Academic Board meeting on review into UCL’s investments in companies involved in genocide and human rights abuses – Monday 1 July, 10am
Dear UCL UCU member,
We are writing to alert you to the Special Meeting of Academic Board which has been called to discuss a motion calling for a review of UCL’s investments in and links with companies which provide weapons to states accused of genocide and crimes against humanity, or which actively support or facilitate human rights violations.
The meeting will be held on Teams on Monday 1 July, 10am. We would encourage all members of Academic Board to attend and make their voices heard.
Motion summary: The motion argues that UCL has ongoing financial and material connections to a range of companies which provide or facilitate the provision of weapons used by states credibly accused of the above actions. In addition, some of these actions directly impact on Academic Freedom and the values of Higher Education, e.g., through the destruction of universities and schools. The motion suggests that recent events in Gaza have highlighted these issues for UCL, but the scope of their proposals extends beyond any one particular state or conflict. The full text of the motion is copied below.
Background information: in the past UCL has committed to divesting from fossil fuels and the tobacco industry, the latter because it conflicts with UCL’s medical research objectives. It is therefore for AB to advise whether investments in arms that are used in the above ways is consistent with UCL’s ethical objectives.
UCU members will have different opinions about the strengths and weaknesses of the proposed motion, but we would encourage everyone who is eligible to attend and make their voices heard.
UCL UCU Executive Committee
https://ucl-ucu.org.uk
@ucl_ucu
Motion to Academic Board
Background
Since the attacks of October 7th 2023, Israel has engaged in the destruction of academic and educational institutions in the occupied Gaza Strip:
- All 12 universities in Gaza have been destroyed by the Israeli military(1). On 17th January 2024, Al-Israa University was destroyed in a controlled demolition by Israeli forces(2).
- The United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs issued a report on 20th February 2024 stating the following(3):
- “More than 625,000 students and nearly 23,000 teachers in the Gaza Strip have been affected by school closures and attacks on education, leaving them with no access to education or safe places… Some 394 schools (79.5 percent of the total school buildings in Gaza) have sustained damage, including 142 schools that sustained major damage or were destroyed.”
- On 18th April 2024, the UN Office of the High Commissioner released a statement of concern over ‘scholasticide’ in Gaza(4). It identified the following:
- ‘After six months of military assault, more than 5,479 students, 261 teachers and 95 university professors have been killed in Gaza, and over 7,819 students and 756 teachers have been injured – with numbers growing each day. At least 60 per cent of educational facilities, including 13 public libraries, have been damaged or destroyed’
UCL currently offers no educational support to or engagement with Palestinian students and academics, however,
- In 2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, UCL recognised its international obligations by pledging £250,000 to an Academic Sanctuary Fellowship Scheme to support Ukrainian academics(5), in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Multiple UK universities already offer specific scholarships for Palestinian students, including St Andrews, Ulster, Sheffield, Exeter, and most recently Goldsmiths(6) (following the five week long student occupation of the Stuart Hall building).
UCL’s connections to companies who supply weapons to Israel also carries significant reputational and legal risk:
- On 23rd February 2024, UN Human Rights experts warned that “any transfer of weapons or ammunition to Israel that would be used in Gaza is likely to violate international humanitarian law and must cease immediately”(7).
- More than 600 UK lawyers, including three former Supreme Court Justices have called for the suspension of arms sales to Israel and for the UK government to consider the imposition of sanctions on Israel(8).
- On May 1st, the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) wrote to eighty-two British universities(13), including UCL, alerting them of the potential risk of criminal liability over their complicity in Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
- Despite this clear call, UCL maintains connections with a number of arms companies supplying the Israeli military according to a 2023 report from the UCL student group Demilitarise UCL(9).
- To give just one example of many, UCL’s Centre for Systems Engineering is currently sponsored by BAE Systems. 97% of BAE’s revenue comes from the sale of arms(10). BAE manufactures components for the F-35 fighter jet(11). BAE also provides electronic missile launching kits and gunsight technology for F-16 fighters(12). Both planes are operated by Israel in support of its current bombing of Gaza.
In light of the above, and to uphold UCL’s stance on academic freedom and the rights of fellow academics and higher education institutions around the world, Academic Board hereby:
- Advises council to establish a review body to examine all of UCL’s ties with arms companies and other relevant industries involved in providing weapons to states under investigation for genocide or crimes against humanity, particularly where this involves the killing of academics and/or the targeting and destruction of academic institutions; and that this review body reports on its findings to Council and the Academic Board within 3 months.
