A GROUP occupying Glasgow University offices and calling for the institution to cut ties with the arms industry as Israel's war on Palestine continues in the Middle East has said its protest will continue “until demands are met”.
We previously told how students with the Glasgow Against Arms and Fossil Fuels (GAAF) group had occupied Hetherington House at the University of Glasgow aiming to shed light on financial ties between the establishment and companies contributing to the loss of life in Palestine.
On Wednesday, approximately 100 students and supporters also took part in a march towards the university’s management office where a meeting of the finance committee was being held.
Chants of “UofG, you can’t hide, sever ties with genocide” could be heard.
GAAF said it had received an email from the university asking it to end the protest as the group argues the institution's £5.5 million of investments in companies such as BAE Systems make it “complicit in war crimes, including the genocide in Palestine”.
Former student Dima Alhaj and her six-month-old baby were killed in Gaza in December – as were her husband and two brothers.
As the occupation enters its third day, students have pledged to stay until the university commits to their demands to sever all ties with arms companies.
READ MORE: Gaza: Footage shows civilian with white flag being shot dead in street
Speaking to The National, one student who is part of the protest said that spirits are still high and that the group had continued to grow in numbers since the action first started on Monday.
“The demands haven't been met. They should have been addressed at the meeting today. We've demanded divestment and we're feeling all we're getting is diversion and delay," they said.
"But morale is still high. At the rally today that was the feeling and we've received support from all different types of groups and individuals, activists, student societies, university unions and council members.
"We're ready to stay here until our demands are met. Conveniently, we’re adding members to our group on the daily.
“We will continue to apply pressure to expose the university for its complicity in morally reprehensible deeds.”
The student also added that the group has received support from members of the original Free Hetherington protest, which occupied the building for seven months in 2011 before agreeing to leave after winning several demands from the university.
The group says the university commented that it “cannot make a major policy change without due consideration” in response to the letter calling for divestment.
In a statement in response to this, the group said: “We continue to engage with the university, but we cannot, in conscience, leave while the university continues to profit from the slaughter in Gaza.”
GAAF further claimed it had been informed that the university's finance committee is setting up a working group to consider arms divestment which would delay any decision until a university court meeting in April.
The group has made the following specific demands:
- For the university to vote to cease all investments in arms companies
- To ban all arms companies from recruiting on campus or through online university events
Another student occupying the building added: “Given the ongoing slaughter in Gaza, it’s astonishing the university would attempt to delay a decision on this for another three months.
“They are profiting from the arms used to kill Glasgow University alumnus Dima Alhaj, along with her baby, husband and brothers. This is abhorrent.
"Enough is enough. We will not leave this building until the university makes a firm, public commitment to divest from these merchants of death."
A spokesperson for the University of Glasgow said: “The University has already taken the decision not to invest in tobacco companies, and we have actively disinvested in fossil fuels over recent years.
"Only a small proportion of income currently derives from companies involved in the defence sector.
"Consideration about further divestment from the defence sector must go through the University Court, the University's independent governing body.
"A working group which includes student representation will provide advice to the University Court, with final decisions taken in due course."
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