Students from across the country will attend a protest to support Gaza and the Manchester student occupation.

Students there have been occupying a lecture theatre in the University's Simon Building in support of Gazans.

The students have issued a list of demands on the University to take a progressive stance on Gaza. The demands include ending all investment and research in the manufacturing of weapons, providing scholarships for Palestinian students and Israelis who refuse to serve in the IDF.

The students in the Manchester occupation have constantly tried to negotiate with University Management, but the Management has refused to sincerely engage with student?s demands.

The demo was called by the occupation in response to the continued intransigence of the university management.

The actions by students in Manchester are part of a nationwide surge in student activism in response to the recent Israeli assault on Gaza, and the on-going humanitarian crisis.

Manchester is one of over 30 universities to go into occupation, many of which have been very successful.

Teachers and lecturers have expressed support for occupations both locally and nationally, with the lecturers union, the UCU, issuing a statement praising the occupying students.

The Manchester occupation, like all the other occupations, has also received messages of solidarity from Palestinian student organisations and universities, including the Student Council of An-Najah National University, which is twinned with the University of Manchester, and another message came from the Islamic University of Gaza.