Students’ Union Statement on SOAS-wide Referendum on Academic Boycott

SOAS Students’ Union, with the support of SOAS trade union branches (UCU and UNISON) organised a SOAS-wide referendum on Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) of Israel, specifically in regards to academic boycott. Voting was open to all members of the SOAS community: current students, academics, non-academic staff, university governors, and outsourced workers such as cleaners, security, and catering staff.

The referendum took place from 23^rd-27^th February both online and via ballot box, in which all members of the community could vote on the question “should SOAS join the BDS call for an academic boycott of Israeli universities?” The results were announced on the evening of 27^th February by the Returning Officer for the referendum, Alex Fulton. A total of 2056 people voted, out of which 73% voted Yes and 27% voted No – please see the breakdown of the results below.

The Students’ Union has supported BDS for 10 years, as decided by its members through its democratic processes, but this consultative referendum was organised to find out the opinion of the whole community. [1] The Union’s concern during the referendum was to ensure a fair and transparent voting process (overseen by the Returning Officer), to facilitate a safe and inclusive environment in which this question could be debated, and to encourage members of the community to engage and exercise their right to vote. The Union facilitated the activities of both the Yes and No campaigns on campus, with both being equally represented in our communications about the referendum and in debates on the subject.

The result of the referendum is not binding. However, we believe that SOAS should reflect the wishes of its community. Currently SOAS has formal links with the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, which has strong ties to the Israeli military. [2] An academic boycott would see SOAS end this link with Hebrew University and refrain from academic cooperation, collaboration or joint projects with Israeli institutions. [3] This would be a boycott of institutions, not individuals: Israeli academics would still work with SOAS academics in their individual capacity, rather than as official representatives of Israeli universities.

Some have challenged our right to hold this referendum and have threatened legal action against us, which could result in a huge expense for the Union and our trustees being held personally liable. In our view the referendum was an entirely legitimate means by which to enhance our community’s education about, and encourage debate on, an important international issue and its relation to the values and ethics of our institution. We reject the notion that there should be no debate within a community of international scholars (many of whom specialise in the Middle East) over moral and legal issues arising from our connections with the state of Israel. We are concerned that individuals and groups are attempting to undermine this democratic decision in order to discourage and intimidate other university communities from organising similar referenda.

We believe that SOAS should be governed in accordance with the values and ethics of the students and staff who make up the institution. We will be requesting that SOAS management uphold the will of its community by ending its links with Israeli universities and thereby ending its connections with human rights abuses committed by Israel. We are the first university community in the UK to hold a referendum such as this, which we believe represents a historic moment. We encourage other university communities to hold BDS referendums of their own. As a community we will continue to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for freedom, equality and justice.

Signed, 

Georgie Robertson, SOAS Students' Union Co-President Welfare & Campaigns 

David Suber, SOAS Students' Union Co-President Democracy & Education

Kabir Joshi, SOAS Students' Union Co-President Activities & Events

[1] For more information about the Union’s position and referendum process, please see this statement

[2] For more information about the Hebrew University and its ties with the Israeli military, please see the following:

Find here a letter from the Hebrew Univeristy to friends and alumni in August 2014 about joining the war effort, the letter is in Hebrew but a screenshot in English and an explanation in English can be found in this article

Find here information regarding the most recent expansion of Hebrew University on Palestinian land

Find here a report by the Alternative Information Center (AIC) arguing how Israeli Universities are complicit with military occupation.

Find here a video showing the military-academic collaboration between the Hebrew University and the Israeli Defence Force.

Find here a video of a graduate of Hebrew University about these links. 

[3] For more information about BDS and academic boycott, please see the PACBI (Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel) guidelines here

Referendum Results:

Students

Answer  Votes  Percentage 

Yes          1283         75% 

No            425          25% 

Total votes 1708 

Contract Staff (Cleaners, Security,Catering)

Answer Votes   Percentage 

Yes         39             91% 

No           4              9% 

Total 43 

SOAS Staff 

Answer    Votes    Percentage 

Yes           182            60% 

No             123           40% 

Total 305 

TOTAL VOTES

Answer      Votes    Percentage 

Yes              1504        73% 

No                552         27% 

Total 2056