Glasgow, November 19th, 2023

OPEN LETTER 

We, academics at the University of Glasgow (UK), teaching and researching in various fields, are deeply concerned about the abysmal atrocities in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel. We see it as our intellectual, humane and ethical duty to raise our voices as educators and researchers.

As a matter of immediacy we stand with our students, Union members, and with striking school children, to call for an immediate ceasefire to the relentless bombardment of Gaza. We call for the lifting of the siege of Gaza in order to enable vital supplies such as fuel, medical supplies, food, water and clothing to enter into the territory. We further call for the safe and free movement of people and supplies within Gaza, the immediate release of all hostages and the immediate commencement of political negotiations between all parties involved.

Following an open letter to the UK Government signed by over 800 legal practitioners, we recognise the urgent need to investigate the indiscriminate killing of over 12,000 Palestinian civilians to date, including over 4,600 children, that is underpinned by leading Israeli politicians and government ministers' clear statements which - as outlined in the letter - point to the grave risk of a genocide; the destruction of infrastructure in Gaza; the killing of Palestinians in the West Bank, and the killing of around 1,200 Israelis and the abduction of around 240 of them, including more than 30 children, on 7 October 2023.

We express our deep solidarity with and closeness to the families of the Palestinian university staff and students who were killed or injured by the Israeli government's bombardment and ongoing siege of the Gaza Strip. We also express our deep solidarity with the academics and intellectuals in the Occupied Territories and in Israel who have been disappeared, imprisoned, persecuted and/or threatened. We consider any kind of attack on any higher education institution or its staff anywhere in the world to be an extremely dangerous act that deeply undermines the production of knowledge and freedom of thought.

The scale and brutality of the Israeli government’s attacks on Gaza’s universities is of extraordinary severity and undermines the possibility of restoring higher education and civil society, which are crucial to promoting peace, justice and strong institutions for the benefit of future generations.

We call on all higher education institutions in the world to raise their voices unequivocally against these atrocities.

