Glasgow student activists interrupt careers fair to protest against firms’ ties to Israel

Glasgow Against Arms and Fossil Fuels (GAAFF), an activist group at the University of Glasgow, interrupted a science and technology careers fair on October 23rd as part of its campaign against companies with ties to Israel.

The university careers fair attracted controversy after advertising the inclusion of companies such as GE Aerospace, a subsidiary of General Electric, which GAAFF claims supplies engines used by Israeli military and naval forces.

Additionally, Who Profits, an independent research centre, reported that F-16 jets powered by General Electric engines were used in 2008, 2009, and 2014 during military assaults on Gaza. These assaults, the group alleged, targeted civilians, homes, and refugee camps.

Approximately 20 students waved Palestinian flags, held banners reading: “Drop arms companies,” and delivered speeches while circulating the stalls of GE Aerospace, the Royal Air Force (RAF), and BAE Systems. Shortly after, BAE Systems and RAF reportedly withdrew from the careers fair.

This is not the first time BAE Systems has faced backlash; the arms company, which operates factories in Glasgow and Dunfermline, has been the target of multiple protests by pro-Palestine activist groups across the UK.

GAAFF seeks to pressure Glasgow University to divest from arms companies and ban their participation in future career fairs. This demonstration is part of a wider campaign by GAAFF, which has also participated in lobbying MSPs through its affiliation with ADS Group, reportedly meeting with them 22 times in 2024.

Jemma Taylor, an engineering student at the University of Glasgow and GAAFF activist, said: “I am taking action today out of disgust for this university’s complicity in Israel’s campaign in Palestine and Lebanon.

“How can Glasgow University call itself a university of world changers while profiting from violence?

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“As a STEM student, I won’t allow these companies to recruit here. They have no place on this campus, and I urge fellow students to reject blood money and stand against these morally bankrupt industries.”

Neither the University of Glasgow nor the companies have responded to requests for comment.

Featured image via GAAF Instagram