On the morning of 22 October, Edinburgh University Justice for Palestine Society (EUJPS) occupied 40 George Square – renaming it Mohammad Tamus Tower – in addition to the Gordon Aikman Lecture Theatre.
EUJPS are occupying the tower to restate their demands and raise awareness of the University’s historic and financial involvement with Israel. In their statement, they declare “Our demands are the bare minimum. We call for an end to Zionism in all forms on and off campus and the liberation of the Palestinian people.”
The society demand full divestment, cutting research and relations with defence companies such as Leonardo S.p.A, restitution for the past and present role the university has played in the occupation and genocide in Palestine, and to “defend the right to dissent and protest Zionism on campus.”
The StudyHub was claimed in the name of Mohammad Tamus, who was killed on 7 October; he was killed trying to save others and is viewed as “the first martyr of the fourth year of the genocide.”
This occurred a year after the Israel-Palestine ceasefire came into place. EUJPS argues that the University of Edinburgh is complicit with this murder and countless others. They state that there is a forced implication in the genocide for students at the university.
The statement ends: “we demand an end to complicity with Zionism. Divestment is inevitable. Free Palestine.”
Photo by Cordelia Murray-Brown for The Student.
