A group of students, alumni and staff united on the Students’ Union’s concourse on February 7th in a teach-out on Stop the War Coalition’s “Stand With Gaza” workplace day of action.
Participants of the teach-out used a speaker to broadcast their views, which included the condemnation of the destruction of Universities within Gaza and of the University of Sheffield’s partnerships with corporations such as BAE Systems and Rolls Royce, which are known to manufacture military aircraft and other vehicles.
Throughout the protest, poems were read and chants were repeated by attendees.
Blue-tac was distributed to participants alongside a letter, addressed to the University’s executive leadership, including Vice-Chancellor Koen Lamberts, detailing Sheffield Campus Coalition for Palestine’s (SCCP) demands. People were instructed to stick them up inside the Student’s Union building.
SCCP are a newly-formed group, who claim to be made up of “students, staff and alumni of Sheffield campuses”.
Another teachout participant spoke about SCCP: “I would like to say we have formed this coalition because standing as individuals, standing as just students, staff, or alumni we are divided.
”We believe we have greater strength in numbers and when we put our efforts together as a grassroots collective network for coordination and communication we will be that much stronger and we will be able to work towards divestment and […] work against political oppression.”
In November 2023, a spokesperson for the University said:
“We recognise the strength of feeling about the situation in Israel and Gaza and we support the right of students to express their views peacefully and within the law.”
“We understand that the issues surrounding the conflict in Israel/Gaza can affect many different groups of people – including our students, staff and alumni. We encourage students with concerns to seek support from university support services.”
The University of Sheffield provides information for students affected by the conflict, and directs them to further support, on their website.
