Protesters urge Edinburgh festivals to cut ties with host university over job cuts and Israel links
The rally represents the latest in a years long saga between staff, students and senior management over its handling of the university’s finances
Pro-Palestinian protesters have called on Edinburgh’s festival organisers to cut ties with the University of Edinburgh in a dispute over job cuts and investments linked to Israel.
Staff and students gathered on Friday at the university’s central campus, which hosts both the Fringe and the International Book Festival, to call on the institution to halt more staff layoffs and divest from companies tied to Israel.
In 2024, the book festival ended its sponsorship partnership with investment firm Baillie Gifford over its investment in fossil fuels. Some of the protestors are now demanding that the festival does the same with the university.
“To the organisers of the book festival, continue to be principled, listen to the students and staff of the university that is hosting you. Do not partner with the University of Edinburgh or use its spaces unless it divests from genocide in Israel and invests in its staff,” senior lecturer Nicola Perugini said.
Scottish Green MSP for Edinburgh and Lothians East, Kate Nevans, also addressed the crowds telling them: “It’s a shame to see the university profiting from our festivals.
“Festivals that bring the city arts and culture from all around the world, including from Palestine, where we should be celebrating joy and resistance through the arts, and then the university invests that money in Israel, on companies enabling the genocide.
“The University Senate, the local UCU branch, the student union have all voted in favour of divestment, yet senior management continues to fail to implement those demands while at the same time, the same senior management, are pushing through devastating staff cuts while being one of the richest universities in the UK.”
Edinburgh university froze further investments in companies like Blackrock, Alphabet and Amazon in 2024 pending the findings of an advisory group. Those findings are expected to be released soon.
Incoming vice president of the University and College Union’s Edinburgh branch (UCUE), Marion Lieutaud, called these investments “unethical” and “not in accordance with international law”.
Put on by UCUE alongside other student groups, the rally was supposed to coincide with redundancies at the university as part of £140 million in cuts and an estimated 1,800 job losses currently first announced nearly two years ago.
Layoffs were postponed until next month at the earliest following pressure from UCUE which believes management has not made a coherent argument for job cuts.
The university said it is “seeking to avoid compulsory redundancies where possible”.
Miss Lieutaud said management is “building a financial crisis through over investment”.
She added: “We don’t have a problem of falling student numbers, income from tuition continues to rise, the only thing we have is a management that continues to want to invest beyond its income and then saying our surplus is decreasing and therefore we need to make cuts.”
Accusing senior management of employing stalling tactics, the incoming UCUE vice president said holding the rally at a moment when there is a lot of attention on the city showed them that “we are not going anywhere”.
A spokesperson for the university said: “ We have been open about the action being taken to secure the University’s long-term sustainability and to ensure our ability to fulfil our future ambitions.”
Its charity status, they added, means it does not make a profit, with “any surplus generated is reinvested directly to support activities aligned to our mission”.