Canterbury Christ Church University currently has a contract for the supply and maintenance of Hewlett Packard (HP) printers across campus through a sub-contractor. The students of CCCU and the members of the Palestine Solidarity Society (PalSoc) are requesting the immediate termination of said contract.  

HP is a multinational IT company. According to the research centre group Who Profits, HP Enterprise provides servers to the State of Israel for its population registry. IDs issued based on this registry determine one’s level of rights. Under this system, Jewish citizens have more rights than Palestinian citizens, who have more rights than Palestinians from the West Bank, Gaza, or East Jerusalem.  

HP Enterprise provides servers and technology used in Israeli prisons. Israel’s prison system is used to suppress Palestinian political activity and to stifle opposition to its policies. By helping Israel run its prisons, HP is at the heart of Israel’s use of mass incarceration to undermine Palestinian opposition to apartheid. 
“The company provides servers, software and services to the Israeli Police and the Israel Prison Service.” (www.whoprofits.com  

HP Inc. is the exclusive provider of computers to the Israeli military, which carries out the occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, and in the last decade has carried out the brutal siege of Gaza. Following the attack on October 6th 2023, Israel’s military forces have escalated the conflict into a full-scale genocide that has claimed the lives of thousands of Palestinian civilians. Divesting now is more important than ever. 

CCCU’s ethical investing and banking policy states the University will not partner with or engage with companies that do not meet the aims and values of the university, which includes: 

• Corporations complicit in the violation of international law;  
  Where the investment is considered unethical and not in keeping with the University’s values.  

On July 19, 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory is unlawful and violates international law.  

“The ICJ ruling says that states have an obligation to abstain from entering into economic or trade dealings with Israel concerning the [OPT] or parts thereof which may entrench its unlawful presence in the territory” and “to take steps to prevent trade or investment relations that assist in the maintenance of the illegal situation created by Israel.” (Human Rights Watch. Org, Francavilla Claudio. ‘International Court Rulings Require EU Action on Israel and Palestine,' October 25, 2024.)

Yet CCCU continues to procure HP printers and computers through a sub-contractor. As students and staff, we cannot sit by silently as tuition fees are used to systematically oppress and infringe on basic human rights.  

We ask that you join us in demanding: 

• Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU) cut ties with Hewlett Packard.
•  CCCU create ethical investment and procurement policies to ensure divestment from companies who are complicit in Israel’s war crimes. 

Stand with us today by signing this petition and let the Vice Chancellor hear your voice! 


Privacy notice about personal information: 
This petition is being run by the Palestine Solidarity Society at Canterbury Christ Church University. The information that you give when you sign this E-petition will be passed to Canterbury Christ Church University's Vice Chancellor's (VC) Office. The VC's Office is bound by The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).