King's College London Students End Occupation, Declaring Victory
Feb. 1, 2009
(London) King's College London students declared victory today after almost two weeks occupying a lecture theatre at the Central London Strand campus. The students began their sit-in protest almost a fortnight ago on Tuesday morning January 20th, demanding a series of measures from the university management aimed at recognising the suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza and initiating concrete measures to help to alleviate it. King's College students were particularly concerned about the stance of King's College in light of the decision to award an honorary doctorate to Shimon Peres, current president of Israel.
"The college has agreed to a series of measures to directly address the current crisis in Gaza, including the provision of scholarships for those directly affected by the crisis, and the donation of educational resources to institutions in Palestine", said Mido Khan on behalf of the student protesters. "In addition, the college has acknowledged the scale of discontent that the award to Peres has generated among the student population, particularly considering the award in the context of what has happened recently in Gaza." The students agreed to cease their occupation after college management agreed to publish a statement outlining the position of the College on these issues and the humanitarian measures undertaken in the wake of the occupation.
"This signals the reintroduction of student activism as a powerful agent for political change, and shows us that if we make a stand then we can make a difference", said Hesham Yafai.
