Protesters have been rallying in support of Palestinian student Said Zaaneen who is stuck in Gaza.

They are calling for the University of Sheffield to provide him with financial aid.

The emergency rally out of the University of Sheffield students union was called to reinforce the need for the university to support his student visa and ensure Said’s name is added to the Rafah crossing list.

One protester, Hanazalah, spoke passionately about the issue and discussed how these organised events are just the start of their support of the Palestinian people.

The 24-year-old said: “We are here to show solidarity for one of our students , Said Zaaneen, he’s a PhD student, Palestinian, who studied at the University of Sheffield who’s currently stuck in Gaza.

“Now what I want from the university is for them to work with us to find legal representation for Said and explore all avenues they can to ensure his student visa is submitted and then that they lobby all relevant government bodies and seek out all support that they can publicly and institutionally for his student visa to be accepted and for his name to be added to the Rafah crossing list.”

University students across Sheffield have been campaigning in support of Palestine for the last two months and Nathan said that he is “horrified” by the ongoings of the conflict in the Middle East.

Nathan said: “I think that this question of Palestine has become the lightning rod for anger everywhere. People are fighting in solidarity with the Palestinian people but it is a struggle against imperialism and capitalism on a world stage.

“We want this to end. We want this bloodbath to end.”