Glasgow University graduate student Neve McLean has said she was banned from campus following her involvement in a pro-Palestine protest on 1 April in Scotland.
The final-year sociology student was part of a group of activists who disrupted a campus open day, demanding the university divest from the arms industry linked to Israel's war on Gaza.
The protest, led by Glasgow University Justice for Palestine Society (GUJPS), targeted a series of talks at the event, including those on engineering, finance, and physics, with the intent to condemn the university’s alleged financial ties to the arms trade and its role in "enabling the ongoing genocide of Palestinians".
The group’s disruption aimed to "educate prospective students" about the university’s investments, which they argue are contributing to the oppression of Palestinians.
A spokesperson for GUJPS said that this action was taken to fill in the gaps left out by the university in its official presentations, showcasing the institution's involvement in the arms industry. Photographs shared by the group depicted students holding Palestinian flags and a large banner reading: "Don't pick Glasgow”.
"They cleverly left that out of their slides so we had to show up and fill in the gaps," a spokesperson for the activist group said.
At Glasgow University, student-led campaigns have been calling for the institution to divest £6.8 million it holds in arms firm shares.
Following the protest, McLean received a disciplinary letter from Professor Martin Hendry, the university's Vice Principal and Clerk of the Senate. She says that she has now been banned from all parts of the campus, which means she will be forced to complete her degree "in isolation”.
"The University’s decision to ban me has been extremely frustrating, but ultimately unsurprising," McLean said. "They would rather focus on punishment than engage with the large population of students and staff at this university who believe that an institution of education should not be involved in the weapons trade."
McLean’s case is not the first of a student being banned for participation in Palestine solidarity protests at the University of Glasgow. In March, the university reversed its decision to ban student Hannah Taylor, who was also involved in a protest earlier in the year.
Another group of 30 students occupied a university building in February, followed by a larger protest the next day where around 100 students blocked traffic on campus calling for divestment.
The activism at Glasgow University is part of a larger trend across UK campuses, where students are increasingly mobilising against university investments in arms companies and solidarity with Palestine. Activists have organised sit-ins, road blockages, and other disruptive actions to pressure the university into severing ties with the arms industry.
The New Arab has contacted Glasgow University for comment.
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