University of Manchester

PoC-PaN: University of Manchester calls for tolerance after theft Statues Half For the first president Israel from one of its buildings. It came as Palestine Action posted a video showing two men smashing a display case window and “snatching” two statues from the university’s chemistry building. The men were Chaim Weizmann, the Zionist leader and first president of Israel, who was a chemistry lecturer at the university. The University of Manchester’s President and Vice-Chancellor, Duncan Iveson, said: “This was an act of vandalism and does not contribute in any way to a better understanding of the current conflict in the Middle East. For more than a year, we have seen peaceful protests on campus and strong views exchanged. We welcome this as part of our core role as a university – a place where often difficult ideas and beliefs can be discussed and debated.”

+ Amber info:1 point

PoC-PaN: Pro-Palestine students at the University of Manchester have occupied part of the campus in protest at the institution’s complicity with Israel and its ongoing occupation of Gaza and the Palestinian territories. In a statement A press release issued by Manchester Leftist Action , a coalition of left-wing student activists from Manchester universities, said: “As part of student action against senior leadership at their academic institutions who have ignored demands to sever ties with Israel, students occupied the Samuel Alexander Building” on the University of Manchester campus on 4 October 2024. According to the press release, the students are “protesting against the University of Manchester’s deep complicity in Israeli crimes, working with BAE Systems which produces parts for the F-35 fighter jets used to bomb civilians in Gaza, and its partnership with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem which was built on illegally occupied land, and Tel Aviv University which produced the Dahiya doctrine – a military strategy that calls for the destruction of civilian infrastructure such as schools and hospitals.”

+ Red info: 2 points

PoC-PaN: More than 200 University of Manchester staff and researchers have called on the institution to cut Its relationship with Tel Aviv University in the wake of Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza. An open letter to the university’s vice-chancellor, Nancy Rothwell, said the Israeli university was “deeply implicated” in the bombing last May, which killed 248 Palestinians, including 66 children. The authors of the letter, which had 224 signatures by Wednesday, said the University of Manchester’s continued relationship with Tel Aviv University violated its commitment to resisting racist violence and oppression.

Green info