Speaking tour: Campus Voices for Palestine – Solidarity against Scholasticide

“We built these universities from tents. And from tents, with the support of our friends, we will rebuild them once again.”

Unified Call from Palestinian academics and administrators of Gaza Universities, 29 May 2024

Join us to hear first-hand from Palestinian academics and campaigners about how Palestinian Higher Education institutions are resisting erasure through the collective work of the Emergency Committee of Universities in Gaza and their respective efforts to continue teaching and learning, despite the physical destruction of university campuses by relentless Israeli attacks. 

We will discuss how transnational solidarity can promote the resilience and rehabilitation of Gaza’s education sector in partnership with UK universities and discuss the role of boycott, divestment and sanctions campaigns in confronting UK Higher Education complicity in scholasticide.

Speakers include: 

The Right to Education campaign is a grassroots Palestinian movement which began in 1988 in order to document, research and raise consciousness about the oppression of Palestinian students, teachers and academic institutions under Israeli military occupation. They work to empower students to claim their human right to education, to overcome the isolation of Palestinian educational institutions and to demand an end to the illegal Israeli occupation. 

The Emergency Committee for Universities in Gaza has been established by Al Aqsa University, Al Azhar University and the Islamic University of Gaza, the three largest not-for-profit public Gaza universities, which between them represent the majority of students and academics in Gaza. The work of the Emergency Committee is facilitated by international colleagues. The Emergency Committee will be dedicated to serving the collective needs of Gaza universities during this emergency period by mobilising international support for their rebuilding and working to ensure that assistance is provided in partnership with Gaza universities so that teaching and study resumes at higher education institutions in Gaza at the earliest opportunity. 

This national speaking tour is organised by University and College Workers for Palestine and BRICUP with support from UCU. It is the result of resolutions passed overwhelmingly at UCU’s 2024 national congress. 

Tour dates

Please note, all meetings are in person, with the exception of the event at UCL on Friday 1 November which will include a hybrid option. For further info about the tour please email ucworkers4pal@gmail.com.

Monday 28 October. 12.30pm – University of Nottingham 

Book a place here

Hosted by University of Nottingham UCU, University of Leicester UCU 

Monday 28 October, 7pm – University of Leeds 

Book a place here

Hosted by University of Leeds UCU

Tuesday 29 October, 12pm – Newcastle University

Book a place here

Hosted by Newcastle University UCU 

Wednesday 30 October, 5pm – Edinburgh University

Book a place here

Hosted by Edinburgh University UCU, Dundee UCU, UCU Scotland 

Thursday 31 October, 12pm – Glasgow University
42 Bute Gardens, G12 8RT, Room 916

Hosted by Glasgow University UCU, UCU Scotland

Friday 1 November, 3pm, UCL 

Book a place here (Online and in person tickets available).

Hosted by BDS at UCL, UCL UCU, London Metropolitan UCU, UCU London Region 

Monday 4 November, 4-6pm, Manchester

Book a place here

Hosted by Manchester University UCU, Manchester Metropolitan University UCU 

Tuesday 5 November, 3-5pm, Sheffield

Book a place here 

Hosted by Sheffield UCU

Wednesday 6 November, 7pm, Kings College London (Strand Campus) 

Book a place here

Hosted by KCL UCU, Seminar in Contemporary Marxist Theory, London Region UCU 

Solidarity against scholasticide action toolkit

This tour aims to not just to provide a platform for Palestinian voices but also to amplify calls for action against the complicity of our own institutions in scholasticide and genocide. Please use the resources here in organising local campaigns. 

• A letter to UCU branches: Gaza Universities’ priorities for reconstruction  
• The Academic Commitment for Palestine – Sign here
• Palestinian Academic Unions Commend Global Universities for Ending Ties with Complicit Israeli Universities