BDS groups from the Gulf region attack British universities over the war on Gaza

A pro-Palestinian coalition group based in the Gulf states has launched a boycott campaign against British universities that they say are contributing to the so-called genocide in the Gaza Strip.

The Gulf Coalition Against Normalization (Gulf CAN) is calling on students not to enroll at the affected universities. Contract brokers should end their business relationships and education ministries should withdraw their scholarships from universities, as well as end their business relationships with defense companies that supply Israel with weapons and withdraw their investments.

Gulf CAN is an umbrella organization of activist groups from Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait. Its goal is to coordinate campaigns within the Gulf states to “resist Zionism” and normalize relations with Israel in the region.

“British universities are not only complicit in the refusal to recognise the genocide in Gaza, but also play a direct role in funding and developing weapons supplied to the Zionist occupation army,” the statement said.

Gulf CAN calls on local education stakeholders to boycott the following UK universities: Newcastle University, University of Liverpool, University of Nottingham, University of Leeds, Northumbria University, Queen Mary University of London, University of Portsmouth, University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University and Coventry University.

According to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, institutions on the Gulf CAN list have invested over £34 million in companies linked to Israel.

“These universities are explicitly committed to protecting the occupation by repressing demonstrations by female students demanding an end to their involvement in the genocide in Gaza,” the statement continued, stressing that “the repressive measures also included physical violence, sexual harassment and the removal of the hijab.”

The organisation says that universities have lost £600,000 so far as a result of its campaign, pointing out that scholarship programmes and partnerships with local universities in the Gulf are an “indispensable source of income for British universities”.

The British Council found that the Gulf states, including Kuwait and Qatar, were among the largest markets for sponsored British study visas in 2018. The UK saw an increase of almost six percent in T4 visas from Kuwait.

At the same time, the United Kingdom remained the most important destination for outgoing students from Bahrain, with over 15,000 students.

Universities around the world, particularly institutions in the UK, are facing pressure from protests and encampments to divest from companies with links to Israel.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) found that British universities are investing a total of almost £430 million in companies involved in the state war on Gaza, in which over 38,000 Palestinians have now been killed.