Students double down on legal action against London School of Economics

Seven London School of Economics (LSE) students who were barred from campus after participating in a pro-Palestine protest are persisting with their claim that the university has violated their fundamental human rights.

The students were banned following a protest on 7 July 2024 calling on the university to divest from companies implicated in human rights abuses against Palestinians in line with a student referendum that passed with overwhelming support (89 percent) in favour of divestment.

In internal emails seen by the students, LSE's president Larry Kramer vowed the university would "expel" the protestors and suggested that future protests would require a police or security presence "who can restrain people".

The school dropped the ban against the students when human rights lawyers at law firm Leigh Day wrote to LSE on behalf of the students, arguing that the university had violated their rights.

However, the disciplinary process against the students is still ongoing, with the school issuing a formal warning to six of them, which the students are appealing.

In another internal email, senior LSE management described the students participating in the protests as being "dressed as terrorists", suggesting they should be expelled before any investigation had begun.

“All seven of us believe that the LSE is profiting from what is widely documented as genocide of Palestinians and we have sought to expose and denounce the university’s apparent complicity in these grave human rights abuses through protest. There are no universities left in Gaza. As students, we have a moral duty to uphold the principles of justice and accountability that higher education institutions are meant to represent," Emily, who used a pseudonym, said in a statement.