We are staff, students and alumni of the University of the Arts London. For over three months we have watched in horror as the infrastructure of Gaza is systematically destroyed. Since October 7th, fourteen higher education institutions in Palestine have been partially or totally damaged, including twelve in the Gaza Strip and two in the West Bank. All universities in the Gaza Strip have ceased operation. Students and faculty members have been displaced, denied internet access, and forced to discontinue their studies, teaching and research[1]

Palestinian universities have been a cornerstone of the movement for liberation, documenting Palestinian history, arts, and archaeology while also training lawyers, doctors, engineers and artists to help create a free Palestine. We believe that the coordinated attacks on Palestinian educators, artists and institutions violate the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination, and amount to genocidal acts. Raphael Lemkin, the lawyer who coined the term ‘genocide’ in 1944, considered the attempted erasure of a people’s history and culture to be an aspect of genocide.[2] The open eradication of Palestinian scholars, artists and custodians of intellectual and cultural heritage, alongside targeted killings of journalists and their families, not only perpetuates that erasure but also denies Palestinians a voice on the international stage, constituting an act of genocide.

The South African submission to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing the State of Israel of committing acts of genocide in the Gaza Strip in violation of the Genocide convention, highlights the concerted attacks on Palestinian educational institutions and infrastructure as a matter that requires immediate attention from the international community:

Almost 90,000 Palestinian university students cannot attend university. Over 60 per cent of schools, almost all universities and countless bookshops and libraries have been damaged or destroyed, and hundreds of teachers and academics have been killed, including deans of universities and leading Palestinian scholars, obliterating the very prospects for the future education of Gaza’s children and young people.[3]

We stand with our Palestinian colleagues and pledge to do everything in our power to support and rebuild education and cultural institutions in Gaza and across Palestine. This includes:

1- Engaging in and supporting the research, teaching, and dissemination of Palestinian intellectual and cultural heritage, as well as artistic and design practices that illuminate the Palestinian experience;

2- Sharing knowledge and understanding of colonial histories, including the central role of the British state in the partition of Palestine and the ongoing dispossession of the Palestinian people;

3- Using our library and archival spaces to record and showcase Palestinian intellectual and artistic histories and practices, including archiving reproductions to ensure a continuing record of Palestinian intellectual and artistic life;

4- Building meaningful and supportive collaborations with Palestinian colleagues;

5- Working with Palestinian organisations to support educators and artists, as well as rebuild the educational and cultural infrastructure of Palestine;

6- Ensuring a public voice for Palestinians in our public events and exhibition spaces;

7- Supporting Palestinian students, such as by creating a scholarship scheme;

8- Exercising and defending the right of scholars, artists and students to question, challenge, and critique injustice, as part of our right to academic freedom.

As artists, teachers, scholars and students, we cannot remain silent in the face of this unfolding genocide. We have a responsibility to support our Palestinian colleagues and build meaningful solidarity. We call on every member of the UAL community to support this call before it is too late.

[1] Fobzu, Friends of Birzeit University (2023) The War on Gaza:The assault on Palestinian higher education, December 2023. Available at: fobzu.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Fobzu-Briefin... [accessed on 17 January 2024].

[2] Raphael Lemkin (1944) Axis rule in occupied Europe: laws of occupation, analysis of government, proposals for redress. Washington: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, pp. 79-90.

[3] The International Court of Justice (ICJ) (2024) ‘Public sitting held on Thursday 11 January 2024, at 10 a.m., at the Peace Palace, President Donoghue presiding, in the case concerning Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel)’, pp. 64-65. Available at: icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/1... [accessed on 17 January 2024].