By Saira Afzal
During this year’s Welcome Week, multiple eyewitness accounts reported seeing LSE Security confiscate pro-Palestine posters, distributed by Global Justice Now, from students entering the SU Welcome Fair in the Marshall Building. The SU Welcome Fair began on Tuesday 24 September, and security were checking students’ bags before allowing them entry into the building.
Global Justice Now, a UK-based activist group, had set up two stalls on Tuesday 24 September: one in John Watkins Plaza and another near the SU Welcome Fair queue where they were engaging in discussion with students on matters of social justice. The group handed out posters with slogans such as ‘End the Fossil Fuel Era’, ‘Free Palestine’, and ‘Stop Arming Israel’.
At around 2.15pm on Tuesday 24 September, one eyewitness reported witnessing LSE Security confiscate posters from a student before they could enter the building. When questioned, an LSE Security officer allegedly claimed the posters were a “fire hazard”.
Another student alleged LSE Security gave a “vague answer” about items from non-LSE groups not being allowed inside the hall, and when the student questioned further, the security officer “simply repeated that I couldn’t [bring the posters inside]”. They were told they would be able to retrieve their posters once they left the Welcome Fair, but there was no guarantee the posters would still be there.
This has been corroborated by multiple eyewitnesses who entered the SU Welcome Fair on Tuesday 24 September, allegedly seeing security confiscate A4 pro-Palestine posters. According to Global Justice Now campaigners running the stalls, they heard from at least three students on the day that their posters had been confiscated by security.
Further, LSE security were reportedly seen thoroughly checking students’ bags for leaflets and pamphlets, and the rainbow-coloured posters handed out by Global Justice Now could be seen piling up on the search table outside the Marshall Building.
An LSESU Spokesperson said:
“The LSE Security team assisted the LSESU with managing entrance to this year’s Welcome Fair, and as part of that, facilitated the bag checks that were carried out for all attendees. In addition to the general guidance we provided here around allowing no food or drink into the Marshall Building / Sports Hall, it was also the case that only Student Groups themselves could display any promotional material (e.g. banners/flags/posters) as part of the event, and these had to be fixed to their designated backboard/stall – nowhere else. If resources like this were confiscated from non Student Groups during the bag checks, then this is the reason why. Furthermore, our understanding is that the affected students were free to collect the posters from the entrance point following their attendance to the Fair – they just weren’t allowed into the building/event itself.”
An LSE Spokesperson said:
“As in previous years, and in agreement with the LSESU, bag-checking was implemented before entering the Welcome Fair, with security primarily checking for sharp objects. Other items, such as posters and leaflets, were not the intended subject of the search.”
“There remain no plans for Security to confiscate posters from students entering LSE buildings in the future.”
“The relevant LSE policy requires that posters are displayed on the appropriate notice boards, and not anywhere other than designated areas.”
