Post by seanambler on Jan 25, 2009 19:00:52 GMT -5
From lseoccupation.blogspot.com/2009/01/press-release-lse-occupation-ends-in.html
LSE OCCUPATION ENDS IN VICTORY AS MORE UNIVERSITIES BEGIN OCCUPATIONS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Students at the London School of Economics have ended their seven-day occupation of a lecture theatre after winning all of their demands.
Following negotiations between the students and the university, LSE Director and former head of the UK Financial Services Authority Howard Davies will now make a public statement about Israeli bombing of academic institutions.
The LSE had already agreed to waiver application fees and provide scholarships for application fees for students affected by the Israeli Occupation and to facilitate a charity collection for Medical Aid for Palestine.
The university did not agree to instruct its fund managers to divest from BAe but it did agree to seriously consider a paper presented by the Students' Union about a divestment-based ethical investment policy, something that the administration previously said would not be part of a future policy.
Over 350 students heard a public lecture in the occupied theatre by Tony Benn in support of the occupation on Friday. Other notable speakers included George Galloway, Lindsey German and Jews for Justice member Dan Judelson. Mira Hammad, one of the occupying students, spoke to a crowd of 10,000 at Trafalgar Square to urge other universities to take part.
The group occupied the Old Theatre at the London School of Economics on Thursday afternoon. Academic lectures were allowed to continue on the condition that the students were allowed to hold a two-minute presentation before the start of each lecture. Several external events were moved, despite the protestors' agreement to let them continue.
SOAS and LSE were the first universities to have started occupations. Other universities that have since followed with their own occupations include Essex, King's, Birmingham, Sussex, Warwick, Oxford and Newcastle.
A spokesperson for the group said,
"Nothing we could have said or done would have been enough given the scale of the suffering inflicted on the people of Gaza by the Israeli military but we have achieved a huge victory for Palestinian students and for student activism. That we pressured LSE Director Howard Davies into issuing a public statement is a massive success but given the LSE's history it shouldn't have taken an occupation to achieve this. We look forward to meeting the new Palestinian students that our successes on application fees and scholarships will bring to the LSE.
We encourage students and workers everywhere to have the confidence to take similar actions."
NOTES TO EDITORS
1) Please view our previous press releases for more information. lseoccupation.blogspot.com/2009/01/press-release.html
lseoccupation.blogspot.com/2009/01/press-release_19.html
2) The identity of other universities who will start occupations is being kept secret. Contact us: lseoccupation@googlemail.com
3) For more information on the SOAS occupation: soassolidarity4gaza.blogspot.com
4) For more information on the Essex occupation: www.visitpalestine.asia/page.cfm/id/98207
5) For the motion on Gaza passed by the Students' Union: lseoccupation.blogspot.com/2009/01/student-union-passes-motion-condemning.html
6) The video of Mira's speech can be found here: lseoccupation.blogspot.com/2009/01/lse-students-to-speak-at-trafalgar.html
LSE OCCUPATION ENDS IN VICTORY AS MORE UNIVERSITIES BEGIN OCCUPATIONS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Students at the London School of Economics have ended their seven-day occupation of a lecture theatre after winning all of their demands.
Following negotiations between the students and the university, LSE Director and former head of the UK Financial Services Authority Howard Davies will now make a public statement about Israeli bombing of academic institutions.
The LSE had already agreed to waiver application fees and provide scholarships for application fees for students affected by the Israeli Occupation and to facilitate a charity collection for Medical Aid for Palestine.
The university did not agree to instruct its fund managers to divest from BAe but it did agree to seriously consider a paper presented by the Students' Union about a divestment-based ethical investment policy, something that the administration previously said would not be part of a future policy.
Over 350 students heard a public lecture in the occupied theatre by Tony Benn in support of the occupation on Friday. Other notable speakers included George Galloway, Lindsey German and Jews for Justice member Dan Judelson. Mira Hammad, one of the occupying students, spoke to a crowd of 10,000 at Trafalgar Square to urge other universities to take part.
The group occupied the Old Theatre at the London School of Economics on Thursday afternoon. Academic lectures were allowed to continue on the condition that the students were allowed to hold a two-minute presentation before the start of each lecture. Several external events were moved, despite the protestors' agreement to let them continue.
SOAS and LSE were the first universities to have started occupations. Other universities that have since followed with their own occupations include Essex, King's, Birmingham, Sussex, Warwick, Oxford and Newcastle.
A spokesperson for the group said,
"Nothing we could have said or done would have been enough given the scale of the suffering inflicted on the people of Gaza by the Israeli military but we have achieved a huge victory for Palestinian students and for student activism. That we pressured LSE Director Howard Davies into issuing a public statement is a massive success but given the LSE's history it shouldn't have taken an occupation to achieve this. We look forward to meeting the new Palestinian students that our successes on application fees and scholarships will bring to the LSE.
We encourage students and workers everywhere to have the confidence to take similar actions."
NOTES TO EDITORS
1) Please view our previous press releases for more information. lseoccupation.blogspot.com/2009/01/press-release.html
lseoccupation.blogspot.com/2009/01/press-release_19.html
2) The identity of other universities who will start occupations is being kept secret. Contact us: lseoccupation@googlemail.com
3) For more information on the SOAS occupation: soassolidarity4gaza.blogspot.com
4) For more information on the Essex occupation: www.visitpalestine.asia/page.cfm/id/98207
5) For the motion on Gaza passed by the Students' Union: lseoccupation.blogspot.com/2009/01/student-union-passes-motion-condemning.html
6) The video of Mira's speech can be found here: lseoccupation.blogspot.com/2009/01/lse-students-to-speak-at-trafalgar.html