Balfour’s university skirts demands it end entanglement in Gaza genocide

 

On 28 March, during a Palestine rally at the University of Edinburgh, a student protester was physically attacked by a man with a retractable knife in front of university security.

The student suffered cuts to his face, yet security stood idly by. When students reported that the man had a knife, they were dismissed by security members.

Over the last year, student protesters at Edinburgh have called for a reduction in policing on campus, a demand which, according to student organizers, has been rejected by the administration on the grounds that a security presence at rallies ensures the safety of students.

But the 28 March incident instantly disproved the administration’s position. It was a moment that shattered any illusion of safety or institutional neutrality.

Following up with Edinburgh’s Student Association, students learned that security staff’s non-reaction – watching the scene unfold from a safe distance with their hands in their pockets – is in fact protocol. University security staff have a hands-off de-escalation policy that instructs them to disengage at the threat of a physical altercation.

Although security failed to make any attempts at de-escalation in the first place, they technically fulfilled their exact jobs by not intervening once the staff, including head of security Nial Moffat, were informed about the weapon.

But if it goes against security protocol to intervene when physical violence happens before officers’ eyes, what are they there to do?  (more...)

Balfour’s university skirts demands it end entanglement in Gaza genocide