Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Newcastle University:
We are not a pacifist institution, and we will not call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

In a meeting with staff members demanding the university to cut ties with arms manufacturing companies, the Deputy Vice Chancellor of Newcastle University stated: We are not a pacifist institution, and we will not call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

After many months of student protests and appeals from academics at Newcastle University to the university’s executive board to cut ties with arms manufacturing companies that supply the Israeli occupation forces, Newcastle University’s deputy vice-chancellor Brian Walker stated last week that Newcastle University is not a pacifist institution and that it will not call for a ceasefire in Gaza because, in his view, it is a contentious issue.

The meeting took place after a group of academics requested an extraordinary academic board meeting which mandates the attendance of the vice-chancellor. Although the purpose of the meeting was to hold the executives accountable through conversation, the executives did not allow anyone to speak except the vice-chancellor and his deputy. They also did not respond to the pre-submitted questions despite the available time and ending the meeting twenty minutes early. The university executives have a history of ignoring letters from students and staff demanding to cut ties with arms manufacturers and taking a stance against the genocide in Gaza.

Newcastle University has many partnerships and investments in weapon producers that supply the Israeli occupation army. The university hosted the Israeli arms manufacturer “Rafael” on campus during the genocide.

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