UCL has this week agreed to review its investments in companies complicit in the Palestinian genocide in a major win for student activists.
UCL Council, the highest decision-making body in the University, has voted in favour of a joint student-staff motion to establish a review body to examine UCL’s investments complicit in genocide, activists announced on Thursday.
In a joint statement, a student-staff coalition of activists applauded the decision as a “significant milestone for the unified mass movement for Palestine” and have pledged to work closely with UCL to “ensure that we fully end any and all complicity in our University with Israeli genocide in Gaza.”
It follows a vote in June by the Academic Board, representing senior academic staff and elected representatives, which overwhelmingly endorsed a review of the University’s investments and to establish a Palestinian scholarship fund.
Divestment has long been a key demand from Palestinian activists, with groups like the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaign calling for investments to be moved.
In July, a BDS report revealed that some £15 million worth of investments – accounting for 7% of the University’s portfolio – are in companies noted for their involvement in “Israeli policies and practices which facilitate war crimes and uphold an illegal occupation and apartheid”, including tech giant Cisco, who were forced to leave the careers fair earlier this term due to protests.
However, activists at UCL Stands for Justice and Student for Justice in Palestine have criticised Provost Michael Spence in an open letter on Friday, accusing him of failing to produce a report on the University’s complicity within three months as agreed upon by the Academic Board.
“We urge you to take immediate action to halt further funding and aid of Israel’s war crimes.
“Failure to address this issue will leave us no choice but to escalate our actions in response to the escalating crimes against the Palestinian people.”
