Hillhead Review - GUJPS repost statement calling for de-proscription of Hamas

The independent student newspaper of the University of Glasgow

GUJPS repost statement calling for de-proscription of Hamas

by Katherine McKay

The statement claimed that the proscription of Hamas as a terrorist organisation threatened ‘academic freedom and open enquiry.’

Glasgow University Justice for Palestine Society (GUJPS) took to Instagram to share a statement signed by multiple student organisations, expressing support for the de-proscription of Hamas from the Terrorism Act (2000).

Signatories include UCL Stands for Justice, Europe Palestine Network, and Edinburgh University Justice for Palestine Society. GUJPS have not yet publicly signed the statement.

The statement reads, “over 50,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel. Yet in the UK, students who speak out against this genocide are intimidated and threatened, not just online, but from universities, immigration systems, and even the police.

“The proscription of Hamas lies at the heart of this chilling effect. We therefore stand in support of Riverway Law’s application to de-proscribe Hamas, not as an endorsement of any group, but to protect the civic space essential for academic freedom and open enquiry.”

Hamas’s military wing, Hamas IDQ, was proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the British Government in 2001. The political wing, which governs Gaza, was proscribed in 2021. It is currently a criminal offence to express support for a proscribed terrorist organisation in the United Kingdom.

In recent months, Gaza has seen an increase in anti-Hamas protests, calling for the group to step down from power. Hamas condemned the protests, suggesting they were shifting blame from Israel.

GUJPS have increased their campaign against the University’s investment in arms companies, which they argue funds genocide in Palestine. Campus has seen multiple buildings occupied, students on hunger strike, and University Avenue blocked to vehicles.

A Glasgow Jewish Society spokesperson labelled GUJPS’ demand to “ban all Zionists from campus” as “troubling” and terms including “intifada” and “down with Tel Aviv” as “alienating.”