Friday 16th February 2024: Solent Students' Union's Student Council has called for a ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Gaza. The Student Council states:
‘This motion urges the student council to call for an immediate ceasefire in Palestine.
Doing so would make Solent Student Union one of the countless organizations who have joined in calling for an end to the violence such as Amnesty International, Oxfam and Save The Children.
Since October 7th, at least 26,637 Palestinians have been killed and 65,387 injured . This does not include those not reported or those who are still missing. Conversely, roughly 1,200 people were killed during the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7th.
Whilst both groups have committed violations of international humanitarian law, Israel has continued to target, abuse and murder civilians in Gaza at an ‘unprecedented scale’.
Food, water and electricity has been cut off to the Gaza strip leading to what the Gazan health Ministry are calling a ‘triangle of death’. This has led to mass suffering and collective punishment of the Palestinian people. Whilst previously there were 35 working hospitals in Gaza, after Israel’s siege they have been destroyed or are no longer functional leaving countless Palestinian’s lives at risk.
After Abundant evidence, the International Court of Justice has found that South Africa’s allegations of genocide are ‘plausible’ and issued an order to Israel to prevent and punish any further acts.
Whilst the acts of both parties are clear, this motion does not currently seek to condemn any one party and focuses solely on supporting a ceasefire.
As a Student Union, we hold a collective power and responsibility and I believe the we must use this to make peaceful progress. We have a limited time to call for peace and I urge the members of this Council to act now by voting to pass this motion.’
Students affected by the conflict wishing to seek support from the Students' Union or Solent University can do so by contacting us by emailing students.union@solent.ac.uk or speaking to a team member in the SU office. Alternatively, you can contact the Student Hub via student.hub@solent.ac.uk for internal assistance from the university. For more information about the Student Council, please email: student.voice@solent.ac.uk.
The Students’ Union does not tolerate any form of hate or discrimination, including islamophobia and antisemitism, on our campus. Should you witness or experience such harassment we urge you to report it to the Student Hub, who are a third-party report centre.