Inverting ‘Harm’

UoE management’s non-response to suppression of Palestine solidarity expression and action

On 9 December, University of Edinburgh management sent a response to the open letter, ‘Suppression of freedom of expression on Palestine at the University of Edinburgh must stop!’). This open letter had been published on 6 December 2024, and was signed by 12 groups and networks at the University, including UCU Edinburgh, as well as endorsed individually by over 500 staff and students, and released to the press.

Management’s statement (posted below) ignores actually documented facts, namely incidents of abuse, suppression and real threats. By contrast it alludes to unspecified actors, presumably the members of the Palestine solidarity campaign, ‘making others [also unspecified] feel threatened’.

University management presents itself as arbiter of peace on campus when it has actually at best ignored, and at worst sided with, abuse of staff and students for their peaceful expressions of solidarity with Palestine and opposition to genocide (poster display, memorials). Management claims to be upholding stated policies and procedures, when it has cancelled events without any prior consultation with event organisers and on specious grounds.

Most shamefully and absurdly, management claims to combat the ‘hostile environment’ allegedly fostered by an undefined ‘anyone’ (but very clearly pointing in the direction of our Palestine solidarity campaign). ‘Hostile environment’ is associated by everyone in this country with Theresa May’s unfamous 2012 statement that her aim ‘was to create here in Britain a really hostile environment for illegal migration’, and with the policies and scandals that followed. Many of us involved in the Palestine solidarity campaign are international staff and students, and two student groups mostly comprised of international students have been threatened with sanctions by the University management. Thus use of this phrase in the management statement is not only disingenuous, but an outright inversion of where the power lies, of who is targeted and made vulnerable. It fails to acknowledge the actual harm and hostility caused by, for example, the destruction of the Gaza Martyrs Memorial that involved ripping down and throwing in the bin pictures of some students’ family members who had been killed in Gaza.

Finally, the University puts forward its humanitarian initiatives for helping with the education of refugees and asylum seekers as evidence of its willingness to help in the conflict. We applaud these and in many cases have supported and directly taken part in these initiatives, contrary to what is suggested by the University’s statement. But these important humanitarian initiatives cannot be manipulated and used as ‘fig leaves’ for continuous investments in war crimes, international law violations and genocide, nor for repressing students and staff who have repeatedly and democratically opposed business complicity with the violation of the Palestinian people’s human rights and right to self-determination.

In order for a University community to ‘work together’, elementary trust is needed – and trust cannot be built on systematic non-responses to very real concerns and protests. We will not be silenced by such doublespeak.

SPS Palestine Solidarity Network

Open Letter Response

THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

December 2024

University of Edinburgh statement in response to open letter emailed on 6 December 2024

The right of freedom of expression is a fundamental principle that runs through everything we stand for as a University, and we have respected this throughout our engagement with those who have raised concerns about our responsible investment policy. This right extends to everyone in our community of more than 60,000 students and staff. However, should anyone act in a way that fosters a hostile environment or that makes others feel threatened – as has unfortunately been the case here – the University must take that seriously and deal with it in an appropriate and proportionate way.

While we appreciate the strength of feeling on the matter, and share the horror at the many lives tragically affected by the ongoing conflict, we have acted in accordance with our policies and procedures at all times in our engagement with our community on these issues.

The University has been doing everything it can to directly support those impacted by the violence in the Middle East. As the first institution in Scotland to be recognised as a University of Sanctuary and a founding member of Cara (Council for At Risk Academics), we take an active role in supporting those seeking sanctuary across the world.

Through scholarships, collaborative projects and community initiatives, we seek to provide opportunities to people whose life chances have been impaired by events beyond their control, offering them safety and sanctuary in troubled times.

Earlier this year, Education Beyond Borders was established to provide further support for displaced students and academics. We welcomed our first cohort of students from more than 20 countries, including Palestine, within the new Displaced Scholarship programme in September.

We have also been offering support to our own community, and have held multi-faith vigils and events to give people a place to come together and share their views.

It is disappointing then that, rather than working together to do what we can to support those impacted by the violence, we have been met with ongoing and increasingly escalated disruption to our services, which impacts fellow students’ studies and learning as well as our staff. While we see protests and other activism as very much part of the life of a University, we make a call for more respectful and appropriate engagement from those who have raised concerns, and we would welcome a positive dialogue about how we might come together to support those who have been affected by these issues.

A link to the University’s published statement on freedom of expression can be found here: Freedom of Expression Statement: https://edwebcontent.ed.ac.uk/sites/default/files/atoms/files/freedomofexpressionstatement.pdf

The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336