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UJS condemns Glasgow campus event as ‘a severe threat to Jewish students’
The event, organised by the university's Islamic Society, features Franck Magennis, a barrister who has previously represented Hamas, as well as the institution's rector, Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
UJS has described an event taking place this evening on the campus of Glasgow University as posing “a severe threat to Jewish students”, due to it featuring a barrister known for representing Hamas in its efforts to challenge the government’s proscription of it as a terrorist group.
The event, taking place this evening, organised by the university’s Islamic Society and further promoted by the Glasgow University Justice in Palestine Society (GUJPS) is titled “What is Zionism and how do we confront it”. It features the barrister Franck Magennis, as well as the rector of Glasgow University, British-Palestinian doctor Ghassan Abu-Sittah.
Dr Abu-Sittah, a former student at the university, won a vote to become its rector in 2024, with a campaign video that said a vote for him would be a vote “against the genocide in Gaza” and “against the blood money that Glasgow University is making as profit from this war”.
Earlier this year a Medical Tribunal ruled that accusations of antisemitism from Dr Abu-Sittah had not been proved. He had been reported to the GMC over two social media posts from 2023 and an article he had written for a Lebanese newspaper, Al Akhbar, in March 2018.
In the article, the medic wrote about the “martyrdom” of Ahmad Nasr Jarrar, who he referred to as a “hero” of the Nablus operation, saying: “The people have no weapon left but revolutionary violence.”
Jarra was believed to be a member of Hamas and suspected of orchestrating an operation where a rabbi was killed in a drive-by shooting in the West Bank city of Nablus. Abu-Sittah told the tribunal he did not endorse the acts Jarra had been accused of and said: “I do not believe that the readers of the article, familiar as they necessarily would be with the nuance of Arab and Palestinian political discourse and life, would have seen my article as an endorsement of terrorism.”
The doctor was also accused of re-posting two tweets, one saying: “We congratulate our brothers in Hamas and our comrades in the Popular Front on the anniversary of their inception.”
A second tweet refers to “Martyrs in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine”, referring to a man who carried out the first operation using a suicide belt in 1974, and a second man, Shams al-Din al-Qazimi, who died during fighting in 1973.
The tribunal said that it was “satisfied that, having considered Dr Abu-Sitta’s evidence, there was no intention on his part to be supportive of violence.”
Apart from being a part of a legal team which acted pro-bono to challenge the British government’s proscription of Hamas, Franck Magennis, a self-described Communist, is known for his inflammatory social media posts, which have led to formal complaints being filed against him to the Bar Standards Board. In July last year Campaign Against Antisemitism submitted a dossier of Magennis’s social media comments, which included a call to: “Keep hammering anyone who still identifies as a Zionist,” alongside the claim: “Zionism is collapsing… their apartheid state is a pariah… Escalate!!”
In another message, he wrote: “Zionists out there: read the room: You’re pariahs now. Time to shut those racist mouths of yours.”
Magennis, whose social media account used to feature a picture of a Bulldozer breaking down the fence separating Gaza from Israel on 7 October 2023, also responded to a statement by Chief Rabbi Mirvis telling him to “shut your racist, Zionist mouth challenge… You’re a pariah. Resign.”
He also targeted Lord Walney, the government’s independent adviser on political violence, calling him a “Zionist wretch” and adding: “The Palestinian blood will never wash off your hands.”
Raphi Leon, President of the Union of Jewish Students (UJS) said: “It is beyond belief that student groups are hosting a lawyer on Hamas’ legal team on a university campus. On 7 October, Hamas brutally murdered 1200 and took 250 hostage. Having their lawyer speak on campus poses a severe threat to Jewish students. That the University Rector will be speaking alongside poses severe concern over his ability to protect students.
“This is beyond the pale, and is part of a picture of campus extremism moving from the margins into the mainstream. This event will do nothing to further dialogue, justice or peace.”
A spokesperson for CST said: “An event explicitly asking how to ‘confront’ Zionism will understandably cause concern among Jewish students, particularly given the reported comments of one of the speakers about Zionists. Jewish students should be able to go about their university lives without facing antisemitism, harassment or intimidation, and the University of Glasgow has a responsibility to ensure that robust debate does not cross that line.”
A University spokesperson said: “The University of Glasgow upholds the right to freedom of expression, including the right of students and staff to engage in peaceful demonstration and debate.
“However, we call on all members of the community to uphold the University’s values of tolerance and respect to others. We will do everything we can to ensure that all members of the community are protected.
“The Rector is nominated and elected by registered students and represents them at the University Court, the institution’s governing body. The Rector is not a member of the University’s senior management group and his views certainly do not represent those of the University.”
In an interview on Talk TV last year, Mr Magennis responded to being asked “How do you sleep at night” with regards to his representation of Hamas by telling the presenter that “what you’ve done is extremely dangerous and you shouldn’t have asked that question…You are trying to associate me with my client… I think you might be hearing from the police.” He went on to state that “you don’t have to support a proscribed organisation to think it shouldn’t be proscribed”, subsequently saying that “It’s not about my belief. I’m a lawyer instructed to make some legal arguments, which is what I’ve done.”
Franck Magennis has been contacted for comment.
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