Universities, staff to avoid taking political positions

A new report says universities and staff in the United Kingdom have said they will avoid taking a stance on issues affecting global politics in the future, after pro-Palestinian students accused them of double standards, writes Lemma Shehadi for The National.

Although they were tolerated on the grounds of freedom of speech, the student protests over Israel’s military campaign in Gaza last year caused lasting tensions between students and the institution, according to the Higher Education Policy Institute’s report on the pro-Palestine camps and their effects on university life. Pro-Palestinian protesters accused their universities of “complicity” with Israel, urging them to divest from them and do more to support Palestinian scholarships and link up with universities in Gaza, as they had done for Ukraine.

The strong stance that universities had taken in support of Ukraine after Russia’s invasion fuelled the protesters’ accusations that university administrators were “hypocrites”. University staff interviewed for the survey said that the “clear” UK government position on Ukraine and the requirements of research regulators to withdraw funds associated with Russia had made it easier for them to take a position. But in the Israel-Gaza conflict, they were “caught between” the UK government’s position and the demands of the students. Relations between the university administration and students appeared to have broken down entirely.
Full report on The National site