UK students urged to mind terror laws before 7 October pro-Palestine protests

University leaders have cautioned students planning to take part in pro-Palestinian demonstrations to coincide with the anniversary of the 7 October Hamas attacks, warning them that “expressing support for a terrorist organisation is a criminal offence”.

Up to 10 events – variously described as vigils, rallies and debates – are thought to have been planned on or near campuses on Tuesday, including an “inter-university” march in London, involving students and staff from multiple London institutions.

It will be the second anniversary of the Hamas attacks on Israel which left 1,200 people dead, many more injured or kidnapped and sparked the Israeli offensive in Gaza, which has killed more than 65,000 people.

Universities UK (UUK), which represents vice-chancellors and acts as the voice of the sector, wrote to members last week after the attack on Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester, warning that the anniversary was a “potential flashpoint” and urging members to “review security arrangements”.

Vivienne Stern, the UUK’s chief executive, 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 7 October is the anniversary of an atrocious attack on innocent people, and that expressing support for a terrorist organisation is a criminal offence.”

Details of the London march are posted on Instagram under the banner headline: “Inter-university march. Two years of genocide and our institutions remain complicit.” It calls for a walkout of classes at 2pm, with the route taking in King’s College London (KCL), the London School of Economics, University College London and finishing at SOAS.

Other 7 October events have been advertised at the University of Sheffield, where the Revolutionary Communist party is staging a “rally for Palestine”, KCL Students for Justice for Palestine has an evening of debate and discussion called “Why it didn’t start on October 7th”, while the Palestine Solidarity Society at Strathclyde University is staging a “Protest 4 Palestine”.

Stern said there has been a “deeply concerning” rise in antisemitic incidents in the last two years and the “UUK has worked closely with university leaders to tackle this”. She urged university leaders to maintain close contact with Jewish student groups and to publicise mechanisms for reporting antisemitic incidents.

“We have signposted resources to help universities combat antisemitism both from Universities UK and from the Community Security Trust and the Union of Jewish Students,” she added.

Louis Danker, the president of the Union of Jewish Students, said: “We respect the right to protest and the importance of free speech within the law. There are 365 days in the year and on one of them – 7 October – Jewish students seek the space to mourn their loved ones murdered in southern Israel.

“Moreover, marking ‘two years of resistance’ on 7 October echoes the explicit justification and glorification of the Hamas terrorist attacks on campus witnessed over the last two years.

“No Jewish student should have to stand by as others glorify a day that marks such loss for our community. We have written to vice-chancellors and university leaders to remind them of their obligation to stand against the glorification of terror.”

On Saturday police arrested almost 500 people in London at what organisers hoped would be the biggest demonstration so far against a ban on the proscribed organisation Palestine Action.

The demonstration went ahead despite Keir Starmer calling on protesters to call it off to “respect the grief of British Jews”, while Jewish leaders described the action as “phenomenally tone deaf” after Thursday’s killing of two people in the terror attack on a Manchester synagogue.