Pro-Palestine groups rally for ‘demilitarised and apartheid-free’ South Yorkshire

Two pro-Palestine groups called for divestment from weapons manufacturers and renewed demilitarisation policies in a rally outside the South Yorkshire mayoral offices yesterday.

Sheffield Campus Coalition for Palestine (SCCP) and Sheffield Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (SCAIA) held the rally on a bridge opposite the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) offices ahead of its monthly board meeting.

Protesters highlighted a £80m investment into the AMRC that was announced last year as part of the UK-first South Yorkshire Investment Fund.

The funding will support COMPASS (Composites at Speed and Scale), an aerospace research facility that has been backed by the University of Sheffield, SYMCA, and aerospace manufacturers Boeing.

In a press release sent to The Sheffield Tab, SCCP condemned the initiative, saying that the funding was an investment into “weapons development infrastructure”.

One protestor added: “We believe that education and governance should invest into sustainable infrastructure, not war economies. The millions of pounds poured into facilitating war and genocide could be used to increase access to education, safe housing, jobs, and clean energy here in South Yorkshire.

“University of Sheffield management and the South Yorkshire mayor have a responsibility to their constituents and people globally to protect the right to life and a safe future for young people like us.”

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In response, a University of Sheffield spokesperson said: “The Boeing-led research project referred to will focus on solving composite manufacturing challenges by developing lightweight structures for aeroplanes. This is a key part of making aviation more sustainable and something that can help the aviation industry reach net zero. It is not an investment into ‘weapons development infrastructure.’

“University partnerships with the companies referenced are mainly focused on contributing to improved manufacturing processes and materials that boost productivity and sustainability. They also support our regional and national economy and have resulted in hundreds of high-skilled jobs being created in Sheffield and South Yorkshire.”

The rally also called for SYMCA to renew the region’s “historic demilitarisation and anti-apartheid policies” – in reference to Sheffield City Council becoming the first UK local authority to pledge to end all links with apartheid in 1981.

This call also formed part of a recent SCCP campaign for mass emails to be sent to South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard.

One SCCP member said: “He has tried to justify investing millions in weapons production by claiming that it is in ‘the defence interests of this country’, as well as citing the need to support ‘people defending themselves today in Ukraine’.

“Once again we are seeing a politician maintain a double standard of outspoken support for the people of Ukraine whilst refusing to show support for the people of Palestine in the same terms – Coppard has described the genocide as ‘the conflict in the Middle East’.

“We will continue fighting for the demilitarisation of South Yorkshire and for our regional establishment not only to divest in the AMRC, but to acknowledge and condemn Israel’s genocidal war on the people of Palestine and Lebanon in no uncertain terms.”

The South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority declined to comment.

Featured image via @sheffieldpsc on Instagram