More than 30 universities across the UK on Monday faced calls from their students to divest from apartheid Israel, the Middle East Monitor reported.
In an effort to mark the International Day of Solidarity with Palestine, a National Day of Solidarity on Campus was organized by pro-Palestinian NGO Friends of Al-Aqsa (FOA), who launched a campaign for students to write to their Vice-Chancellors demanding that they divest from companies complicit in the oppression of Palestinians.
On Monday, students demanded that their uni withdraw investment from companies complicit in the oppression of Palestinians.
.@RollsRoyce HP @BAESystemsInc @bookingcom are all complicit!
Students – email your uni now calling them to #Divest4Palestine https://t.co/Nt6bjoiTDI pic.twitter.com/BQtrgSwzvP
— Friends of Al Aqsa (@FriendsofAlAqsa) December 1, 2021
Citing the Human Rights Watch (HRW) report that says Israel is committing the crimes of apartheid and persecution against Palestinians, students at LSE, Nottingham, Birmingham, Plymouth, Glasgow, and others demanded their institutions withdraw investment from companies complicit in human rights abuses in occupied Palestine, particularly Rolls-Royce PLC, Hewlett Packard (HP), BAE Systems and Booking.com.
“Rolls-Royce manufactures parts of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighters used by Israel to attack civilians in Gaza, and HP provides the technology for the control systems in Israel’s checkpoints, which violate Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” FOA said in a statement.
Reports: Human Rights Watch Will Accuse Israel of ‘Crime of Apartheid’ https://t.co/t3PspWmgdQ via @PalestineChron
— paliyana (@bano_sanjeeda) April 26, 2021
Ismail Patel, chair of FOA, has stated that “divestment (the withdrawal of investment) is an important, non-violent method to pressure a company to change its ways. When a university withdraws investment, it sends a powerful message to that company that the university community does not approve of its actions. Students have a huge amount of power here to hold their institutions responsible.”
Hannaa, studying English and History at Queen Mary University says “as students, we find our institution’s complicity in human rights abuses appalling. We do not pay our tuition fees for the university to invest in companies complicit in apartheid. We call on the Vice-Chancellor to take immediate action.”
Friends of Al Aqsa is live now.
13 m · Israel an Apartheid State?
Tune in for our live discussion with:
Jeff Halper – Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.
Issa Amro – Youth Against Settlements
Ismail Patel – Friends of Al-Aqsahttps://t.co/1Hvq0DPtYN— Tibou (@Tibou33969029) March 19, 2021
The FOA statement said UK universities currently have £450 million ($598.7 million) in investments that are “complicit in Israeli apartheid”.
In 2020, the University of Manchester divested more than £10 million ($13 million) from companies complicit in Israel’s occupation of Palestine following years of campaigning by human rights groups. Companies affected include Caterpillar, a long-standing supplier of heavy machinery used to demolish Palestinian homes and infrastructure by the Israeli army.
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)
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