Petition: UCL to end its complicity with Apartheid
Summary:
> We demand public condemnation of Israel’s violence on Palestinians
> Cut ties with Hebrew University which is complicit in the trend of militarisation through its academic excellence program for the IDF, and whose campus is built on illegally occupied Palestinian land
> Cut ties with companies linked with violations of international humanitarian law
_______________________________________________________________________________
Dear Dr Spence and Professor David Price,
We write to you deeply concerned by the violent oppression of Palestinians, which has escalated significantly over the past few weeks.
At the time of sending you this letter, the death toll in the besieged Gaza Strip as a result of Israel’s indiscriminate bombing stands at 200, including 59 children and is still rising rapidly according to BBC reports. This assault is being described as “unprecedented” by residents in Gaza, who were subject to already horrific attacks in 2008/9 and 2014.
This violence is in addition to the oppression of Palestinians by Israel in each of the areas it controls for decades. The violent ethnic-based displacement of Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law [1]. Palestinians in the West Bank have been under brutal military occupation, with poor access to natural resources, restricted freedom of movement, and dispossession. Palestinian citizens of Israel have been discriminated against as second-class citizens. This oppression has been labelled Apartheid by Palestinian civil society for decades, and recently by Human Rights Watch [2] and the most prominent Israeli human rights group, B’Tselem [3]. Even if the bombing of Gaza stops, Israel’s systemic violence against Palestinians would continue. The Palestinian struggle is an ongoing indigenous liberation movement confronting a settler colonial state.
Neutrality is not an appropriate option, as UCL currently plays a role in maintaining Israel’s violence through its partnership with complicit institutions. UCL invests £5.6 million in Israeli companies, and maintains a close partnership with Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJ) [4], which are linked to violations of international humanitarian law and human rights conventions.
We wanted to also take the opportunity to highlight the highly insensitive manner with which UCL Equality, Diversity & Inclusion team (EDI) released their Eid Celebration post. UCL EDI claim to care about UCL Muslim and Palestinian students and yet have made no comment or acknowledgement of the fact that Israel has violated the sanctity of Al-Aqsa mosque, the holiest site for Muslims in Palestine, by throwing grenades at worshippers on this most sacred of night of Ramadan, nor have they realised that despite being a day of celebration, it too unfortunately marked the murder of Palestinian children. We don't accept this Eid greeting on account of its shallow and superficial nature. If UCL EDI is truly for equality and inclusion like it claims, we demand meaningful action to be taken, the first of which is an explicit public condemnation of Israel’s violence against Palestinians and the second is that UCL heeds Palestinian civil society and academics’ call for solidarity, by ending UCL’s complicity in Israeli crimes, until Israel complies with its obligations under international law.
We have serious concerns over UCL’s partnership with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJ) and companies including Microsoft, HSBC, Raytheon, Rockwell Collins and Booking.com.
As of today, significant areas of the HUJ are in the occupied Palestinian area of East Jerusalem, and are effectively settlements according to international law. In 2018, HUJ won a bid to run an academic excellence program for Israeli Defence Force (IDF) Intelligence Corps, which grooms undergraduates for an extended stint in the IDF’s intelligence unit. This trend of militarisation of the HUJ campus propagates a hostile environment for Palestinian students, staff and local communities. Therefore, by continuing connections and providing a study abroad programme with HUJ, UCL is complicit in the ongoing illegal colonisation of Palestinian land and in the internationally recognised war crimes [5] & human rights violations against the Palestinian people [6].
UCL invested £2,891,443 in Microsoft which invested in AnyVision, an Israeli facial recognition company led by former Mossad and Israeli Defence Forces staff. AnyVision’s main security product, Better Tomorrow, uses facial biometrics to identify specific people within large crowds. This technology has been integrated into Israel's illegal military checkpoints in the occupied West Bank.
UCL invested £1,223,021 in HSBC which invests in companies arming Israel and supply the Israeli army with with bulldozers which are weaponised and used to demolish Palestinian communities, build Israel’s illegal settlements and apartheid infrastructure including the apartheid wall and military checkpoints.
UCL invested £715,513 in Raytheon which produces bunker buster bombs, which have been used by Israel to target civilian homes during its 2014 assault on Gaza.
UCL invested £430,436 in Collins Aerospace which applied for licenses to export military equipment to Israel. Its subsidiary Pratt & Whitney produces the engines for military aircraft used by the Israeli air force against Palestinian civilians.
UCL invested £296,939 in Booking.Com which is active in illegal Israeli settlements based on stolen Palestinian land.
It is crucial that UCL understands the gravitas of the situation right now, UCL has a moral obligation to prove its status as a university that is home to disruptive thinking by ending its support of institutions which are complicit in Israeli crimes, including the Hebrew University, Microsoft, HSBC, Collins Aerospace, Raytheon and Booking.Com.
In accordance with UCL’s Policy for Socially Responsible Investment and General Code of Ethical Principles, this partnership goes directly against UCL’s commitment to eliminate irresponsible standards of ethical practice including “human rights violations”, as well as its values of ‘diversity’, ‘fairness and equality’, and ‘ethically acceptable standards of conduct’ [7]. Consequently, UCL fails to embed social responsibility in its institutions and instead embeds racism, discrimination and apartheid. UCL cannot claim to uphold its own values and goals if it continues to have a relationship with institutions built on occupied land and complicit in human rights violations. By doing this UCL itself strengthens and contributes to these violations of international law. And thus directly contributes, to racism, ethnic cleansing and apartheid.
As a result of the substantial and serious concerns raised, by signing this petition as UCL staff and students, we demand that UCL immediately cuts all ties with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the companies listed above until they comply with human rights and international law.
Signed,
University College London, Students for Justice in Palestine Society
References:
1. UNRWA joins other UN entities in raising alarm over eight Sheikh Jarrah families at risk of forced eviction. UNRWA. 2021. Available from:
https://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/press-releases/unrwa-joins-other-un-entities-raising-alarm-over-eight-sheikh-jarrah2. Abusive Israeli Policies Constitute Crimes of Apartheid, Persecution. HRW. 2021. Available from:
https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/04/27/abusive-israeli-policies-constitute-crimes-apartheid-persecution3. A regime of Jewish supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea: This is apartheid. B'Tselem. 2021. Available from:
https://www.btselem.org/publications/fulltext/202101_this_is_apartheid4. UCL – University College London. Arts Sciences. 2021. Available from:
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/basc/study-abroad/study-abroad-destinations 5. Everything you need to know about human rights in Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territories. Amnesty.org. 2021. Available from:
https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/middle-east-and-north-africa/israel-and-occupied-palestinian-territories/report-israel-and-occupied-palestinian-territories/ 6. Chapter 3: Israeli Settlements and International Law. Amnesty.org. 2021. Available from:
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2019/01/chapter-3-israeli-settlements-and-international-law/ 7. General code of ethical principles. Students. 2021. Available from:
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/students/policies/conduct/ethical-principles