STUDENTS at a Scottish university have taken part in a pro-Palestine protest despite calls from leadership and politicians to cancel.
Hundreds of students and staff gathered for the demonstration at Edinburgh University on Tuesday afternoon, which saw people holding signs which read "Jews say not in our name" and "queers against genocide".
The protest, organised by the Edinburgh University Justice for Palestine Society (EUJPS), was one of several planned at universities across the UK on the second anniversary of the October 7 attacks.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer had urged students not to take part in the protests, branding them "un-British" and claiming they show a lack of respect for others.
The protests come in the wake of the terror attack at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Manchester last week.
Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, died on October 2 after Al-Shamie drove into a group of people before stabbing a man. Daulby was accidentally shot by police as he blocked the doors to the synagogue.
Edinburgh University's vice chancellor, Professor Peter Mathieson (below), previously urged students who were planning to take part in Tuesday's protest to "think carefully about their actions".
In an email sent to all students on Monday evening, he said: "We are aware that there is a demonstration planned for tomorrow [Tuesday] in connection with the date, two years since the atrocities of 7 October 2023."
Mathieson added: "I appeal to members of our community, irrespective of their race, religion, nationality or beliefs to think carefully about their actions, their motivations and the effect that they might have on other members of our community.
"In these troubled times, I hope that our common ground is that everyone in our community abhors violence against innocents, especially children, wherever it happens in the world."
The vice chancellor added that the university community "should not attempt to justify or glorify acts of gratuitous violence against innocents".
"It is important that anyone participating in demonstrations against what is happening in Gaza does not fall into this trap," he said.
Students accused Mathieson of carrying out "a blatant attempt to suppress campus discourse on an ongoing genocide", pointing towards the university's investments in firms supporting the Israeli military.
Edinburgh University was previously named in a UN report as one of "the most financially entangled" institutions in the UK to Israel.
Francese Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, said the university’s investments were in violation of international law, human rights, and the 1948 Genocide Convention.
In a statement organised by EUJPS, which was signed by more than 40 other societies, students said it is "vile and misleading to link the Heaton Park Synagogue attack to our protest".
"Tying the antisemitic attack in Manchester to our demonstration against genocide is a disgusting weaponisation of tragedy to crack down on free speech," the statement said.
"It is not contradictory to mourn the lives of the victims of the attack in Manchester whilst also mourning the lives of those murdered in Gaza."
The statement echoes comments made by a group of Jewish academics working at universities across Scotland, who condemned "unfounded, irresponsible and dangerous" attempts by the Labour Government to link the Manchester terror attack with pro-Palestine protests.
The Scottish Universities Jewish Staff Network – a network that brings together Jewish staff and researchers in higher education across Scotland – said it rejected the "weaponisation" of the terror attack in Manchester to suppress protests against the genocide in Gaza.
Vivienne Stern, chief executive of Universities UK, said: "While universities must be places where contentious views can be expressed, and while universities have a legal duty to uphold free speech, we urge students and staff participating in protests to remember that the 7th October is the anniversary of an atrocious attack on innocent people, and that expressing support for a terrorist organisation is a criminal offence."
Edinburgh University declined to provide additional comment.
