Should the Guild lobby the University to support Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions? It’s time to have your say.
From 8.30pm on Tuesday 19th March – 11am on Friday 22nd March, we will be holding a referendum to ask University of Liverpool students whether the Guild should lobby the University to support Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions through boycotting the following 5 companies:
- Amazon (Project Nimbus)
- Hewlett Packard (HP)
- Jaguar Land Rover
- BAE Systems
- Agusta Westland
This Referendum has been called in accordance with the Guild’s democratic processes and is an opportunity for the Guild’s membership to decide and form a corporate conclusion on the matters expressed within it. Any steps to be taken by the Guild in the implementation of any adopted motion will be subject to the trustees’ charity law duties and the Articles of Association of the Guild.
We understand that conversations surrounding this topic can be difficult, and ask that our members ensure they are mindful of the opinions, perspectives and personal experiences of others throughout the course of this referendum and beyond. We are working to mitigate any impact these conversations may have on individuals, and are here to offer support and protect the wellbeing of all our members. Read more here to learn about the support available, as well as information on how the Guild are encouraging a positive campaigning environment.
Have your say: We’ll be asking you to vote on the following options:
Should the Guild adopt the proposal “Oppose Israeli Crimes through Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)”?
- Yes
- No
Logging In
Ahead of casting a vote, please login now using your MWS University account
Make an informed decision: The Background & Campaign Statements
Read the background, campaign statements and be ready to have your say.
The Background
This proposal comes from a student submission to our Change It platform, which focuses on the University’s relationship with the above 5 companies, who have ties to Israel. It proposes that the Guild “pressures the University to endorse the Boycott, Divestment Sanctions (BDS movement)”.
You can read the Change It idea in full here.
This idea was then discussed at Guild Summit, our student led decision-making body, on the 27th February. At that meeting, Summit attendees could not reach consensus on the matter, and so it is now going to a cross-campus ballot. In accordance with the Guild’s democratic processes, Iideas that divide opinion at Guild Summit are put to a campus-wide ballot to enable all students to express their views on the matter.
We will now be asking you to have your say on this topic. All Full Members of the Guild will be able to vote.
The below statement was submitted by the Yes Campaign team:
As Israel has murdered more than 30,000 innocent of our innocent people in Gaza in its ongoing genocidal war, we are calling on the University of Liverpool to urgently cut ties with five companies deeply complicit in Israeli crimes committed against Palestinians, which have been widely documented and condemned by the UN and many humanitarian organizations worldwide.
1- Jaguar Land Rover: provides vehicles that the Israeli army uses in its genocide in Gaza, like the Land Rover Defender, which is the most operational patrol vehicle in the Israeli military.
2- BAE Systems: a military contractor that manufactures the weapons used in Israel’s war crimes against Palestinians.
3- Agusta Westland: aids in manufacturing Apache helicopters that are used to kill the innocent people of Gaza, with at least 13 documented children killed by Israeli Apache helicopters in Israel’s 2014 attack on Gaza alone.
4- HP: provides the Israeli army with hardware, as well as software that forms the backbone of Israel’s apartheid practices.
5- Amazon: provides software that enable Israel’s apartheid practices.
These acts of boycott and divestment fall within the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which is a Palestinian-led non-violent human rights movement, inspired by the South African anti-apartheid movement. BDS has three clear and simple goals: ending illegal Israeli occupation of all Arab lands (as defined by the UN), granting full equal rights to the Arab citizens of Israel, and allowing all Palestinians the right to return to the land of Palestine in line with United Nations’ resolution 194.
Voting against BDS is a vote for our Palestinian people back home to continue facing genocide and crimes against humanity, which the support of five unethical companies that our university unfortunately has strong ties with. We all have a duty to reject taking part in genocide.
The following text was provided by the speaker for the idea as supporting evidence, when this idea was discussed at Guild Summit. This is provided to help students make an informed decision on the idea.
February 2024 Summit – Proposer Statement
A campaign statement has not been provided from the No Campaign
However, the following text was provided by a speaker against the idea as supporting evidence, when this idea was discussed at Guild Summit. This is provided to help students make an informed decision on the idea.
February 2024 Summit – Opposer Statement
We’ll be asking you to vote on the following options:
Should the Guild adopt the proposal “Oppose Israeli Crimes through Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)”?
- Yes
- No
- Vote now when voting opens at 8.30pm on Tuesday 19th March
- Log into the Guild website and entering your university username and password
- On the Ballot, click the green vote now button
- Have your say before 11am on Friday 22nd March
Here at the Guild we understand that debates surrounding this topic can be challenging, and we are considerate of the impact that this may have on the student community. We would encourage students to ensure that any conversations surrounding this referendum are mindful of the opinions, perspectives and personal experiences of others. There may be students within our community who have friends and family involved in the ongoing situations, or those who view Israel and Palestine or aspects of their faith as a key part of their identity, and reflect on their own sense of struggle or oppression, and who see the University as a place of safety in troubling times.
The Guild are here to support all students throughout this process. If at any point during these conversations you would like to reach out for support, there are a number of services available:
Get Referendum Ready: FAQs
Solutions not Sides are an organisation that has supported the skills of empathy, active listening, communication, critical thinking and conflict resolution through the exploration of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict since 2010. They have three key values, non-violence, equality for all and the rejection of hatred, with long term aims to reduce antisemitism, islamophobia and polarisation within society.
When we talk about Israel and Palestine, we want to do so without falling back on Antisemitic and Anti-Muslim tropes and speech. Solutions not Sides have produced guidance on how to do this, and we encourage all students to read their guidance Israel-Palestine: Avoiding Antisemitic and Islamophobic Hate Speech | SNS (solutionsnotsides.co.uk)
Being sensitive about other people’s views, thinking carefully about the language we use, avoiding stereotypes and not assuming people’s beliefs is important in creating a positive environment.
If you have any questions about this referendum, or concerns about conduct during it, please do get in touch with democracy@liverpool.ac.uk