. Students from various universities and members of the wider community attended the evening demonstration.
October 7 Afternoon Demonstration
The afternoon’s demonstration started around 2pm at the Samuel Alexander building and moved through the Old Quad before going through Whitworth Arch, ending at University Place.
Protesters were blocked from entering the side entrance of the building by both campus security and police officers. All demonstration participants covered their faces with masks, keffiyeh, hoodies, and caps.
The demonstration continued outside with chants, speeches and bashing of pipes against metal benches. They shouted, “Your conference is covered in Palestinian blood”.
Speeches specifically focused on the University’s associations with BAE (British Aerospace Systems), calling the company an “Israeli war machine”.
They proceeded to increase their noise, banging pipes on metal benches and shouting chants, saying “We can’t ever let them [those inside] have a second of peace”, then stating “We deserve to be upset with the people inside the building”.
Vice-Chancellor Duncan Ivison entered just after 2:15pm and didn’t stop to talk to protestors.
There was a commotion as students, with their faces covered, exited the building into the crowd. It later transpired that these protestors had made it inside the conference hall, interrupting the gathering inside University Place with a speech of their own.
Video footage was shown to The Mancunion that displayed students chanting “Divest! We will not stop, we will not rest” before being escorted out by campus security.
An occupier, who was part of one of the groups who entered the building, explained that they disrupted the proceeding by shouting and giving speeches, focusing their messaging on their being “no class of 2024 in Gaza”.
At 3:15, a drone was spotted flying above the side entrance, seemingly agitating some of those attending the protest.
Students started to move across the road and back down towards the Whitworth Arch. There seemed to be confusion as to where the protestors planned to end their demonstration.
Some demonstrators started up the stairs of the Students’ Union building, followed by police, congregating in the SU lobby.
There was substantial confusion over both the next steps for protestors and whether police were allowed to stay. The Students’ Union is part of the ‘Cops off Campus’ initiative which means police cannot enter the SU without being invited in unless a crime is being committed.
This meant officers were asked by Students’ Union staff to exit the building. Students dispersed through various exits throughout the Students’ Union, with occupiers returning to Samuel Alexander.
Commenting on the police presence, Elliot Briffa, the City and Community Officer, said that the building should be a safe space for students and that the police presence was “heavy-handed”. The Union had not been notified that the protesters would enter the building.
Monday Evening Demonstration
The demonstration outside Whitworth Park constituted the largest demonstration over this period.
Around 100 students from a dozen universities were expected to participate in the evening protest at Whitworth Gallery. There was hope that this would be further supported by members of the local community attending. While it was not possible to count exactly, this appeared to be reasonably accurate.
Two of the SU Exec Officers walked into the Whitworth Art Gallery as did Vice Chancellor Ivison, not interacting with the crowd.
Demonstrators didn’t stop delegates from entering the Whitworth Gallery, nor did they directly engage with them whilst they entered.
Speeches outside Whitworth Gallery called for divestment by UoM. Chants of “Stop killing children, stop killing babies” and “ceasefire now” came from the gathered crowd.
Large speakers were put up to amplify the speeches given over microphones.
There was interest from attendees inside the conference, who were spotted taking photographs of police horses outside the window.
Large police horses coupled with numerous uniformed officers from Greater Manchester Police, caused concern within the crowd.
Officers with video cameras were seen filming the crowd along with chants and speeches.Three police vans followed the march from the back and buses were forced to stop by the police.
During an interview inside the occupied Samuel Alexander, prior to the October 7 evening protest, the Mancunion witnessed discussions of the occupier’s attitudes towards police and security. “These people are not our friends” was the shared sentiment.
Around 6:15, demonstrators exited Whitworth Park before marching along Oxford road, back to Samuel Alexander.
Continuing chants of “UoM Shame, shame” and “All the bloodshed in your name” were heard.
Demonstrators exited Whitworth Park before marching along Oxford Road and conferred at the entrance of Samuel Alexander.
Final speeches took place as the events wound down around 7pm. Occupiers re-entered the building as the crowd dispersed.
When asked for a statement a University of Manchester spokesperson said:
“On Monday this week a group of protestors also attempted to disrupt the opening of an event on campus and the police were called. After a short delay, attendees were able to gain access to the building.
“While we respect the right to peaceful protest within the law it is also essential that people treat each other respectfully and we cannot support targeted disruption affecting staff, students and visitors.
“Safety and respect for others on campus is always our priority, if anyone is concerned our Campus Support and Security staff are contactable in the first instance on 0161 306 9966”.
When asked for comment, Greater Manchester Police informed us that they had been called to campus on Monday after reports of protestors entering a building. We were informed that officers will usually be in attendance (during demonstrations) to ensure the safety of everyone involved.
No arrests have been made.
Subsequent Demonstration
A smaller protest action occurred on both October 8 and 9.
Tuesday continued with a Greater Manchester Police presence on campus, especially outside University Place. This included two police vans and various officers along with campus security.
Previous Vice-Chancellor Nancy Rothwell gave an interview at the World Academic Summit, specifically about graphene and the plans for the innovation districts. In response, protestors called for lectures to reject Rothwell’s talk and engage in a teaching boycott.
Three police officers stood in the revolving doors of the side entrance of University Place, attempting to prohibit protestors from entering. In turn, delegates were blocked from entering.
Microphones were used to amplify their message of “Drop BAE Now” and “UOM Shame!”.
Previously, police had confiscated megaphones from protesters, with no comment as to which police powers this came under.
Demonstrators said that they had also not been given receipts for these items and that they had not been returned as of that afternoon.
Revisiting the occupation on Tuesday 8 October, MLA said there still had not been any communication from the University with the occupiers. “For the new VC [Vice-Chancellor] to set this tone […] is really disappointing”.
During their occupation, a notice had been received but was not taken seriously.
Whilst campus security and police acted “as expected”, protesters were upset that they had been “treated like criminal elements”.
They alleged that police had “physically pushed” students at a picket, with video evidence posted on the MLA Instagram page.
“We would have to feel we’ve achieved our target” was the response on 7 October when asked about the end date for the occupation. Asking again, occupiers informed reporters that “we got our message across” so were ending the occupation on 9 October after a “very successful mobilisation”.
When interviewed, the occupiers would not comment on their plans for the summit’s final day. It later transpired that they were executing a phone blockade targeting the World Academic Summit planned for October 9.
Manchester Leftist Action sent a statement regarding this phone blockade:
“As the final action against the world academic summit students have organised to perform a phone blockade, targeting IT services and the estates office. This involved students across the country successfully shutting down a key part of the University’s infrastructure. Phone blockades are a tool we are adding to our arsenal now that national student groups have united”.
