Guy Woodford

A STUDENT sit-in protest at the University of Nottingham over events in Gaza has ended.

More than 20 students were removed at around 6.10pm after security entered the room in university's Law and Social Science building.

Some students claim they were forcibly removed and said they would be taking up the matter with police.

Earlier today students said they expected the four day protest to last "at least" another week.

They had even considered occupying another room in the university's Law and Social Sciences building, as they have been joined by so many supporters.

Their protest over the carnage in Gaza and their university's response to it, has been supported by Nottingham South MP Alan Simpson who gave a speech to students on Friday.

University officials switched off power supplies on Friday night leaving students with no heating over the weekend.

Last night, Liberal DemocratBaroness Jenny Tonge spoke to students through a window of Room B62 of the Law and Social Sciences building, which the students have occupied since Wednesday night.

The House of Lords representative had been banned from joining the students by site security staff.

The students were joined overnight by staff from Cambridge, Essex, Sussex and London University.

Speaking earlier on Sunday Hicham Yezza, one of those taking part, had said: "I think we will go on for at least another week, because at the moment we haven't had any movement from the university yet."

Mr Yezza said students had been participating in a large programme of events, including film showings and all sorts of artistic workshops, seminars, discussions and debates.

In addition to protesting at the general conditions in Gaza, the students' particular demands to their university included that the university website carry the Gaza relief appeal that the BBC and Sky refused to broadcast;

a public condemnation by university authorities of Israel's actions; scholarships for Palestinian students and donations of books and educational equipment to Palestinian schools and universities, and; that the university cease investing "directly or indirectly in companies complicit in human rights abuses in the Gaza strip," and that those companies be banned from campus.

Protest leaders said they had worked hard to make sure that lectures were not disturbed or cancelled.

Speaking at the end of the sit in, a University of Nottingham spokesman said: "We have recognised right from the beginning of this protest that the students involved have legitimate concerns about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and that they have a right to protest peacefully providing this does not interfere with the teaching and learning of their fellow students.

"The University was very patient and tolerant during the occupation - the media were given full access to the campus and to the students taking part, allowing them to put their message across. External invited speakers have addressed the students in the occupied lecture room, and in the days prior to this occupation two peaceful demonstrations around the events in Gaza took place outside the Hallward Library.

"However those involved in the occupation do not have a right to disrupt indefinitely the normal functioning of the University and in particular the education of their fellow students. They have held their protest and made their point, and have in fact continued the occupation despite calls by the National Union of Students for all such campus protests to end.

"The University has to consider its duty of care to the rest of the student body.

"The vast majority of the students here were not involved in this protest, and many of them would have faced further disruption if this protest had been allowed to continue indefinitely. "The small number of students involved in the occupation were asked to leave a number of times, and offered dialogue with senior management when they did, but they refused.

"For this reason, the University moved to end the occupation on Sunday evening to enable lectures to resume as normal on Monday morning."