Also: the lgbt (warwick pride) have suspended their lgbt awareness week to support the occupation instead :)
http://warwicksolidaritysi
Following our occupation at the NUS conference yesterday we talked to group of students, who didn't join us on the stage at the time, about why we have decided to take direct action and what effect it has. They went back to their own uni, called a meeting and went about occupying their own uni.
These students are from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans society. Our national LGBT campaign has traditionally been quite apathetic and at last conference Mas and i submitted a motion against the occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan calling for the campaign to adopt the slogan 'Liberation not Occupation'. LGBT liberation is often an excuse for invading countries due to the false perception that Muslims are homophobic. And, although we don't doubt that LGBT people face massive oppression around the world (or we wouldn't even need an LGBT campaign), conditions of war are the worst under which to fight for liberation.
Since the invasion of Iraq, George Bush cut all the funding to the many LGBT safe houses and now there remains only one. Ali Hili from Iraqi LGBT campaign has spoken at SOAS a couple of times and we continue to support the campaign.
See the article Queer Iraqis are finding life is now worse than it was under Saddam
And, by the way, we won the vote at LGBT conference by a landslide and injected a well needed bit of politics into the campaign.
Well done NUS LGBT.
Speakers at Warwick tomorrow, Thursday: Rob Owen NUS NEC
Mas Naina National LGBT Black students rep
Member of Islington friends of Yinba and ex-soldier of IDF
7pm in the occupied lecture theatre in the Social Sciences building
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Warwick University students have claimed a space on campus as an act in solidarity with the innocent victims in Gaza and Israel, and with the other groups in the UK which have taken similar action.
We call on our University to suspend dealings with businesses which support Israel’s illegal occupation, such as BAE systems, and to support our fellow students in Palestine who are being denied their right to education.
There will be talks, films, workshops, debates and anything else we can arrange. The occupation of the space will continue until those who are involved decide to end it, and the activities which take place will reflect the wishes of the group. In keeping with our support for the right to education, we will not disrupt lectures, but will maintain a constant presence in the room.
Other universities in the country, including Birmingham, Essex, SOAS, LSE, Sussex and Kings have already seen occupations. Others are planned and will start at any moment. This is an issue which extends far beyond the borders of Warwick, and this occupation and sit-in is undertaken as part of the wider movement. Join us!
Our Demands
1.Warwick University should suspend all relations with companies which supply the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. This includes BAE Systems, MBDA, GE Aviation, QinetiQ and Rolls Royce.
2.That the University donate old computer equipment and textbooks to universities in Palestine, specifically those that were partially destroyed in Gaza during the current Israeli military operation.
3.That the University fund and provide logistical support for a series of talks on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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