Glasgow University Justice for Palestine Society (GUJPS) took to Instagram to announce the end of their ten day hunger strike, in protest of University investment in arms companies.
A GUJPS activist said; “The brazen and wilful ignorance of the University Management over this past week and a half has demonstrated to us that you cannot appeal to the heart’s of the heartless administration. They have shown that there is nothing that they will not risk to maintain it, including the health of their own students.
“Seeing this, we have decided that our energy is better spent not in appealing to the humanity of these people. We urge you not to view this as a deescalation. We promise that escalation will continue until our demands are met.
“We will never rest and it does not matter how hard [the University] tries to cling to [their] investments in arms, [they] will fail. Divestment is inevitable.”
The GUJPS activist said that fourteen students had been on hunger strike “at various points over the past ten days.”
This comes after the student body voted overwhelmingly in favour for the University to divest from arms companies. Of those polled, 89.3% voted ‘yes’ to the question; “Should the University of Glasgow stop investing in companies that earn more than 10% of their revenue from the arms and defence industry?” This represents 17.2% of the student population.
Following the result, the Student Representative Council (SRC) published an open letter to University Principal Anton Muscatelli. The letter urged divestment from arms companies, stating the, “clear and urgent message from the University of Glasgow’s student body.”
Unison UofG and the University and Colleges Union (UCU) also shared their support for the referendum results, and called for “an emergency meeting of Court to urgently address [the decision to divest].”
Following the referendum, The University told Hillhead Review: “The University notes the result of the indicative student referendum. We will continue to engage with students and the SRC on divestment and will share the referendum result with Court.”
In regards to the end of the student hunger strike, the University said: “We’re pleased to receive reports that students have ended their hunger strike. We do not want to see any student put themselves in harm’s way by taking part in action such as this.
“We remain open to talking with the protestors at any time and will continue to uphold the right to freedom of expression on campus.”
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