Rallying in solidarity with Gaza student occupation

Anthony from Socialist Students addressing the rally – photo Iain Dalton

Socialist Students members joined a rally marking just over a week since students occupied the Parkinson building at Leeds University in protest at university policies in relation to the ongoing war on Gaza.

Socialist Party Yorkshire regional secretary, Iain Dalton was involved in the hundreds-strong occupation at Leeds Uni in 2010 and spoke to point out some lessons of that struggle for today’s occupiers – key being linking up with workers on campus and the wider trade union movement to ensure the struggle on this issue and others is taken beyond the confines of the Parkinson building as the rally and hopefully future ones will do.

Socialist Students member Anthony Bracuti brought solidarity to the occupiers from Socialist Students. He pointed that the university was following in the footsteps of Sunak and Starmer, and with the local elections coming up, the political apologists for the catastrophe in Gaza should face a challenge as Anthony and other Socialist Students members will be doing by standing as part of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition challenge.

Leeds Socialist Students

Leeds uni students occupy Parkinson building over Israel-Palestine war

Students at the University of Leeds have occupied the iconic Parkinson building in response to university management’s unwillingness to distance itself from the Israeli state.

On 7 March, students stormed the building, the most recognisable symbol of the university, in anger at the actions of the uni with regards to the genocidal attacks in Gaza.

The university is still reeling from the scandal of its chaplain, Zechariah Deutsch, joining the IDF in November, and his propagandising on official and unofficial social media and WhatsApp groups. Deutsch returned to the UK in February and is still officially the Orthodox Jewish Chaplain.

The occupiers seek to force the university to deny him access to students; to force the university to commit to the safety of Palestinian students; and for the university to divest its interests in the state of Israel.

The marketisation of the university sector inevitably results in the university prioritising its own image. Without friendly media, the university cannot attract lucrative international students and their fees. As a result, uni management had initially locked the occupiers inside the building, with no access to food, in order to starve them out. Despite this, there have been daily demonstrations on campus in solidarity, including significant disruption to a university open day. Hopefully the occupiers can hurt the university in the only place management cares about, its wallet, and so bring about the change they are striving for.

Anthony Bracuti, Uni of Leeds Socialist Students

Socialist Students join Yorkshire March for Jobs

Yorkshire Youth March for Jobs in Leeds – photo Iain Dalton

Socialist Students took part in the Youth March for Jobs in Leeds on 9th of October.

The demonstration and march, attended by some 50 people, included impassioned speeches from representatives of NHS workers say no, the Socialist Party, and members of Socialist Students of Leeds, Hull, Sheffield, and York, with a particularly poignant speech from one of our York 6th form members highlighting the failures of our education system.

As one student put it “We’re made to chase league tables, get the top grades, get a degree (and a masters), then end up in Pret on £8 an hour?”

After marching through the city centre, the protest ended with a rousing call to action from the general secretary of BWAFU, Sarah Woolley; stating the need to take the fight to the Tories.

As the youth unemployment rate reaches 13%, with most young people forced into zero-hour hospitality jobs, one attendee said of this, “these jobs require emotional labour, as someone who struggles to even look people in the eye, what can I do?”.

The fight for better jobs, better pay, and the education to achieve those, is not being led by the Labour party. As enmity towards Keir Starmer grows, it’s up to us to lead, and to make these ideas a reality.

Anthony Bracuti, Leeds Uni Socialist Students