University of Birmingham branch of UCU (BUCU) notes:

• that students have set up an encampment at the University of Birmingham, calling for a lasting ceasefire regarding Israel’s assault on Gaza, and an end to the genocide
• The offensive tone of VC Adam Tickell in his all-staff email on 10 May 2024, including through the creation of a false binary between ‘students who feel strongly about events in Palestine’ and ‘Jewish students’, silencing Jewish voices who are supportive of the encampment and reject the genocide taking place in Gaza,  plus the attempt to criminalise students taking part in peaceful protest and assembly
• Friends of Palestine UoB’s rejection of the suggestion that meaningful engagement has already been ongoing – and that if only the Encampment had not taken place this would continue – and their concern that the Islamophobia they have experienced has been overlooked and minimised.

BUCU agrees:

• that calling attention to the systematic discrimination of Palestinians and/or criticising the Israeli government for its contravention of international law must not be conflated with antisemitism;
• that we welcome and admire the actions of University of Birmingham students taking action today, in calling for an end to an onslaught that observers and experts have repeatedly decried as an act of genocide.
• to call for UoB management to respect the peaceful student encampment, as a testament to freedom of expression, and to constructively engage with student demands.

BUCU resolves:

• To offer our full support to the Encampment, in the interests of peace, freedom of speech, and freedom of assembly.
• To offer our full support for any students who are penalised for taking this peaceful action.
• To circulate Friends of Palestine UoB’s response to Adam Tickell’s all-staff email to our BUCU members

Adopted, BUCU Members’ Meeting, 13 May 2024