- Advises council that a similar review and report is undertaken of UCL’s ties with or investment in organisations that actively support or facilitate human rights violations abroad, especially those engaged in the destruction of academic institutions and undermining the rights of academic freedom.
- Advises council to establish a scholarship and fellowship project for Palestinian students and academics respectively to visit and study at UCL
Sources
2) https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68023080
4) https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/04/un-experts-deeply-concerned-over-scholasticide-gaza
6) https://www.gold.ac.uk/about/responses-statements/g4p/
8) https://lawyersletter.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Gaza-letter-FIN-3-April5.pdf
10) https://www.sipri.org/databases/armsindustry
11) https://caat.org.uk/data/companies/bae-systems
12) https://investigate.afsc.org/company/bae-systems
STUDENT SIGNATORIES ON ACADEMIC BOARD:
- Muhammad Shaban Chaudhary, SU Education Officer
- Issy Smith, SU Postgraduate Officer
ACADEMIC SIGNATORIES
- Rachel Rosen, Professor of Sociology
- Izzat Darwazeh, Professor of Electronic and Electrical Engineering
- Matteo Tiratelli, Lecturer (Teaching) – elected
- Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, Prof. of Migration and Refugee Studies
- Claudia Lapping, Prof of Psychosocial Studies and Education
- Helen Chatterjee, Professor of Human and Ecological Health
- Kholoud Porter, Professor of Epidemiology
- John Gray, Prof of Applied Linguistics and Education
- Dr Katie Gaddini, Associate Prof of Sociology – elected
- Diana Gibb, Professor of epidemiology
- Adriana Allen, Professor of Development Planning and Urban Sustainability
- Lee Grieveson, Professor of Media History
- Mr. Adnan Ali – elected
- Anisur Rahman, Professor of Rheumatology
- Rebecca Rees, Professor of Social Policy
- Eleanore Hargreaves, Professor of Learning and Pedagogy
- Professor Jane Rendell, Co-Director Ethics, Bartlett School of Architecture
- Xine Yao, Associate Professor in American Literature to 1900 – elected
- Helene Neveu Kringelbach, Associate Professor in African Anthropology – elected
- Tim Waterman, Professor of Landscape Theory
- Barbara Lipietz, Professor of Urban Development Planning
- Sophia Psarra, Professor of Architecture and Spatial Design
- Mark Newman, Reader – elected
- Katherine Twamley, Professor of Sociology
- Thomas Kador, Lecturer in Creative Health – elected
- John O’Regan, Professor of Critical Applied Linguistics
- Ann Phoenix, Professor of Psychosocial Studies
- Ab Babiker, Professor of Epidemiology and Medical Statistics
- Jan Derry, Professor of Philosophy of Education
- Haim Yacobi, Prof of Developmet Planning
- Camillo Boano, Prof of Urban Design and Critical Theory
- Amy Kulper, Professor of Architecture
- Joshua Hollands, Lecturer (Teaching) in US History – elected
- Colin Marx, Prof of Urban Development Planning
- Tom Western, Lecturer in Social and Cultural Geography – elected
- Elaine Chase, Professor Education, Wellbeing and International Development
- Simon Lewis, Professor of Global Change Science
- Johanna Waters, Professor of Human Geography
- Claire Robins, Professor of Museology and Art
- Nishat Awan, Professor of Architecture & Visual Culture
- Johannes (Hans) van Wees, Grote Professor of Ancient History
- Sandy Oliver, Professor of Public Policy
- Susan Michie, Professor of Health Psychology
- Julian Walker, Professor of Inclusive Social Policy
- Saladin Meckled-Garcia, Associate Professor in Human Rights & Political Theory – elected
- Lion Shahab, Professor of Health Psychology
- Victoria Showunmi, Associate Professor – elected
- Alaa Shehabi, Associate Professor (Teaching) of Middle East Politics
- Nazif Alic, Professor of Ageing and Gene Regulation
- Richard Goldstein, Professor of Infection & Immunity
- Jens Kandt, Associate Professor in Urban Geography and Data Science – elected
- Kristen Kreider, Professor in Fine Art
- Amy Horton, Lecturer in Economic Geography
- Tom Woodin, Prof of the social history of education
- John Potter, Professor of media in education
- Elaine Unterhalter, Professor of Education and International Development
- Maurizio Marinelli, Professor of China and Global Prosperity
- Eva Branscome, Professor of Architecture and Cultural Heritage
