OXFORD - Students set up pro-Palestinian protest encampments on Oxford and Cambridge universities’ historic grounds in Britain on a cloudy May 6, in a show of solidarity with their American peers.

By early morning, they had erected dozens of brightly coloured tents on the lawns outside the relatively dull, 19th-century neo-Gothic Oxford University Museum of Natural History.

Standing in front of the camps, some of which bore the black, white and green Palestinian flag, the students said they were joining 100 universities across the world to protest against Israel’s war in Gaza, which has killed over 34,700 Palestinians so far.

The video footage of protests in Britain was in stark contrast to the jarring scenes from the US over the past couple of weeks, where riot police wielding batons and grenades dispersed and arrested hundreds of protesters.

There was no visible police presence at the Oxford protest.

The Columbia University protests in New York have inspired similar demonstrations at dozens of universities around the US and elsewhere, with students calling for a ceasefire and demanding that their schools divest from companies with ties to Israel.

“In terms of why we’re doing this style of protest now, it’s that solidarity is so important in every movement,” said 19-year-old Oxford University student Rosy Wilson.

By replicating the US student protests, “we are showing a united force where we are united with them, united with Gaza, and united with this movement all over the world”, she added.

An Oxford University spokesperson said the university, whose alumni include prime ministers Margaret Thatcher and Boris Johnson, and authors Oscar Wilde and J.R.R. Tolkien, was aware of the demonstration.

“We respect our students’ and staff members’ right to freedom of expression in the form of peaceful protests,” the spokesperson said.

“We ask everyone who is taking part to do so with respect, courtesy and empathy... There is no place for intolerance at the University of Oxford.” REUTERS