Protestors Target University of Manchester Over Israel Research Ties

Manchester Students Storm Campus to Protest Tel Aviv Research Partnership

University of Manchester students, led by UOM Action 4 Palestine, marched on campus Tuesday, blocking entrances to a management meeting to protest the institution’s research partnership with Tel Aviv University. reported that the protest culminated at the National Graphene Institute, where security personnel barred access as Duncan Ivison was inside. The demonstration drew a direct line between tuition fees and the conflict in Gaza, chanting, “What does our tuition fund? Labour’s missiles, tanks and guns!”

A Partnership Under Fire

This isn’t a new fight. The university’s collaboration with Tel Aviv, which involves Manchester contributing up to £5,000 per project to initiatives like the ‘Biorobotics Research Network’ and ‘Linguistic imperialism and the demotion of Arabic in Israel,’ has faced sustained opposition. In 2021, over 200 academics signed an open letter against it. The tension boiled over in 2025 when 94% of the student body voted for the partnership to be terminated. Yet, the university has continued its collaboration, a point the protesters highlighted with their chants of “UOM administration, stop supporting occupation!”

The protest wasn’t confined to the actions of Israel. It also targeted the University of Manchester’s direct involvement with the UK government’s Defence Universities Alliance (DUA). Chants like “DUA shut it down, MOD shut it down, IOF shut it down” and “MOD Ministry of Death, you’re in bed with the IOF” revealed a broader concern: the militarisation of higher education.

The Democratic Question

“When it comes down to these sorts of things, they completely ignore what students have to say. And so I think as students and staff are the ones that make this university actually function, they should be the ones making decisions about where the money goes and who it works with.”

Newton’s solution wasn’t to wait for an invitation to the table. Instead, he called for organised action. “So I think what students have to do, and alongside staff, alongside the community, is to actually organise, to build power that makes the cost of continuing this partnership too high to continue,” he said. He challenged the university to choose its reputation: “one of partnering with Israel, of partnering with weapons companies, or do they want to be actually about what university does, about teaching students, about research, about improving the world?”

This perspective was shared by Esther, a member of UOM Action 4 Palestine. “Students are against militarisation on campus, and no student wants their tuition to go towards genocide and to go towards defence,” she told The Mancunion. “We want degrees, not UAVs.” The sentiment reflects a generational shift, with students increasingly viewing their university not as an apolitical institution, but as an actor with moral and financial responsibilities.

The Administration and the Mayor’s Response

While students and staff mobilise, the university’s leadership has remained steadfast, and the local government’s position is one of cautious observation. Mayor of Greater Manchester Bev Craig, when asked about the partnership, told The Mancunion, “I don’t know the ins and outs of the partnership but I’m happy to look into it in a bit more detail and speak to the Vice-Chancellor about its implications and whether it reflected student opinion.” Her response highlights the political delicacy of the issue, with the university being a major civic anchor for the city.