Liverpool student woke up Palestine encampment at 3am blasting Rule, Britannia! on speaker

The man accused a protestor of ‘trespassing’ on ‘his university’ and ‘intimidating people’

6 months ago

A University of Liverpool student has been filmed purposefully waking up student protestors camping on Abercromby Square by shouting and playing the song Rule, Britannia! from a speaker.

Walking past the pro-Palestine encampment at 3am early last Saturday morning, the man addressed the camera as he stood beside the camp, before beginning to sing along loudly to the chorus of the song.

He then engaged with a protestor who emerged from the encampment, accusing them of “trespassing” on “his university” and “intimidating people”.

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Pro-Palestine demonstrators set up an encampment last week on Abercromby Square and intend to remain until the University of Liverpool meet their demands, which include the university calls for an immediate ceasefire and offers Palestinian scholarships and assistance in rebuilding infrastructure.

Protestors have occupied the square, which has been declared as a “liberated zone” and renamed as Alareer Square, since May 6th.

Footage of incident in the early hours of May 11th has circulated online and shows the Liverpool student speaking to the camera, where he announced the time and where he was.

Standing on the path that wraps around the square, he said: “It’s currently 3am, this is Alareer Square, it’s actually Abercromby Square but for some reason that’s part of Palestine now.”

Holding a portable speaker, he added to the camera: “We’re going to give them a nice little wake up call to start their day with liberation – by camping and eating whatever gluten free sh*t they can find.”

The student then moved closer to the fence which borders the square, before blasting the track Rule, Britannia! from his speaker and singing along.

He continued to shout the lyrics “Britons never, never, never will be slaves”, which were then met by shouts of “Free Palestine!” from multiple students inside the encampment.

Another student inside the encampment yelled at him: “Shut the f*ck up and go to bed” to which the man told him “Morning”.

Further cries of “Free Palestine” were made by individuals on the square as the student then said “Wakey wakey” and “Rise and shine baby. Rise and shine.”

Following this, the footage showed a man emerging from inside the encampment who then began to speak with the student. Despite being asked to “sing along bro” by the student playing music, the man asked the student why he’d chosen to wake protestors occupying the green: “I’ll sing with you but why are you being [inaudible].”

Ignoring the question, the man challenged the protestor and referred to the encampment as being “intimidating” to students like himself. He said: “Why are you in my university? Not only are you trespassing but you’re intimidating people.”

Throughout their 10 day encampment, Liverpool student groups have shared their activities on social media and have requested donations of lights, tents, generators and non-perishable foods to aid students throughout the protest.

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The man asked the student protestor how long he intended on staying on the square, before adding “How’s the gluten free food?”. Questioning whether the University of Liverpool have yet agreed to any of the protestors’ demands, the man continued: “So the Israelis are listening to you right now? So there’s not much point in doing it then.”

Student protestors intend on remaining in the encampment until the university meets their demands. This comes as UCL and University of Cambridge were forced to cancel summer events and graduations due to pro-Palestinian encampments occupying event space on campus.

The video ends with the student questioning the protestor on why he won’t sing along to the song, saying: “You won’t. Because you don’t like England. You don’t like this country. You don’t like it, you don’t like the Israelis -“.

The University of Liverpool has been approached for comment