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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://www.thecanary.co/uk/news/2025/03/02/oxford-university-elbit/">thecanary.co</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Oxford University will regret investing in Israel's genocide in Gaza</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">The Canary</div>
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<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time">March 2, 2025</div>
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<p>Oxford University got another reminder of its complicity with <a href="https://www.thecanary.co/topics/israel/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Israel’s</a> ongoing genocide in Gaza – as activists took to one building to protest its involvement.</p>
<h2>Oxford University: drop Elbit now</h2>
<p>Oxford students and local activists have once again took to action in a bold protest targeting the <a href="https://www.oxfordstudent.com/2024/06/03/demystified-oxfords-opaque-ethical-investments/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University</a>. This demonstration is in response to the University’s ongoing investment in <a href="https://www.thecanary.co/uk/news/2025/02/13/palestine-action-phs-group/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elbit Systems</a>,
an Israeli arms manufacturer implicated in the genocide of
Palestinians, and to protest Oxford’s hosting of politicians deeply
complicit in Israel’s genocide.</p>
<p>In an action organised by students and local community members,
Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government was sprayed with messages of
‘DROP ELBIT’ and ‘FREE PALESTINE’, the glass panes on the building’s
exterior shattered:</p>
<p><a href="https://www.thecanary.co/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/foto_no_exif-36.jpg"><img src="https://www.thecanary.co/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/foto_no_exif-36.jpg" alt="Oxford University" width="1600" height="1200" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img"></a></p><img src="cid:ii_m7s8rl3m1" alt="foto_no_exif-36.jpg" width="446" height="335"><br><p></p>
<img src="cid:ii_m7s8qtju0" alt="foto_no_exif-34.jpg" width="446" height="335"><br><p></p>
<p>Oxford’s ties to Elbit Systems, which manufactures drones used by the
Israeli military, have been a source of mounting criticism, and led to a
previous visit by Palestine Action in October 2024, in collaboration
with Oxford residents, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/pal_action/p/DBHDIN1NpMH/?img_index=3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">targeting the University’s administrative offices</a> in Wellington Square, to demand total divestment from Elbit.</p>
<p>The symbolic act of defiance comes the day before former prime
minister Rishi Sunak is due to join the Blavatnik School’s Board, an <a href="https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/unwavering-support-makes-uk-government-complicit-in-israeli-war-crimes-in-gaza-british-muslim-expert/3099441" target="_blank" rel="noopener">individual infamous for his support</a>
for Israeli war crimes and genocide. The protestors view the
involvement in University administration of Rishi Sunak, who gave his
“unequivocal” support for Israel’s siege and massacres in Gaza, as part
of a broader strategy to legitimize and perpetuate the UK’s support for
Israel’s military actions, including the ongoing occupation of
Palestine.</p>
<h2>Palestine Action: students will be back</h2>
<p>“We are here to send a clear message to Oxford: its role in funding
and profiting from the genocide of Palestine cannot go unchallenged”
said a spokesperson for <a href="https://www.thecanary.co/topics/palestine-action/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Palestine Action</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>Oxford’s investment in Elbit Systems is not just a
financial decision, but a political one that supports the violence and
oppression faced by Palestinians every day.</p></blockquote>
<p>Elbit Systems is Israel’s <a href="https://investigate.afsc.org/company/elbit-systems" target="_blank" rel="noopener">largest weapons firm</a>,
responsible for production of 85% of Israel’s military drones and
directly linked to documented war crimes against Palestinians of the
most heinous nature.</p>
<p><em>Featured image and additional images supplied</em></p>
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