‘We’ll stay as long as we need to’: Pro-Palestine encampment sets up at the University of Birmingham.

Plus: How is the West Midlands economy faring?

Dear Patchers – welcome to your Monday briefing.

With the war in the Middle East ongoing, those in the Dispatch community who consume US news will have noticed the wave of student-led pro-Palestine campus encampments – as well as the backlash to them. Last week, a wave of similar protest camps spread across the UK, with a self-styled (and very-recently installed) ‘Liberated Zone’ encampment now sitting at the heart of the University of Birmingham. This weekend, we visited the camp to find out more about its aims and who is taking part. 

Our weekend read saw our brilliant feature writer Ophira meet the undertakers at a Kings Heath ‘Death Cafe’ where the death-curious can learn more about undertaking and topics relating to death. Everything from fancy dress funerals, to cadaver preparation, and acceptance of passing on is discussed. “That was a really lovely article,” wrote Dispatch member Gavin in the comments. “I had no idea Birmingham was a Compassionate City either but I'm really glad to read this.” You can read that piece here. 

We’ve had lots of social media sharing of our big investigation last week, which revealed that the West Midlands Combined Authority had invested £2.4 million of taxpayers’ money in a property fund that did business with the social housing entrepreneur Gurpaal Judge. “I am so relieved that in the Dispatch we once again have excellent investigative journalists,” wrote one reader. “How else were we ever going to find out about this?” If you’re on Twitter/X, please share the thread about the story.

If you value this kind of journalism, and you’re not already a member, please join up now so we can do more of it. We’re pushing hard to reach the 700-member mark this month, and the more members we get, the more ambitious we can be in our reporting. This region needs journalists who are paid to keep an eye on things, dig into issues flagged by readers and keep local politicians and companies honest. Frankly, at the moment there are far too few reporters with that brief, and by joining up, you can help to change that. 

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Weather

🌧️Tuesday: Last week’s good weather is behind us. Light rain all day. Max 17°C.

☁️Wednesday: Light cloud cover for most of the day. Potential for sun in the eve. Max 19°C.

⛈️Thursday: A humid day. Thundery showers in the late afternoon. Max 19°C.

🌦️Friday: Consistent light rain with scattered sunshine into the evening. Max 18°C.

🌦️Weekend: A consistently drizzly and showery weekend with better weather into Sunday. Max 19°C.

We get our weather from the BBC.

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The big story: ‘We’ll stay as long as we need to’

Top line: Since last Wednesday evening, a pro-Palestine student encampment has been set up at the centre of the University of Birmingham. Run by a coalition of different activist groups (including the Revolutionary Communist Party and West Midlands Palestine Solidarity campaign) the camp has dubbed itself ‘the liberated zone’. 

What do they want? To get the university to financially divest from specific companies linked to Israel, to break off research connections with Israeli universities, to pledge to help rebuild universities in Gaza, and to protect the right to freedom of protest and speech on campus. Alma, the camp’s media spokesperson and a researcher at the university, told The Dispatch protestors will “stay as long as they need to”.

Photo: Dan Cave / The Dispatch. Camp on Saturday afternoon.

Context: Since late April, student protestors have set up camps at universities across the US – with protest camps getting as big as 2,000-large at Columbia University. While those camps have seen counter-protests and police crackdowns, as well as recriminations in the press, it has not deterred a similar movement from taking hold in the UK. Last week, encampments at Manchester, Warwick, Lancaster and Leeds were thrown up.

Student support: The camp has visibly grown over the weekend and we’re told various university societies, external organisations and unions have shown support. UCU and Unision published a joint open letter welcoming the camp, while Alma told us: “Loads of people have donated food, petty cash and camp supplies and staff and student solidarity has been amazing.” 

Security presence: Over the two days we visited the camp this weekend, campus security were visibly present – sometimes moving into the encampment itself. University of Birmingham management told The Dispatch that while they support and understand some demonstrations, there is no permission for setting up tents on university property and they will monitor the situation “to minimise disruption”. We have also seen an all-staff email from Professor Adam Tickell, vice chancellor of the university, expressing his disappointment about the camp and wishing protestors would take other avenues. “I remain open to meeting the students once it [the camp] has been removed,” he said.

