Update on work for students affected by conflict in the Middle East
Tuesday 27-02-2024 - 15:42
On 23 November 2023 Durham SU’s Assembly debated and passed a motion, Solidarity with Palestine. As a result, the SU agrees that this motion's principles are core beliefs of the Union which will guide our actions moving forward. This article provides a reminder of these core beliefs and an update on the actions we’ve taken since the motion passed.
We believe that the Palestinian people have, as all people have, a fundamental human right to be free from forced dispossession, acts of state aggression that constitute war crimes, brutality against protesters, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity. Further, we believe that the Israeli military’s current actions in the Gaza Strip and throughout the occupied Palestinian territory have placed the Palestinian people at grave risk of genocide, as many human rights organisations and UN experts have repeatedly warned. Therefore, we are clear that a ceasefire is necessary to ensure that the fundamental human rights of all people in Israel and Palestine are protected. In our view, a ceasefire and humanitarian approach to Israeli and Palestinian freedom is a crucial step in the path towards preserving human life and dignity for all in the region and necessary for the advancement of true liberation, which centers the dignity of all people.
We stand against attempts at dehumanizing all Palestinians through government statements and media coverage as thousands are killed in the ongoing bombing of Gaza perpetuates the racist violence of Israel’s contemporary settler colonialism, which has and continues to facilitate genocide.[1] Consequently, we are clear that Durham SU has a duty to fight for the rights of the people of Palestine who continue to face oppression against the Israeli government, not only on behalf of our Palestinian student populations, but also to uphold freedom from acts of violence against civilians as a fundamental human right.[2] Additionally, Durham SU has and takes seriously its obligation to ensure the welfare of its students impacted by racism, islamophobia, and antisemitism in all its forms.[3]
These beliefs guide the SU and our work moving forward. We will continue to stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine against the actions of the Israeli government as was resolved in our previous motion. We have already published a statement demanding an end to the violence and to the illegal occupation. We’d like to take this opportunity to reiterate that call for a ceasefire, an end to the violence and an end to the illegal occupation. We will continue to raise awareness and campaign for the people of Palestine as they face this increase in violence and bombardment from a substantially more powerful state. This includes our condemnation of the Government of the United Kingdom for its stance against an immediate ceasefire and its complicity in funding and supporting Israel’s disproportionate violence in Gaza.
We will continue to work alongside the relevant student groups to increase the support for all students impacted by the current violence, including Muslim and Jewish students impacted by the rise in islamophobia and antisemitism in the UK due to rising tensions around the world. This also particularly includes those from the affected region, such as Palestinian Education Trust students. Instrumental to our response is identifying where students feel there are gaps in the support offered by the University and the SU and working with them to rectify these inequities immediately.
Recently, students have launched a campaign to lobby the University to publish an official statement demanding an immediate ceasefire, an end to violence, and to the illegal occupation of Palestine. We support their calls and will lobby the University to do so. Additionally, as students move into fundraising campaigns to support charities doing work to support the affected people, we will continue to support them in doing so too.
The motion also instructed us:
“To lobby the University to disinvest from any company knowingly involved in international law and human rights violations in the Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. In echoing other campaigns for disinvestment in apartheid, we demand divestment from any company that: a. facilitates the collective punishment of Palestinian civilians; b. contributes to forcible displacement of Palestinians; c. contributes to or maintains the settler colonies within the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem; or, d. contributes to the construction or maintenance of the Annexation Wall in the West Bank.”
and
“To continue to support the right of Palestinian student and allies’ to free speech within the confines of UK law.”
In line with this, in January, I let you know that I’d written to the Vice-Chancellor, and I asked her to respond to some questions that Durham students had about how the university was supporting students affected by the war in Palestine and Israel. This is because students from the region, affected by the war, and concerned for our peers, all want to know that the community is doing its best to take care of its members.
I shared the letter I sent to her, which is based on the statement democratically agreed by representatives from our Common Rooms, Course Reps, and Student Groups, here on the Durham SU website.Professor O’Brien’s answer is here. I’ve uploaded the letter alongside the text of this email so that it's widely available.
Letter [+]
Vice-Chancellor and Warden
KOB/LJH/DB
26 January 2024
Dan Lonsdale
President
Durham Students’ Union
Dunelm House
Durham
DH1 3AN
Dear Dan
Thank you for your letter. First, please let me reassure you that the health, safety and wellbeing of our students, staff and our wider community remains our priority, and is our first consideration in our approach to the Middle East situation.
Thank you also for acknowledging in your letter the “prompt, robust and meaningful work that the University has led to support our students affected by the war”. We too appreciate the support of Durham Students’ Union and what you have done to engage with, listen to and act upon the concerns of the affected students you represent.
