Pro-Palestine camp set up at University College London

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Students at University College London have set up an encampment on campus in support of Palestine.
Around a dozen orange tents are pitched outside the main building in Bloomsbury, London.
Protesters have called for the university to divest from “Israeli war crimes” along with a pledge to rebuild universities in Gaza.
Security is stationed at all entrances of the university campus and those trying to enter are being asked to show their student identity cards.
Guards are not allowing any non-students onto the premises. Students said that this is not normal and that usually people are allowed to come and go freely.
One told The Telegraph that the amped-up restrictions are in place because of the protest.
Protesters called University College London a “disgrace” for its stance on the war in Gaza. One masked student said their demonstration was inspired by the action being taken at US universities.
Hundreds of students have been arrested at universities in America following protests over the Israel-Gaza war.
At UCL, two students holding up their fists and posing for a photo chanted: “In our hundreds, in our millions we are all Palestinian.”
A 20-year-old first-year student protester told The Telegraph: “We are following in the footsteps of students around the world in asking for our university to divest the millions of pounds it has in companies that supply arms to Israel.
“It’s disgraceful that the university is invested in these companies.
“We have three demands of our university. The first is that we are asking the university not to pick sides. They shouldn’t pick sides and shouldn’t be investing in Israel.
“Secondly, we are asking the university to condemn the active genocide taking place just like it has condemned all previous genocides, including the apartheid in South Africa.
“And thirdly, we are asking the university to re-establish the educational system in Gaza. That’s it. These are our demands.”
The protesters at UCL called on people to donate “nutritious and healthy” food to their group.
Junayd Islam, a 20-year-old third-year student at the university who is acting as the spokesman for the UCL activists, said: “We are open for donations. If people can donate sanitary things, torches and food – anything healthy and nutritious.”
He added: “Some people have already given us food and other things. I’m a little bit cold and wet and I know going through that pain brings me a little bit closer to what is going on in Palestine.”
Another 20-year-old third-year student, speaking under conditions of anonymity, said: “We are a coalition of students taking inspiration from the action in America.
“We are taking a stand to say enough is enough.”
He added: “We are calling for the university to divest completely from companies complicit in genocide.
“So far we have heard nothing from the university but we will continue our protest for as long as it takes for them to meet our demands.”
The protester said 10 students had slept in the tents currently pitched on campus on Thursday night. He said there were 30 activists present during the day.
“We are expecting more people to show up today,” he added.
A UCL spokesman said: “Like many other universities, a small protest with tents is taking place in our quad. We are speaking with the organisers and carefully monitoring the situation.
“We will manage this in line with our legal duty and commitment to promote freedom of speech within the law, whilst ensuring the safety and security of our community and enabling our education and research activity to continue.”
Students across the country have set up encampments occupying public spaces on campus with tents and gazebos in protest over the situation in Gaza.
Among the campuses where tent protests are taking place include Leeds, Newcastle, Manchester, Sheffield, Warwick, Swansea, Bristol and Goldsmiths, University of London.
Many students have refused to move, saying that they will only leave after universities “meet their demands”, including that institutions end ties with a number of Israeli organisations.
They are also demanding donations of food and hygiene products so that they are able to continue camping out.
The protests come after large demonstrations across US campuses, most notably at Columbia University in New York and UCLA in Los Angeles. More than 1,000 people have been arrested in recent days at student-organised protests of Israel’s war effort in Gaza on university campuses across the country. The protests have resulted in violent clashes and police firing rubber bullets.
Joe Biden, the US president, commented on the escalating tensions, warning students: “There is a right to protest but not a right to cause chaos,” in remarks at the White House earlier this week.
Nick Hillman, the director of the Higher Education Policy Institute, said: “Once things kicked off in the US, it was inevitable that it would happen on UK campuses where students are also socially active.
“However, it’s not been as dramatic as the US, and that partly reflects views in society about universities. In the US they’re much more slap-bang in the middle of the culture wars – much more than here.”
He added: “But university managers need to be very careful. In the US, it’s been an endless ramping up of tension. When police come onto campus and do the things they do in the US, it leaves a legacy that lasts for decades. So there’s a role for vice chancellors and also for religious leaders on campus, and it’s got to be dialogue.
“At the end of the day, Jewish students have an absolute right to be protected and treated exactly the same way as every other student and universities should be absolutely unequivocal about that.
“Universities should be big melting pots where everyone is treated absolutely equally, but it needs monitoring very, very closely. It’s a tricky time for universities anyway because it’s exam time.”
Our reporter Alex Barton is at the scene.