On the war:

“…Israel must lose. It is not enough to call for another ceasefire, or more humanitarian assistance. It is not enough to urge the renewal of dialogue and to acknowledge the concerns and suffering of both sides. If we believe in the principle of democratic self-determination, if we affirm the right to resist military aggression and colonial occupation, then we are obliged to take sides… against Israel, and with the people of Gaza and the West Bank.

We must do what we can to stop Israel from winning its war. Israel must accept that its security depends on justice and peaceful coexistence with its neighbours, and not upon the criminal use of force.

We believe Israel should immediately and unconditionally end its assault on Gaza, end the occupation of the West Bank, and abandon all claims to possess or control territory beyond its 1967 borders. We call on the British government and the British people to take all feasible steps to oblige Israel to comply with these demands, starting with a programme of boycott, divestment and sanctions.”

Full letter and signatories…

On the humanitarian consequences:

“…casualty data are indicative of a military campaign being waged in an indiscriminate, disproportionate, and therefore under International Humanitarian Law, illegal fashion. Failure of the international community to ensure legal culpability would provide military forces around the world with a clear message that the Geneva Conventions can be discarded with impunity, as in Gaza today. If this happens, children and women will continue to pay heavily in future conflicts.”

University College London, CIHD

Update 22.01.09: British students are also taking action in at least eight Universities, adopting various protest tactics.

Protests over Gaza spread to eight English universities

Students stage university protest

Oxford University

Birmingham University

Essex University

Kings College London

London School of Economics

SOAS

Sussex University

Warwick University

Update 25.01.09:

Cambridge University joins the protests

17+ Universities have now taken action

The Cambridge University Gaza solidarity blog can be read at: http://cambridgegazasolidarity.blogspot.com/

Update 29.01.09:

http://queenmaryoccupation.blogspot.com/

http://shuoccupation.blogspot.com/

Update 03.02.09:

Nottingham University has forcibly evicted students engaged in a sit-in. Security guards manhandled and apparently assaulted students last night to force an end to the protest. A video is available here

More details at: http://occupationnottingham.wordpress.com/

A blog with news on all the different university protests can be read at: http://occupations.org.uk/

“Israel military forces only use munitions that are acceptable under international law and international convention,” Mark Regev, spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

22nd March 1995 – Israel signs the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons

Protocol III, Article 2 states:

1. It is prohibited in all circumstances to make the civilian population as such, individual

civilians or civilian objects the object of attack by incendiary weapons.

2. It is prohibited in all circumstances to make any military objective located within a

concentration of civilians the object of attack by air-delivered incendiary weapons.

17 January 2009 – “… a number of white phosphorous shells struck the yard of an UNRWA school in Beit Lahia, causing panic among the 1,600 civilians who had taken refuge there. While evacuating the shelter, an explosive shell struck the third floor of the school, killing two brothers, aged five and seven, and injuring 14 others including the boys’ mother. UNRWA has demanded an independent investigation into this incident.”

“…Where you have a direct hit on an UNRWA school where about 1,600 people had taken refuge, where the Israeli army knows the coordinates and knows who’s there, where this comes as the latest in a catalogue of direct and indirect attacks on UNRWA facilities, there have to be investigations to establish whether war crimes have been committed.” – Christopher Gunness, UNRWA spokesperson” [UN OCHA]