According to reports from the Newcastle Palestine Solidarity Campaign (NPSC), students at Newcastle University on Wednesday, May 29, occupied the Kings Hall in the Armstrong Building at the University, renaming it Al-Shifa Hall. A student encampment at the university was already in place.

One person who was arrested, detained for some hours and then released without charge, sent a message to Newcastle PSC, saying that the excessive police presence shows that the university authorities are seriously rattled, and called on everyone to keep the protests going, including at the rally in Newcastle scheduled for Saturday, June 1.

The demands of the students include that the university ends its shameful partnership with the Leonardo arms manufacturer (the world's 13th largest arms producer), a company which has long-standing ties with the Israeli military. Amongst other things, the company produces essential components for the Apache attack helicopters, used by the IDF to launch the missiles which kill and maim men, women and children alike. By their partnership with Leonardo, the University is deeply complicit in the Israeli genocide in Gaza and Israel's war crimes in the West Bank.

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