QUB staff, students, and alumni raise concerns about Hillary Clinton's position on Gaza
More than 260 staff, students, and alumni from Queen's University Belfast (QUB) have signed a letter concerning the role of QUB's Chancellor Hillary Clinton's "position on the horrific vio‐ lence in Gaza."
Clinton, the former US Secretary of State, received an honorary doctorate from Queen's University Belfast in Octo‐ ber 2018 and was later appointed the University’s 11th and first female Chan‐ cellor in January 2020.
QUB says that Clinton is "an internation‐ ally recognised public servant" and that she "has strong links with Queen’s and Northern Ireland, especially because of her outstanding contribution to peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland." Clinton is described by QUB as "a strong advocate for Northern Ireland and an in‐ spirational role model for the Queen’s community."
A new letter signed by more than 260 QUB staff, students, and alumni, con‐ cerning Clinton's position on Gaza is reprinted here in full with permission of signatory Professor Cahal McLaughlin: Dear Vice Chancellor and Deputy Vice Chancellor, As QUB staff, students and alumni we wish to register profound concern re‐ garding the continuing role of Hillary
Clinton as our Chancell or. On 14 No‐ vember 2023,she wrote an op-ed for The Atlantic, rejecting the call for a ceasefire in Gaza. She stated, ‘A full cease-fire that leaves Ham as in power would be a mistake.’ Given the USA’s major role in supplying military support to Israel, her statement amounts to vali‐ dation of the ongoing massacre of civil‐ ians and infrastructure in Gaza.
We are aware that QUB accepts re‐ search investment by companies that construct and sell lethal weapons to Is ‐ rael; these include Thales and BAE Sys‐ tems. Further, weunderstand that QUB has invested over £5 million in arms companies. Unambiguously, this impli‐ cates our university in war crimes. The full scale of Israel’s violence was starkly evidenced by Blinne Ni Ghrálaigh, KC, instructed by South Africa at the International Court of Jus‐ tice on 11 January 2024. She stated,‘ On average, 247 Palestinians are being killed and are at risk of being killed each day, many of them literally blown to pieces. They include 48mothers each day. Two every hour. And over 117 chil ‐ dren each day ,leading Unicef to call Is‐ rael' sactions a war on children. Entire multigenerational families would be obliterated’.
Specifically, regarding violence against academics in Gaza, on 20 January 2024 the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported, ‘The Is‐ raeli army has killed 94 university pro‐ fessors, along with hundreds of teachers and thousands of students, as part of its genocidal war against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip,on going since 7 October 2023’. The above statistics have increased with theongoing deadly violence visited in‐ discriminately on Gaza’s population by th eIsraeli bombardment. Todate, over 31,000 people have been killed, with two thirds of them women and children, with an average of 63 women killed each day (UNRWA). These statistics, the consequence of what is euphemistically represented as necessary ‘collateral damage ’, run counter to our Chancellor’ s advocacy forwomen’s rights. As auniversity, wehavearesponsibility tosupport Peace,Security andJustice, as one of our research institutes is proudly titled. Given that the ICJ deci‐ sion considers that unlawful killing amounting to genocide isoccurring, we have a duty as academics and as citi‐ zens to support without equivocation the call for an end to the violence. That call is severely diminished by the position that Hillary Clinton -our Chancellor - has adopted; and by continued invest ‐ ment in companies that have developed and manufactured weapon sused in the commission of warcrimes. We ask the university to call for anim‐ mediate ceasefire, an urgent review of the current Chancellor’s position, and theintroduction of a more rigorous ethi‐ cal investment policy in consultation with staff and student unions.