On 26th February, a coalition of student groups, including the Edinburgh University Justice for Palestine Society (EUJPS), the Staff-Student Solidarity Network (SSSN), Edinburgh University Kehillah, Youth in Resistance, and Vegans for Animal Liberation and Ethical Revolution in Edinburgh (VALERIE) reclaimed the Gordon Aikman Lecture Theatre.
The protesters have called for a complete and immediate divestment from all companies complicit in Israeli war crimes.
The students’ demands to university management are as follows:
- Recognition of and explicit condemnation of Israel’s continuing acts of genocide, which includes the destruction of all of Gaza’s universities and the targeted erasure of its entire educational infrastructure.
- Reduction of police presence on campus surrounding our demonstrations and empty naming of our protests as “threatening”.
- The removal of the IHRA definition of antisemitism that inhibits any criticism of Israel in its conflation of anti-Zionism to antisemitism.
- Severing all research ties with Leonardo and Anyvision, the latter responsible for operating the facial recognition surveillance system of Palestinians in the West Bank, essential for the perpetuation of Israel’s apartheid and illegal settler-colonial violence.
- Finally, and most importantly, the complete and immediate divestment from those companies previously mentioned, in line with the continuing campaign from the Justice for Palestine Society
The investments amount to £39 million each year, including Blackrock (£30.5 million), Amazon (£3.6 million), Booking.com (£2.6 million) and Albermarle (£2.2 million), the latter involved in the production of white phosphorus to be used in weaponry.
White phosphorus is illegal under international law and there is photo evidence of it being used on Gaza. Investment in this would break Edinburgh’s own policy of sustainable investment.
Furthermore, the University also maintains research collaborations with Leonardo, a company that produces laser systems used for fighter jets; and, of disturbing significace, with AnyVision, an Israeli startup that built and operates the facial recognition system resposible for the ceaseless surveillance and subjugation of Palestinians in the West Bank, integral in maintaining the Israeli apartheid and illegal settler-colonial violence.
Over the last 5 months, unprecedented Israeli attacks have killed over 38,000 people and injured more than 70,000 people in Gaza (Figures from EUROMED monitor).
A statement from the protesters states: “we have occupied Gordon Aikman lecture theatre to make it clear to the University’s management that we will maintain the pressure until our demands of divestment are met“.
This action follows months of weekly demonstrations held on the Edinburgh University campus, where large crowds of students have gathered to protest the attacks on Gaza and demand Edinburgh’s divestment from Israeli arms.
A petition from the Justice for Palestine Society has also reached over 1800 signatures calling for divestment across the student body.
The statement continues: “The occupation of Gordon Aikman lecture theatre is not an action we take lightly, however the urgency of the situation in Gaza and the university’s continued silence regarding the genocide and our demands has compelled us to take this escalated action.”
General statement on the reclamation of the Gordon Aikman Lecture Theatre
We, students at the University of Edinburgh, have for months been protesting our university’s direct complicity in the ongoing genocide in Gaza, demanding the divestment from companies that have been profiting from Israeli apartheid for years and that are presently complicit in genocide.
Shamefully, our university has struggled to even acknowledge the magnitude of the unfolding genocide whilst repeatedly avoiding or dismissing our demands concerning divestment.
As students representing Edinburgh University Justice for Palestine Society (EUJPS), the Staff-Student Solidarity Network (SSSN), Edinburgh University Kehillah, Youth in Resistance, and Vegans for Animal Liberation and Ethical Revolution in Edinburgh (VALERIE), we have occupied Gordon Aikman Lecture Theatre to make it clear to the University’s management that we will maintain the pressure until our demands of divestment are met, the details of which are below.
We also want to continue to raise awareness around campus among fellow students and staff, emphasising that university activity cannot operate business as usual when our tuition fees are funding genocide. In lieu of the latter we will also be hosting various educational events and teach-ins.
The occupation of Gordon Aikman Lecture Theatre is not an action we take lightly, however the urgency of the situation in Gaza and the university’s continued silence regarding the genocide and our demands has compelled us to take this escalated action.
Furthermore, in light of the recent ruling in the International Court of Justice and in compliance with the Genocide Convention, the University has an obligation to divest immediately and completely from all funds with ties to apartheid Israel. As long as divestment does not occur, the University is contravening Article III , para. (e) of the Genocide Convention, which prohibits complicity in genocide.
Currently the University of Edinburgh invests over £39 million each year in companies complicit in Israel’s genocide and its longstanding apartheid; namely, Blackrock (£30.5 million), Amazon (£3.6 million), Booking.com (£2.6 million) and Albermarle (£2.2million), the latter involved in the production of white phosphorus to be used in weaponry which is illegal under international law and is proven to be used on Gaza and breaks the University’s own policy of sustainable investment.
When Russia began its invasion of Ukraine two years ago, this University was quick to withdraw all its stocks in Russian companies and was proud to have done so, we call upon those same people to divest once more from the aforementioned companies.
Furthermore, the University also maintains research collaborations with Leonardo, a company that produces laser systems used for fighter jets; and, of disturbing significance, with AnyVision, an Israeli startup that built and operates the facial recognition system responsible for the ceaseless surveillance and subjugation of Palestinians in the West Bank, integral in maintaining the Israeli apartheid and illegal settler-colonial violence.
We continue to demand:
Recognition of and explicit condemnation of Israel’s continuing acts of genocide, which includes the destruction of all of Gaza’s universities and the targeted erasure of its entire educational infrastructure.
Reduction of police presence on campus surrounding our demonstrations and empty naming of our protests as “threatening”.
The removal of the IHRA definition of antisemitism that inhibits any criticism of Israel in its conflation of anti-Zionism to antisemitism.
Severing all collaborative research ties with Leonardo and AnyVision, the University’s work with the later directly contributing to the surveillance and categorisation
Finally, and most importantly, the complete and immediate divestment from those companies previously mentioned, in line with the continuing campaign from the Justice for Palestine Society.
This is a time of urgency that the University needs to react to.
Reckon with this colonial institution.