Two British universities have been
accused of undermining freedom of speech after cancelling an annual
pro-Palestinian event aimed at raising awareness about human rights violations
in the occupied territories.
The accusation was leveled
on Monday after the University of Exeter and the University of Central
Lancashire (UCLan) announced the cancellation of a pro-Palestinian student-run
event called Israel Apartheid Week.
Students at Exeter were
barred from giving a street theater performance called Mock Checkpoint, in
which some participants were to dress up as Israeli soldiers while others
performed the roles of Palestinian victims.
The event had been approved
by the student union at the university but was banned for “safety and security
reasons” less than 48 hours before commencement. An appeal against the decision
was also refused.
Members of Friends of
Palestine Society at Exeter accused the university of censoring students,
saying, “They are not allowing freedom of speech – by cancelling an event that
was in support of Palestinian activism and for Palestinian rights; they are
directly censoring us.”
Professors react
The move prompted almost
250 academics, including 100 professors, to sign a letter denouncing attempts
by university officials to silence campus discussion about Israel and its
treatment of Palestinians.
“These
are outrageous interferences with free expression, and are direct attacks
on academic freedom,” the letter noted. “As academics with positions at UK
universities, we wish to express our dismay at this attempt to silence campus
discussion about Israel, including its violation of the rights of Palestinians
for over 50 years.
“It is with disbelief that
we witness explicit political interference in university affairs in the
interests of Israel under the thin disguise of concern about anti-semitism,” it
added.
More than half a million Israelis live in over 230 illegal
settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian
territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds.
Much of the international
community regards the Israeli settlements as illegal because the territories
they are built on were captured by Israel in a war and are hence subject to the
Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied lands.
Nevertheless, the Israeli
regime continues to build more settlements and expand the existing ones.
-PressTV
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