Vice-Chancellor Debbie Prentice gave the following update at a University all staff meeting on 25 October.
Vice-Chancellor Debbie Prentice gave the following update at a University all staff meeting on 25 October.
“The events in Palestine and Israel and the loss of innocent lives are extremely distressing. As a University, we're focused on the well-being of our people – the students and staff in our community. It’s more important than ever that we try to draw together as a community and support each other at a time like this. Several of us in the senior leadership team have spent time with members of the most directly affected communities to hear what they're facing and how the University can support them better. We have put a range of resources up on the website for people who are seeking support.
“I want to be clear-eyed about our responsibilities here. The University has zero tolerance for all forms of racism, and that includes anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and any other form of unlawful discrimination or abuse based on ethno-religious identity. That has to be stated very, very clearly. At the same time, we're fully cognisant of the fact that across our community people hold very strong and divergent views about the Israel-Palestine conflict. We must affirm everyone's rights to hold and express their views within the law while continuing to care for and empathise with each other as human beings. That's not easy. It's not easy to care for and empathise with each other while we differ so much in the views that we hold about this conflict. But it's critically important that we both respect people's differences of opinions and continue to come together as a community.”
Sources of support
See sources of support for those affected by recent events in Israel, Gaza and the Middle East >
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