STATEMENT

We are the University of Edinburgh’s Justice for Palestine Society and we dedicate this encampment to the countless Palestinians who have been martyred. Palestinians in Gaza have been suffering the horrors of genocide for over 200 days while our university has yet to sever its complicity with the unambiguous evils of settler-colonialism. Months of silence and inaction on the university's behalf do not undermine the urgency of our cause, especially given the looming Rafah ground invasion. Our grief and anger at the genocide in Gaza has only been intensified by the University's deplorable insensitivity. Not only has the University refused to divest, but the value of their holdings in complicit companies has increased by 18 million (as per the University's months-delayed and recently-published investment report).Our persistent attempts at communication have been rewarded with a taxing cycle of bureaucratic meetings designed to wear us out. The administration claims that ethics, being 'too subjective,' do not belong in investment decisions, despite having adopted a Sustainability and Social Responsibility policy which it falls markedly short of. We are horrified by the immense moral rot necessary for calling genocide a subjective matter. As it has done in the past, the University disregards the well-being of its Palestinian students, increasing police and security presence at protests and offering meager emotional, financial, and physical support in return.While many of us camp, others have felt compelled to hunger strike as well. We elect such measures out of a solemn and urgent commitment to the people of Gaza, taking cue from the activists, students, and community members of conscience running our sister camp at the Scottish Parliament.

Indeed, we are motivated and inspired by all who resist, whether in Palestine or on Western campuses.
Our presence in the University's hallowed Old College is no coincidence. What these photographs don't show you is the portrait of Arthur Balfour hanging within these college walls. Arthur Balfour was the notorious racist and antisemite who authored the infamous Balfour Declaration of 1917, declaring British sponsorship of Zionist settler-colonialism in Palestine. While publicly advocating for Zionism, he also explicitly rejected the idea of Palestinian self-determination. He was simultaneously the University of Edinburgh's longest title-holding Chancellor (1891-1930). This Uiversity has been complicit-- and indeed an active perpertrator-- in crimes against the Palestinian people since the very beginning of the historical process which has lead up to this moment. While Israel's crimes of genocide and apartheid have been publicly condemned by the International Court of Justice for breaching a number of international treaties, the University continues its century-long complicity. Meanwhile, there is no university left standing in Gaza.We have no choice to make our presence known on these historic grounds. Here we express our grief and anger, directing our determination towards the University while keeping our attention, always, on Palestine. In solidarity with our friends and comrades the world over, we fight for divestment, for decolonization, and for the moral integrity of humankind. The university must atone for their colonial legacy and renounce their colonial present. We will not stand idly by.

DEMANDS

ACADEMIC BOYCOTTWe demand the University sever all research collaborations affiliated with Israel's genocidal project, most significantly, UoE's research collaboration with AnyVision/Oosto, Leonardo and BAE Systems which directly facilitate Israeli war crimes. Alongside these, UoE's academic ties with Ben Gurion University and Project Nimbus must be addressed

SECURITYWe demand that the University reduce and prevent policing on campus. Since October 2023, security and police presence on campus has drastically increased, causing students, particularly Palestinian students, to feel unsafe and distressed on campus. This is not purely an issue of personal comfort; police presence forces many minoritised groups to contend with previous and ongoing traumas relating to racism and violence, and, in the case of Palestinians, this is severely compounded by the ongoing role of Israel's state forces in apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and genocide; broadcast worldwide today.

COLONIAL TIESWe demand the University openly denounce its settler-colonial-imperialist ties to the occupation of Palestine by taking down the painting of Arthur Balfour, and releasing a statement calling out Chancellor Balfour's key, well-documented, and damning role in paving the way for Palestine's erasure. There is a direct line to be drawn between Balfour's signing away of land that was never his, and UoE's financial support, today, for companies directly facilitating indigenous displacement elimination. Continued silence on this issue can only be seen as fully-informed acceptance and support for the work of Western academia in continuing the vile imperialist legacy of Europe from previous centuries in dominating the Global South. As highlighted by the University's own Decolonised Transformations project, UoE has a duty of reparations to the Afro-Caribbean community for having facilitated the Trans-Atlantic slave trade— we stand in solidarity with the Afro-Caribbean community while staying starkly aware of the University's moral dishonesty in atoning for its exploitative, genocidal, and colonial legacy while perpetuating it in the present.

COMBATING ANTISEMITISM THROUGH REMOVAL OF THE IHRA DEFINITIONWe demand the unadoption and removal of the International Holocaust Remembrance Association (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, based on its conflations of criticism of Israel, anti-Zionism, and antisemitism. As a working definition, the IHRA was never formulated with the intention of formal adoption by academic institutions - as stated by its author. We recognize the severity and importance of combating antisemitism; the IHRA definition obstructs the combating of, and actively enables antisemitism by leading to understandings of all Jewish identity being tied to the state of Israel, licensing antisemitic rhetoric. It further censors all meaningful criticism of the historical and current racist policies of the Israeli state, even when expressed by Jewish voices, and has a particularly chilling effect within spaces of academia. We demand the university recognize antisemitism as discrimination, prejudice, hostility, or violence against Jews as Jews. Discussions of alternative frameworks through which to tackle antisemitism on campus need to be re-engaged with, consulting relevant Jewish staff and student organizations. Other Scottish universities, notably the University of Aberdeen and Edinburgh Napier University have adopted the Jerusalem Definition of Antisemitism or decided to informally adopt multiple definitions of antisemitism.

REPARATIONSWe demand the University pay reparations equal to the amount it has profited from its investments in Israel to efforts to rebuild Gaza.

SCHOLARSHIP FOR PALESTINIAN STUDENTS FROM GAZAWe also demand the University provide scholarships to Palestinian students from Gaza, as they have done in the past for Ukrainian students. Every single University in Gaza has been destroyed by Israeli bombs. On January 17, Israel detonated the last Palestinian University in Gaza with 315 mines. We demand our University addresses this intentional attack on Palestinian education, as part of the ongoing genocide, by providing Palestinian students from Gaza the opportunity to continue their studies.

NO IOF SOLDIERS ON CAMPUSWe demand the university take measures to protect the safety of our community by ensuring that no person who participated in genocide—be they soldier, settler or mercenary—are permitted to join the university as students or staff nor step foot on campus.

How to get Involved

Join Us!If you're a student and want to get involved, come camp with us.
This is an opportunity for all students to participate, even if you haven't before. Palestine is greater than any individual discomfort;
it pales in comparison to the suffering we witness dailyDonate or provide suppliesYou can drop off supplies during daylight hours. Our camp needs supplies like tents, sleeping bags, wet wipes, food, and drinks.
Please ensure that all products are BDS compliant.Use your VoiceDemand complete Divestment from Genocide every chance
you get.Spread#BalfourUniversity and #DontChooseEdinburghUni on all socials

Supplies Needed

High Priority :-Tent Rain Cover
-Gazebo
-Sleeping Mats
- 2 people sized tents
-Sleeping Bags
-Plastic Tables
-Hot Water Containers
-Big Plastic Boxes
-Medical Burns Kit
-First Aid KitOther Supplies Needed:-Bamboo Cutlery
-Disposables Bowls and Plates
-Baby Wipes
-Kitchen Roll
- Wood Planks
-Pillows
-Poster Boards and Markers
- White Sheets for Banners
- Spray Paint ( Green, Red, White and Black)
- Electrolytes ( Not Lemon Flavour)