SIGNATURES

Giovanni Picker, Sociology
Ophira Gamliel, Theology and Religious Studies
Phillippa Wiseman, Sociology
Akshi Singh, English Literature
Rhys Machold, Politics and International Relations
Sarah Armstrong, Sociology
Eilidh Harris, Theology and Religious Studies
Vassiliki Kolocotroni, English Literature
Diego Pajarito Grajales, Urban Big Data Centre
Gavin Hawkton, Economic & Social History
Molly Gilmour, Sociology
Luke Armstrong, Politics and International Relations
Clare Robertson, Sociology
Nicole Cassie, Central and East European Studies
Saba Ameer, Politics and International Relations
Zsuzsanna Varga, Central and East European Studies
Michael Loader, Central and East European Studies
Kirsteen Paton, Sociology
Bridgette Wessels, Sociology
Hua Wang, Politics and International Relations
Dominic Hinde, Sociology
Kirstie Ken English, Sociology
Gemma Milne, Sociology
Clementine Hill O’Connor, Sociology
Fergus McNeill, Sociology
Theo Williams, Economic and Social History
Leena Nammari PhD Fine Art researcher UoD
Kristina Saunders, Sociology
Rachael McLellan, Politics and International Relations
Ewan Gibbs, Economic and Social History
Karen Bell, Urban Studies
Cairsti Russell, Sociology
Karolina Augustova, Sociology
Petar Bankov, Politics and International Relations
Gerry McCartney, Sociology
Christopher Bunn, Sociology
Jiwei Li, PhD Tutor
Mohammad A. Fetrat, PhD Tutor
Sam Lawton, Sociology
Dominic Pasura, Sociology
Christopher Blyth, Economic and Social History
Harishankar Balasingham, PhD Tutor
Huizi Xi, Politics
Teresa Piacentini, Sociology
Andrew Judge, Politics and International Relations
Diego Maria Malara, Sociology
Dania Thomas, Adam Smith Business School
Leo Steeds, Politics and International Relations
Catherine Happer, Sociology
Sara Bernard, Central and East European Studies
João Almeida, Urban Studies
Lluis de Nadal, Sociology
Rhys Crilley, Politics and International Relations
Isaac Hoff, Sociology
Anna Bochorishvili, Sociology
Toni Marzal, Law
Yekun Sun, Sociology
Jane Duncan, Sociology
Andrew Smith, Sociology
Maria-Daniella Dick, English Literature
Nigel Leask, English Literature
Evelyn Arizpe, Education
Tim Winzler, Sociology
Matt Dawson, Sociology
Jane Cullingworth, Urban Studies
Nicholas Harrington, Urban Studies
Alison Phipps, Education
Henry Ivry, English Literature
Robert Lineira, Politics and International Relations
Arlene Mochan, Urban Studies
Bridget Fowler, Sociology
Emilios Christodoulidis, Law
Maud A Bracke, History
Will Tattersdill, English Literature
Jane Goldman, English Literature
Diarmaid Kelliher, Geographical and Earth Sciences
Guillem Colom.Montero, Modern Languages and Cultures
Christine Whyte, History
Julia Schwab, Central and East European Studies
Alexandra Campbell, English Literature
Francesca Scrinzi, Sociology
Naomi Head, Politics and International Relations
Julie E. McAdam, Education
Lindsay Farmer, Law
Elizabeth Nelson, Education
Melanie Ramdarshan Bold, Education
Panos Theodoropoulos, Sociology
Rachel Lees, Education
Ashli Mullen, Sociology
Anna Clover, Education
Lewis Forsyth, Urban Studies
Nicola Burns, Sociology
George Pavlakos, Law
Julia McClure, History
Ana Cannilla, Law
Jennifer Farrar, Education
Dan Fisher, Education
Dimitris Eleftheriotis, Film & TV Studies
Willy Maley, English Literature
Francesca Stella, Sociology
Michail Georgiou, Urban Big Data Centre
Paige Triezenberg, Teaching & Resource Planning
Daniel Jordan, Urban Studies
Corey Gibson, Scottish Literature
Lucille Tetley-Brown, Sociology
David Webster, Urban Studies
James Humphries, Politics and International Relations
Oli Charbonneau, History
Tom Bartlett, English Language and Linguistics
David Featherstone, Geographical and Earth Sciences
Alister Wedderburn, Politics & International Relations
Richard Brunner, Sociology
James Todd, Geographical and Earth Sciences
Callum Sutherland, Geographical and Earth Sciences
Faye Hammill, English Literature
Alessia Zinnari, Modern Languages
Daniel Scroop, History
Esa Aldegheri, Education
Nughmana Mirza, Sociology
Jelmer Vos, History
Jonas Thoreson, English Literature
Lazaros Karaliotas, Geographical and Earth Sciences
Emma Lister, English Literature
Sophie Vlacos, English Literature
Michael Toomey, Politics and International Relations
Martin MacGregor, History
Benjamin Thomas White, History
Michael Malt, Education
Lorna O’Hara, Geographical and Earth Sciences
Hayes Mabweazara, Sociology
David Archibald, Film and Television Studies
Daria Ukhova, Sociology
Lucy Pickering, Sociology                                                                                             Grant Tregonning, Research Associate
Katie Farrell, Senior EDI Policy Advisor
Misha C. Gramelius, GTA, School of Modern Languages and Cultures
Manar Alhoubi, Lecturer, Islamic University of Gaza, Gaza
Nicole Smith, Education
Maria Bissett, PhD student/GTA
Amanda Douge, Researcher
Thanasi Hassoulas, Associate Professor, Cardiff
Richard Illingworth, Lecturer in International Relations
Claire Niedzwiedz, Research Fellow
Deirdre Heddon, James Arnott Chair in Drama
Soledad Montañez, Lecturer
Andrew Paul Gutierrez, Prof. Emeritus, University of California at Berkeley
Kirsty Hacking, MVLS lecturer,
Kate O'Donnell, Professor, General Practice & Primary Care
Giovanna Fassetta, Senior Lecturer
Fernando Castellano Bañuls, Lecturer, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth
Jonathan Cranfield, Senior Lecturer, Liverpool John Moores University
Moeed Akbar, Research Fellow
Claudia Glatz, Archaeology
Philip Montgomery, Language Education, Michigan State University, Lansing
Andreas Piperides, PhD in International Law
Jennifer McCallum, PhD Student & Tutor
Graeme Eddolls, Researcher (Physics & Astronomy)
Hester Parr, Professor, Geographical and Earth Science
Gonca Yalcin, Doctoral Researcher
Fraser Wilson, School of Social and Political Sciences Professional Services
Maria Grazia Imperiale, Education
Soledad Montañez, Lecturer
Barry Pennock-Speck, Lecturer, Universitat de València, Valencia
Maureen McBride, Sociology
Beatrice Michalovska, PhD researcher
Bernie ORourke, Professor of Sociolinguistics
Brittnee Leysen, Researcher
Savan Qadir, Researcher
Hyab Yohannes, Researcher
Gareth James, Research Fellow, Urban Studies
Bella Hoogeveen, Education
Deniz Ortactepe Hart, Education
César Dominguez, Visiting Professor
Lea Raible, Senior Lecturer in Law
Paul Reilly, Politics
Hatem Bazian, Professor, University of California Berkeley
Rachel Smith, English Language and Linguistics
Irena Baboi, Central and East European Studies
Athene Richford, PhD Candidate and GTA, Law
Jonathan Atkinson, Graduate Teaching Assistant
Martha O'Carroll, Sociology
Domenico Di Rosa, PhD Tutor, Scottish literature
Christina Chatzitheodorou, PhD tutor, History
Natalie Moffat, Sociology
Kevin Leomo, College of Arts & Humanities
Charlie Peevers, Senior Lecturer
Lito Tsitsou, Sociology
Katherine Mackinnon, History
Vladimir Unkovski-Korica, Central and East European Studies
Michail Georgiou, Research Associate
Ewan Brady, Urban Studies
Ian Goode, Lecturer
Aidan Ratchford, PhD Tutor
Zahra F. Khosroshahi, Lecturer in Film and Television Studies
Sarah Neely, Film & Television Studies
David Martin-Jones, Film and TV Studies
Rémi Fuhrmann, Law
David Jasper, emeritus professor
Sharon Greenwood, Public Health
Hannah-Louise Clark, Economic and Social History
Anna McEwan, History
Rachel Douglas, French, Modern Languages
Felicity Callard, Geographical & Earth Sciences
Nicky Reeves, The Hunterian.                                                                            Jeanette Findlay, Business School                                                                     Andrew Mackillop, School of Humanities