Simmering tensions: The university admits that tensions are running high on campus. Back in February, we spoke to some students who said they had experienced separate incidents of anti-Semitic abuse. 

Off the record, a university employee told us that they expect the university to crack down on the protest eventually. Alma said while the protestors don’t expect this to take the violent form seen in the US, they are ready. “We hope it won’t happen but we are prepared,” Alma she told us. 

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Photo of the week

If you (like me) were inside watching the Sopranos with your cat when the Northern Lights graced our skies the other night, then you probably (like me) can’t stop looking at pictures of them with a sort of masochistic envy. Here’s a stunner of a photo from Kaushik Paul, just in case you weren’t already seething with jealousy.

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Brum in brief

🚨 ‘Poorly performing’ West Mids: Though the UK is officially out of recession, economists have noted that the West Midlands’ economic motors are still performing “particularly poorly”. Commenting in The Guardian, Professor Adrian Pabst, deputy director for public policy at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research thinktank, said a mixture of Brexit red tape hitting manufacturing and a lack of investment are driving inequality between the region and London’s services-driven economy. More here. 

🏤 New bid to save Ringway: A fresh campaign to save the brutalist Ringway Centre from being demolished and replaced with residential apartment blocks has been launched. Despite the council’s planning committee re-voting in February to have the six-storey office block knocked down, the Save Smallbrook coalition is crowdfunding to take the decision to judicial review. Read more about the latest campaign here – or more about the opinion-dividing history of the building in our deep dive. 

💰 Council leader defends bankruptcy: Birmingham City Council leader John Cotton has defended the financial calculations that led to the beleaguered local authority making £300m in cuts and trying to raise circa £750m in asset sales. Speaking to the Financial Times, he said “the figure is the figure” until anything is clarified further. There are concerns that the equal pay liability has been costed at a figure much higher than it actually might be. Full story.

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Home of the week

If the recent sunny spell has you feeling green-fingered, this four-bedroom period property in Erdington has not one, but two gardens — with a greenhouse and a vegetable patch to boot. Zoopla says it’s the ideal home for a family (so long as you’re happy to share one bathroom, and you have £400,000 going spare).

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Media picks

🔪 Have you ever tried walking down the streets of Saltley with a meat cleaver hidden in your pocket? If so, then you may already be familiar with Project Guardian, the police task force charged with tackling youth violence in the West Midlands. In his brand new feature, David Woode from The Times spends the day with the coppers fighting knife crime in the knife crime capital.

⏰ What do 15th Century self-portraits, baroque soprano solos, a fake electrician, and a clock with cigarettes for hands all have in common? They’re all on display at the Ikon Gallery, of course. Read Laura Cumming’s rave review of Mirror Martyr Mirror Moon and Rue Britannia over at the Guardian.

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Things to do

Tuesday

📷 The new narratives in photography exhibition is coming up to its final two weeks at the Midlands Arts Centre in Cannon Hill park. Curators are showcasing new work from Pakistani artists, including Asad Ali, Hira Noor, Ume Laila, and Waleed Zafar. Full details.

🎵 If Georgian polyphonic singing ensembles are your thing, then head to Bournville’s St Francis Church at 5PM tomorrow evening for a workshop and performance with singers from the Republic of Georgia. More here. 

Wednesday

🍿 A leftfield midweek offering. With Flatpack festival truly underway, movie aficionados can head to the Printmakers Arms to hear new film scores (from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire) set to the best in Swedish experimental film. All the info.

🎞️ Another silver screen suggestion. Vietnamese film season kicks off at the MAC on Wednesday promising to introduce UK viewers to the rich tapestry of output from the East Asian state. More details.

Thursday

🚪 On at The Rep’s The Door for three nights only, Sonali Bhattacharyya’s Liberation Squares explores identity, state surveillance and friendship through the lens of three teenage girls. Both blurb and tickets at a click.

🎙️ Controversial comic Simon Brodkin brings his one-man show to the Alexandra Theatre, taking aim at the police, celebrity culture, social media and Prince Andrew. Tickets here.