In a breach of its long-standing tradition of honoring deceased alumni, the University of Nottingham has refused to issue obituary notices for its graduates who were killed during the Israeli raids on Gaza. This decision has sparked significant student protests against the university’s management.

Students have noted that while an obituary notice has now been published on the university’s website, it came only after months of protests. Furthermore, the notice has been edited in a manner that obscures the circumstances of their deaths, seemingly to shield the Israeli occupying forces from any condemnation. This stance reflects what has been described as a racist approach by the university and indicates its complicity in the violence against not only the people of Gaza but also its own alumni, including Ikraam Ghanem and Dr. Said Alzebda, along with their children Sumayyah, Intisar, and Izzeddin, who were all killed in an Israeli airstrike on 31st December 2023.

This airstrike is likely to be enabled by the militarised campus of the University of Nottingham, which hosts BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce. BAE Systems supplies the Israeli army with a range of weapons, including components for combat aircraft, munitions, missile launching kits, and armored vehicles. Rolls-Royce has developed the engine for the Merkava tank, which was used in the invasion of Rafah. The university also maintains partnerships with other arms companies, including Leonardo S.p.A., which holds 26 arms export licenses from the UK to Israel.

After months of student protests against the university’s role in facilitating the genocide in Gaza, the University of Nottingham became the first in the UK to take legal action against its peacefully protesting students, setting a precedent that many other UK universities have since followed.

The Gulf Coalition Against Normalisation (Gulf CAN) has included the University of Nottingham in a Gulf-wide boycott campaign. Prospect students from the gulf are invited to pledge their boycott here.