Loughborough UCU

Expanding Palestine Solidarity Working Group to Demilitarisation Working Group 

Written by LUCU Palestine Solidarity Working Group 

Based on a branch motion passed in Oct 2024, LUCU has run a Palestine Solidarity Working Group that includes members from both campuses as well as committee members. We have made a strong effort to raise awareness about the ongoing genocide and occupation and crucially, to make it possible to speak about and organise in support of Palestine without fear of reprisals at Loughborough University.   

Since then, the working group has done the following: 

  • Repeatedly pushed the University to re-assess its projects with potential links to breaches of international law, war crimes and genocide against the Palestinians, as it did with links to Russia following its invasion of Ukraine  
  • Sought clarity from the University that students would not be penalised for boycotting “mandatory” careers fairs with military presence 
  • Advocated for the rights of students to protest and to protect their identities, given concerns around political targeting of migrants 
  • Offered to mediate a meeting between University leaders and members of the REACH network and Loughborough Action for Palestine 
  • Held a Demilitarise Education hybrid workshop at the London campus on 13th November 2024 [I can ask for the dED slides if we can link here] 
  • Held two talks by Prof Ali Bilgic: ‘Contextualising the Conflict: A Brief History of the Middle East’ 8 July 2026 & ‘When The World Looked Away’ 3 March 2026 
  • Screened Maha Haj’s 2024 Upshot and Mohammed Bakri’s Jenin Jenin (2002) for Palestine Cinema Day 2025 at LUL – 4th November 2025, in collaboration with Filmlab Palestine / Palestine Cinema Days 2025 

Working group members agree that they have fulfilled, to the extent possible, the aims of the initial motion in creating solidarity for Palestine among staff and students and supporting student rights to free speech and protest. We feel that the appropriate next step is to expand the remit of the working group to broader efforts against university militarisation. Key aims/actions would be to:  

  • Review Loughborough’s relationship to the UK and any foreign military entities, whether through research, funding, or teaching    
  • Request information on Loughborough’s plans to try and join the Defence Universities Alliance  
  • Work against further defence/military alliances and work to de-militarise the university’s existing relationships  
  • Create resources for education on the relationship between militarisation in education and capitalist interests within the UK that affect staff and students  
  • Explore, and make visible, contradictions between Loughborough’s ethical standards in academic research, and commitment to sustainability, with militarisation   
  • Ensure all forms of military aggression are reviewed on an equitable basis (e.g. breaking ties with Russia vs. with Israel)   
  • Invite Demilitarise Education (dED) for a workshop available to LUCU members and non-members  

We remain committed to taking action in support of Palestine when our members identify relevant opportunities to do so. We will continue to work to transform the culture of silence around the occupation and genocide and keep Palestine on the agenda at Loughborough. 

If you would like to get involved in this work, please contact the branch via ucu@lboro.ac.uk

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