In respect of your questions, you are aware we have published a statement and detailed Q&As on our website which outline our position on the Middle East situation. They go into detail on the support we are giving our students and staff and where they themselves can seek support. Both our statement and Q&As have been updated regularly as the situation has developed and includes our addressing any feedback. Events in the Middle East - Durham University
On your specific points
1. Our published and detailed statement and FAQs are clear Durham University does not tolerate antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred. We take seriously any reports of bullying, harassment, hate incidents and abuse. Our FAQs provide detail of actions students should take if they experience such incidents, including where to report concerns and seek support. Our FAQs also outline what the University is doing to ensure the safety of students and staff. This includes working with and through our colleges and departments to reach and respond to any specific needs or concerns of affected students. Our PVC EDI is working directly with affected student groups, including our Jewish Society and our Islamic Society, to understand and act on any concerns. We have robust risk assessment procedures for any planned events on campus. We have an emergency response plan to prepare for and deal with any incidents and we work closely with local police.
We encourage any student who is concerned to read our FAQs in full, so they are aware of the action the University is taking, continues to take, and the support available to them.
2. We will continue to provide targeted support to our Durham Palestine Education Trust (DPET) students at Ustinov College and other students and staff affected by the situation in the Middle East. Thank you for recognising the work we have done to date.
In respect of the DPET students specifically, Ustinov College reached out directly to all students throughout Term 1, after the 7 October attacks, to offer them support and continues to do so.
This includes the College contacting the DPET students throughout the University’s winter break and ensuring they had out-of-hours contact information for support.
Our Director of Student Support and Wellbeing and University Lead Chaplain offered to meet with one student to discuss matters he raised on the University’s response specifically. That meeting took place and was appreciated by the student concerned. The Principal of Ustinov College and The Director of Student Support and Wellbeing also met with the Coordinator of DPET to further discuss targeted support for DPET students. The DPET Coordinator is appreciative of the support being offered to our scholars. Finally, our Lead Chaplain is due to meet with our Palestinian Solidarity Group, which includes DPET scholars.
Our International Office is maintaining a detailed overview of the pan-University support to students affected by the Middle East situation and continues to identify where further intervention may be needed.
You may be interested in this story, which details research by one of our DPET students, published on Wednesday 24 January. It marks the 6th United Nations International Day of Education, with a theme of ‘learning for lasting peace’. See: How educational scholarships can help create long lasting peace - Durham University
3. From the outset of the conflict the university has expressed, on behalf of our community, shared distress and concern at the appalling events of October 7th, the plight of the Israeli hostages and the appalling number of civilian casualties and humanitarian suffering experienced by the people of Gaza. Our University response is in common with universities across the UK and is informed by close dialogue with our sector body Universities UK (UUK). UUK are, in turn, in regular dialogue with organisations such as the Muslim Council of Britain and the Community Security Trust https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/latest/news/uuk-statements-and-resourcesrelated.
The current situation, in which no university staff or students from Gaza are able to leave, is entirely different from that of Ukraine. In the case of Ukraine, we were able to offer immediate support to civilians from our partner university who could travel to the UK. We very much hope that we will be able to offer support to the higher education sector in the region when the conflict has ended.
4. We have an Ethical Investment Policy that is overseen by University Executive Committee and Finance Committee. The Policy, which commits the University to ensuring it makes investment decisions responsibly and with integrity, is available on our website and updated regularly. https://www.durham.ac.uk/media/durham-university/professional-services/energy-andsustainability-team/Ethical-Investment-Policy-July-2023.pdf
5. Durham University has formidable academic expertise in areas such as Middle Eastern Studies and Jewish Studies, as well as international law, and peace and security studies. We actively encourage our academic staff to play a role in promoting expert understanding of all issues related to this and other conflicts. It is the duty of this and any university to uphold academic freedom and freedom of speech within the law. Our response has consistently involved upholding freedom of speech within the law and academic freedom, as well as being resolutely focused on supporting all our students, staff, and wider community. We will continue to do so, striving for community cohesion and condemning antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred.
Thank you for taking the time to write. I know Lucian and Gary are in regular contact on such matters and very much support our continued focus on supporting all our students.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Karen O’Brien
Vice-Chancellor and Warden
I welcome the response. I remain confident that the University is working hard to support students and staff affected by the war. In the coming days, we'll be consulting the relevant student groups, such as our Palestinian Solidarity Society, whose members are some of those directly affected by the conflict, to gather their perspective on the response. I know everyone wants to do their best, so I am sure any issues we do discover will be swiftly addressed and I’ll continue to make sure that the student interest is represented so that support is always at the level it needs to be.
We've already identified some outstanding questions here, particularly about the ethics of the University’s investments. I sit on the Durham University Ethics Committee, and I’ll take this issue to the Chair to see how he thinks we can best respond as a community.
[1]. Campaign Against Arm Trade: “The UK government is complicit in [Israel’s] crimes not just by supplying [them with] weapons for decades, but by repeatedly inciting Israel to commit war crimes against Palestinian civilians with impunity, in retaliation for Hamas’ horrific killings and abductions of Israelis including civilians.” https://caat.org.uk/news/statement-on-uk-arms-exports-to-israel/
[2]. https://www.dur.ac.uk/resources/treasurer/DUEthicalInvestmentPolicyfinalisedJune2020.pdf
[3]. SU Motion UA/2324/09
