Israeli Investments, IDF lecturers, and Hillary Clinton; QUB’s Response to War in Palestine
By Katie McShane
In a time where Palestinian students are blocked by biometrics and finances from taking places at UK universities, a former IDF sergeant lectures on politics, and Queen’s University Belfast is yet to cut ties with Israeli business, opposition and division grows amongst its student body. Protests are common and information is conflicting as everyone seeks to know – where exactly does QUB stand?
As world leaders began to recognise the conflict in Gaza as a genocide, Queen’s was still holding firmly onto its Israeli investments in the summer of 2025. The Irish Times reported on the 6th of June that Queen’s had completely disinvested, quoting a QUB spokesperson, “the final research partnership with an Israeli institution came to an end this week”. Following student protests in May. However, as students were preparing to return to their studies in August, The Irish News ran a story claiming that Queen’s had still not completely disinvested from Israeli-tied firms, more than a year on than when they originally announced to do so. The information came from a Freedom of Information request inquired after by the Palestine Assembly group which showed the university still held millions of investments in Israeli tied companies – including Elbit Systems, which according to a statement by the Palestinian Assembly “supplies Israel’s occupation forces with 85% of drones and land-based equipment”. It is unclear whether Queen’s still holds these investments as they stated they were still negotiation their removal in August.
Amidst this drawn out controversy, 2025 was also the year that QUB welcomed two more students from Palestine, funded through the Copty scholarship. In 2024, Queen’s stated that they would extend the scholar ship to cover four students. Originally the scholarship, funded by the Copty family and QUB, funded a
one-year postgraduate course tuition and accommodation for applicants with Palestinian ancestry. Following this extension, it came out that, even despite receiving the scholarship students could not afford the travel expenses, something that was noted in Universities throughout the UK. The QUB Palestine Assembly reached out to Queen’s to cover travel costs and in reply Queen’s stated it “had already extended the scholarship scheme for this year, and have proposals in place that will see an addition allocation of £7000 pounds” intended for Visa fees and travel costs.
While certainly a sizeable percentage of the student body and staff is in total support of Palestine, as seen by the welcoming of Palestinian students and a number of student-led protests, Queens has also come under scrutiny for its ties with seeming pro-Israel staff. Hillary Clinton remains Chancellor of the college despite protests against her tenure last year on the grounds of her proud pro-Israel statements and genocide denial beliefs. QUB’s teaching staff also employs an Israel born lecturer who rose to the rank of sergeant in the Israel Defence Force. This lecturer earned a MA in Diplomacy and Conflict as well as a Law degree and BA in Israel, and includes teachings on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Although they condone the IDF and strive to remain partial, this prompts a wider discussion of potential bias, even unconscious, amongst lecturers especially in fields such as Politics and International Relations, as well as how this may reflect on a university.
Should Universities be scrutinised for their political beliefs, and can an institution of education be held accountable for sitting in a grey area, as Queen’s has? Maybe not, but is the war on Palestine purely a political issue or rather an attack on human rights. It is not morally right for a university to support, even indirectly, a state which has been racking up war crimes for years. Political neutrality can only go so far until it veers into institutional ignorance. Maybe Queens has had the wool over its eyes for far too long.
References
Byrne, Kate. 2025. “Queen’s University Belfast Divests from Israeli Interests.” The Irish Times. June 6, 2025. https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/education/2025/06/06/queens-university-belfast-fully-divests-from-israeli-interests-in-protest-over-gaza-conflict/.
irishnews.com. 2025. “Queen’s University Still Has Investments in Israeli Firms a Year after Announcing Plans to Scrap Them.” The Irish News. irishnews.com. August 9, 2025. https://www.irishnews.com/news/northern-ireland/queens-university-still-has-investments-in-israeli-firms-a-year-after-announcing-plans-to-scrap-them-2AMVFF2XHNA6XJ4CVFBJP6O4LI/.
Harte, Lauren. 2024. “A Fresh Start to Further Their Education in Belfast for Palestinian Scholars Fleeing Middle East Conflict.” Belfast Live. September 16, 2024. https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/belfast-news/fresh-start-further-education-belfast-29947596.
Black, Rebecca. 2024. “Queen’s University Announces More Support to Bring Palestinian Students to NI.” The Independent. July 21, 2024. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/palestinian-northern-ireland-gaza-rebecca-black-b2583212.html.
