Seven members of the School of Oriental and African Studies (Soas) anti-Israel camp were arrested last week on suspicion of possession of drugs, assault of an emergency worker and the obstruction of police.

The arrests appear to have spurred the university into action, with a Soas statement announcing last Friday that the process of dismantling the sprawling occupation in Bloomsbury, central London, would begin after the University of London sought a possession order from the courts.

Soas called the encampment “unmanageable” and said that a significant number of people had no affiliation with the university – including “homeless people and persons wanted by the police”.

The student suspects were released by the Metropolitan Police and await their date in court.

The arrested students outside Islington Police Station after their release. A photo of the students on Instagram said “Disclose, Divest, We Will Not Stop We Will Not Rest!” (Photo: Instagram)

In a post on the “Soas liberated zone” Instagram page, students said that all “comrades” had been released and a photograph of the students was captioned: “Disclose, Divest, We Will Not Stop We Will Not Rest!”

The encampment at the London university sprang up at the beginning of May, along with parallel camps at University College London and Queen Mary University.

In a statement released by Soas, the university referred to the physical assault of a security guard, who was “attacked, punched and pulled to the ground” by people associated with the encampment.

Soas said activists had accused the university of “inviting the police onto our campus as a response to these issues”, but denied the claim.

Soas encampment leader and first-year student Haya was arrested at the encampment in the early hours of July 9 (Photo: Instagram)

“The police have visited the encampment of their own accord, including to look for a suspected criminal... The situation is now of sufficient concern that we feel that we can no longer guarantee the safety of our students and staff even with the additional security staff in place.

“We now face a situation where it may become necessary to ask for police assistance if events escalate out of control,” the statement said.

On a pallet board leaning against the encampment, student protesters called the Metropolitan Police “a militia of the Zionist entity at Soas”.

On a pallet board leaning against the encampment, student protesters called the Metropolitan police “a militia of the Zionist entity at Soas”

The university is also said to be on the verge of expelling several students for their anti-Israel activism.

Soas has set a disciplinary hearings for protesters Alex Cachinero-Gorman and Abel Harive-Clark.

Soas masters student Alex Cachinero-Gorman was elected vice president welfare and campaigns but has been suspended by the university (Photo: Soas)

Both students have been stripped of their elected positions as sabbatical officers in the students’ union and will have their expulsions confirmed or dropped by the university in the coming days.

Cachinero-Gorman was elected as co-president of “welfare and campaigns” at Soas.

Harive-Clark was elected co-president of “democracy and education” at the union. He said he would “stand up to uni management”, and has slammed the Soas board of trustees for being “complicit colonial criminals”. Harive-Clark recently spoke about his desire to “break down the walls of the institution”.

The protesting students have rallied behind their peers, demonstrating against Harive-Clark and Cachinero-Gorman’s suspensions and distributing leaflets explaining that the students were fired “for protesting against Soas’ complicity in the colonisation and genocide of the Palestinian people”.

Students at encampments in Liverpool and Oxford have shared messages of “solidarity”.

This week protests at Soas continued, with students chanting “there is only one solution, intifada revolution”.

Abel Harive-Clark recently spoke about his desire to “break down the walls of the institution.” He was elected co-president of democracy and education at the student union but is facing expulsion from Soas.

One protester told a group of 20 students and non-students gathered at the encampment on Monday: “Defeating Zionism is our fight, is our battle, is our war because the same standards that suppress and reduce to rubble students in Palestine are used here to threaten and intimidate and marginalise students.

“Our duty is to honour the decision that has come from Gaza, the decision of revolution that has been announced from Gaza. It is our duty to honour that decision and we will not stop and we will not rest.”

The encampment was still up at the beginning of the week – with activities planned including poetry workshops, reading, a ceilidh, and a Kabbalat Shabbat. Students told the JC that they understand the encampment would be removed by Soas later this week but intended to resist removal.

One student said that some of the protesters had been sleeping in the encampment and are homeless – the student claimed they would have nowhere to go if the encampment is removed.

In a statement, the Met Police said: “At around 00.30hrs on Tuesday July 9, officers were called to an encampment at a university in the Holborn area to a report that a theft and assault had taken place. A man was arrested on suspicion of theft. When officers tried to leave they were prevented from doing so and as a result officers made six further arrests.

“The arrests were made on suspicion of obstruction of police, assault on an emergency worker, possession of drugs, and for being wanted for an outstanding offence.”

A spokesperson for Soas told the JC: “We do not know the details in relation to the arrests and were not involved in the incident.”