What Are Students Thoughts on the Israel-Palestine Question and What Action Are They Taking to Help?

Image - Korng Shok

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The conflict between Israel and Palestine has dominated topics of debate in both parliament and public discourse throughout the past few years. This was of course exacerbated by the attacks on October 7th and the increased Israeli bombardment of the Palestinian territories since.

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In the UK, the events have split both public and political opinion, with divisive decisions and media dominating the rhetoric. Many cities, including the capital, have been overwhelmed by protests in the name of Palestine Action, since proscribed as a terrorist organisation. Politicians have defied their party whip to comment on the matter and others have stood as “pro Gaza” candidates in both general and local elections.

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Students have been particularly active in voicing their concerns regarding the ongoing violence and cost to human life within the Middle East. I spoke to two politically involved students from the University of Birmingham: Olly, the president of the Green Party Society and Kashvi, the president of the Labour Society. Both of them told me how significant the Israel-Palestine issue is to students, highlighting that students are ‘very aware of what is happening’ and want to actively be involved in discourse around, and support for, the Palestinian people.

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Kashvi highlighted her concern for those who ‘make noise for the sake of it’ over actually attempting to contribute to raising awareness for or helping those most affected. She argued that regardless of political divide or opinion, ‘the families in Gaza need to be the focus of this issue, and students agree’. She also expressed her support for the government’s decision to recognise the State of Palestine as of September 21, 2025, adding that she thinks this is ‘the main step students appreciate’ as it marked a ‘huge step to shift perspective, to recognise the state and aiming for a stable government without Hamas, despite people like Nigel Farage calling it performative’.

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A law student, Kashvi conveyed her concern about the war crimes being committed and the need to hold Israeli officials to account, suggesting that ‘we face a very real situation where even if there is peace, no one takes responsibility or accountability for what happened there’. She also pointed towards the international nature of the crisis and voiced her frustrations that countries with exponential amounts of wealth, such as the UAE, could be doing more to help. She concluded that ‘it’s a very difficult situation, it’s not just black and white’.

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However, the Green Society president, Olly, commented that an ‘overwhelming support and solidarity for the Palestinians is something we as the Greens probably talk about most, we aren’t afraid to call it a genocide, as that’s the term the UN uses’. Olly expressed more openly his anger towards the UK government’s choices to continue to ‘make and sell parts to Israel that are used in fighter jets, bombing Palestinian children’. He commented that the students within the society had little faith in the US president’s so-called peace plan, evidenced by the fact that ‘just two or three days later, Israel was once again bombing Gaza’.

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As a society, Olly told me the Greens main concern, similar to that expressed by Kashvi, is what can actually be done by the UK and the world to work towards peace. He commented that ‘our biggest fears were realised when Trump wanted to appoint Tony Blair, the butcher of the Middle East, to be the one in charge of Palestine. We can't allow that’.

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Both Kashvi and Olly commented on the actions of students, highlighting their commitment to the issue and their attempts to help the victims of the conflict where possible. They both expressed frustrations of students feeling like their concerns and ideas aren’t being heard by both politicians and university faculty.

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Kashvi shared with me how students had collaborated to write a letter to the university's chancellor regarding the university getting students from Palestine who have been provided a place to study over here safely. ‘It was because of that push, the university took some substantial steps towards getting these students here and they’re working on it. I think that wouldn’t have happened if students hadn’t pushed for it and that’s a good thing, we came together, not making static noise and actually taking action’. This collective effort and the response from the university's board was a positive one, with students feeling they made a real difference to help those in Gaza. Kashvi told me that these conversations are ongoing, but they are moving in the right direction and alongside donating, supporting charities and preparing food packages, they can ‘help those at the heart of the issue’.

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Kashvi did, however, suggest that she had concerns over ‘some people making noise rather than focusing on what we can do as a student force. I don’t want to use the word performative, because that isn’t the right word to use in this case because there are so many genuine activists but maybe a small number of people, I don't feel they actually care about the issues.’ She wants to make sure that those within the Labour society, and students more generally, are making the best choices to support those in need and actively participating in making change happen.

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Kashvi noted that in the past couple of years, almost every university started encampments to raise awareness over Gaza and get their university’s attention. ‘I think this is nothing new, there was a lot of criticism. Students have done this across the world for years, it's our way of saying we are here, we're the next generation and it's our futures’. This was a point that Olly concurred with;‘ students are radical, we are educated and we are wanting change for the world we're going to live in for the next seventy years. I think that the world we want to live in is not one where children are being bombed in hospitals or shot trying to get food because they’re starving. We want to live in a world of hope and peace and I think students are the ones driving that’.

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Olly also drew attention towards the encampments which he said were constructed ‘with the core political aim of saying where's money going? Are we happy for it to go towards the arms race?’ He also expressed the Greens unwavering support for the encampment. ‘I think that showed who we as a university really are. There was such a community, people were bringing in baked goods, singing songs, sharing stories. The encampment was more than just political action, it was a political community. The university bulldozed the encampment and that skyrocketed support for Antonia [the pro-Palestine guild president candidate]. I don’t know a single person who didn’t vote for her’.

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Olly pointed me in the direction of the student body’s next course of action, potentially withdrawing from the National Union of Students UK. ‘There's a petition going now from the people who ran the encampment, Friends of Palestine, to withdraw the Guild of Students from the NUS, which we are a founding member of, so it would make a strong political move’. This potential withdrawal is based on the lack of action by the NUS to speak on the matter. Olly highlighted that ‘there’s always action students want to take regarding the ongoing genocide’ and the NUS have not reflected that in their actions.

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From speaking to Kashvi and Olly, it is abundantly clear that students are highly aware and concerned about the matter of Israel-Palestine, horrified by the ongoing bombing that Gaza’s Health Ministry estimates has killed over 70,100 people since October 2023. Students are not just present in physical protests, though this has dominated the news, but in charitable works, writing petitions and raising money for those most affected.