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Amnesty International said in a new report that British universities have suppressed students and academics who express solidarity with Palestine through event bans, suspensions, campus restrictions and threats to their immigration status.

The report, titled "Silencing Dissent: UK Universities' Response to Palestine Solidarity on Campus", examines cases at several leading institutions and concludes that none of the incidents reviewed crossed the limits set for political expression or peaceful protest under international or UK law.

Meetings cancelled and protests treated as disorder

According to the report, expressions of support for Palestine on campus were treated as criticism of Israel and blocked. Universities cancelled meetings and events, described peaceful demonstrations as disruption, removed protest encampments and imposed pre-emptive punitive measures.

Some institutions handled pro-Palestine actions held in open areas as trespass. Others introduced rules requiring prior permission for protests or obtained court injunctions closing large parts of their campuses, which left participating students and university staff exposed to fines and possible imprisonment.

Students and academic staff faced disciplinary proceedings for acts such as chanting, applauding or wearing a keffiyeh, the report said.

Suspensions, campus bans and visa threats

The report said penalties handed to students and academic staff included suspensions, campus bans and the removal of titles, along with threats to cancel visas or change their immigration status. Some sanctions were imposed before disciplinary processes had concluded.

Visibly Muslim students and those carrying symbols of Palestinian identity were disproportionately affected, the report said. Palestinian, Arab and Muslim students and academics, as well as non-British nationals, felt the impact more strongly and unequally.

In some cases, staff and students were placed in lengthy proceedings with no timetable. They were kept off campus for long periods, received limited services and, according to the report, developed serious health problems because of the uncertainty.

Cases at Oxford, Cambridge, King's College and LSE

Students at Oxford University faced extended disciplinary processes over encampments set up in 2024 demanding that the institution sever its ties with Israel. Some were barred from parts of the campus and had to seek permission to attend lectures. At Cambridge University, the institution took students to court and used a court ruling to close areas where protests had been held for years to Palestine demonstrations.

Usama Ghanem, a King's College student, was suspended over pro-Palestine activism and told during the suspension process to return to Egypt, where Ghanem had previously been arrested and tortured, the report said.

At the London School of Economics (LSE), students who staged a 15-minute action calling for the university to cut commercial ties with Israel received campus bans for wearing keffiyehs, carrying a red handprint T-shirt evoking blood, using a megaphone and chanting. One student was told health and safety services could only be accessed online, and was later blocked from entering the campus health clinic after that visit was treated as a breach of the ban.

Internal LSE messages described the activists as "students dressed like terrorists" and "children having tantrums", and one academic wrote that students should be expelled before disciplinary processes ended, the report said.

Coordination between institutions

The report said British universities responded to pro-Palestine supporters with pressure, and that some shared strategies with one another against people who backed victims of Israeli apartheid or opposed what the report described as genocide in Gaza, took instructions from the Department for Education or exchanged security planning.

It also noted that statements in support of Palestine were examined in detail while Palestine-related actions were assessed differently from other student protests.

Key takeaways

• Amnesty International says UK universities blocked pro-Palestine events, removed encampments and punished students for chanting, applauding or wearing a keffiyeh.
• Sanctions included suspensions, campus bans, loss of titles and threats to cancel visas, with some penalties imposed before disciplinary cases ended.
• Visibly Muslim students and those displaying Palestinian symbols were disproportionately affected, according to the report.
• Oxford, Cambridge, King's College and LSE cases featured in the report, including court action and internal messages calling activists "students dressed like terrorists".