14 Sept. 2026
The British Committee for the Universities of Palestine (BRICUP) strongly condemns the extreme and ongoing repression of pro-Palestine academic freedom at Kings College and other British universities, as detailed in the Liberty Investigates report Inside King’s College London’s crackdown on pro-Palestine students: https://libertyinvestigates.org.uk/articles/inside-kings-college-londons-crackdown-on-pro-palestine-students/
The Liberty Investigates report finds that numerous British Universities have targeted pro-Palestine students and staff. A total of 42 Universities have launched investigations into 236 pro-Gaza students and staff. University College London has opened 24 disciplinary investigations, the second highest amount. The University of Oxford is third with 18 and Cardiff University has opened 12. The worst, however, is Kings College, London.
The report details that at least 26 students have faced disciplinary action at King’s after engaging in pro-Palestine protest activity. These included a female student, ‘Khadija’ (not her real name), being banned from attending the classes of a lecturer who had been in the Israel army, and being ordered to write a 2,000-word “reflective” essay. She would also be considered for referral to the UK government’s counter-terror programme, Prevent, which rights groups have criticised for disproportionately targeting Muslims and lacking transparency. As a teenager, Khadija had posted in a pro-Gaza student WhatsApp group, saying she had come across her lecturer’s public LinkedIn profile and felt “sick” to discover they had spent four years in the Israeli army and had reposted and liked content defending Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians. At that time, Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza had killed at least 67,194 people.
These, and other similar actions against pro-Palestine students by British universities, are gross violations not only of academic freedom but also the rights of students, and staff, to oppose human rights abuses, including genocide.
BRICUP calls on all universities which have targeted students and staff for supporting Palestinian rights to rescind all disciplinary action against them. BRICUP will work together with other like-minded organisations to help achieve this goal.
