Genocide fans take heart — Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) is continuing to back Zionist slaughter in Palestine by attacking the right to free speech on its campus. They’re going after both students and academics. On Wednesday, November 19 a demonstration was held at the main entrance to the university in support of Saoirse Wagner, who is facing disciplinary proceedings as a result of their participation in a peaceful protest at a careers fair earlier this year.
The event was hosted by QUB on February 5 — present were a number of companies linked to Israeli crimes. Among them were Coca-Cola, an official Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) target due to its operations in illegally occupied Palestinian land; Martin Baker, who make ejector seats for the F-35 jets that have played a key role in dropping the equivalent of over six nuclear bombs on Gaza; and Collins Aerospace, a subsidiary of RTX (formerly Raytheon), a key supplier of weaponry to the Zionist terror regime.
Peaceful protest successfully ejected arms companies from Queen’s University jobs fair
The protest was organised and led by BDS Belfast, a local direct action Palestine solidarity group, who were joined by students from QUB Palestine Assembly (QUBPA). They entered the event’s venue Whitla Hall and informed attendees via loudspeaker of the complicit companies’ presence, and urged students not to visit their stalls. The activists considered the action a major success, with the targeted companies packing up their tables and banners within 20 minutes of the protestors arriving.
In an Instagram post featuring footage of the event, BDS Belfast said:
With little pressure, the university and companies folded, shutting down their stalls for the day. This is yet another key example that direct action works. We urge Palestine activists around the world — take matters into your own hands and shut these criminals down. Nowhere should be safe from accountability for companies aiding apartheid, occupation and genocide. Take action, and free Palestine!
QUB and the fleeing genocide enablers were less keen on how things unfolded, however, with those ejected falsely claiming they faced intimidating behaviour from the protestors. Wagner, who is the secretary of QUBPA, now faces charges of engaging in “abusive, threatening, bullying or harassing behaviour”, which could result in expulsion from the university if the disciplinary committee rules against the student.
Speaking on Wednesday, 19 year-old Wagner said:
We cannot let this repression deter us or intimidate us because that’s what [they’re] trying to do. That’s what the goal is, to scare people, not just in the Palestine solidarity movement, but in the trans rights movement, in the trade union movement, in the Irish language movement on campus — scare them into not exercising their democratic right to free speech, but we can’t let them do that.
Crackdown part of a wider removal of basic rights for those under British rule
They went on to quote Qesser Zuhrah, a Palestine Action activist currently on hunger strike at Surrey’s Bronzefield prison:
On Day 16 of my hunger strike, my starving body couldn’t handle the cold and I shivered until some fellow prisoners noticed my state and helped me to my cell, got me a hot water bottle and tucked me into the bed.
How lucky am I!
Because today, on day 773 of the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the Zionist entity is still blocking blankets, shelter materials, tents and food from reaching our starving and freezing Palestinian People!
Zuhrah is one of six prisoners linked to the direct action group, who have been subjected to appalling mistreatment in British jails. They have suffered years of detention without trial, extended periods of solitary confinement, and many have been denied access to letters they have been sent.
Wagner is not the only QUB student to suffer repression from the institution, which still has warmonger and Jeffrey Epstein associate Hillary Clinton as its chancellor. The higher education provider also continues to indirectly invest in so-called ‘Israel’ via BlackRock. Ethan Cunningham, chair of the Palestine Assembly, has been expelled, in a move his peers believe is linked to involvement in Palestine protest.
Cunningham most notably took part in the 14 November 2024 protest that saw the thugs at the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s Tactical Support Group violently assault peaceful protestors, with the subsequent endorsement of the university. He has been ejected on the basis of a missed exam in June 2025. It occurred as a result of his grandfather’s death. Sources linked to Queen’s have informed the Canary that such a punishment is inexplicably harsh and without recent precedent, clearly indicating retaliation by QUB for Cunningham’s role in Palestine activism.
Academics targeted too, as office is raided
Even academics have not been spared the clampdown. Professor Sue-Ann Harding of the School of Arts, English and Languages department had pro-Palestine signs confiscated from her office on two separate occasions. The most recent one just in the last week. Speaking to the Canary, Harding said:
HoS [Head of School] is very supportive and making inquiries but so far I’ve not heard anything from security and I’ve yet to see any actual written policy on this. On reflection, I’m mad that they confiscated the signs.
She continued:
I’ve also never received a single complaint from students or colleagues.
Harding also spoke of her reasoning behind having the signs visible:
I’d add that another reason I display the signs is to normalise support for Palestine and protesting genocide. I want students to feel Queen’s is a safe place to advocate for justice.
Students have expressed concerns that they feel unsafe on campus when wearing other pro-Palestine symbols, such as keffiyehs. Professor of Green Political Economy John Barry, a vocal presence at the university in support of Palestinian rights, told the Canary:
The threatened expulsion of Saoirse and the confiscation of Sue-Ann’s pro-Palestinian items from her office, and other forms of Queen’s repressing pro-Palestinian sentiment is an indication of how violence abroad in Palestine returns as repression at home.
He continued:
As a member of this university, I am ashamed both of the continuing ties the university has with the Israeli regime, despite its promises of completely divesting and cutting ties, [alongside] threatening students like Saoirse who for me are exactly the type of students Queen’s should be proud of supporting and educating. Young people with the courage of their convictions, demonstrating leadership in the absence of such leadership elsewhere.
When asked for comment, Saoirse struck a defiant tone. She emphasised the need to maintain pressure on Queen’s University rather than capitulate to their intimidation tactics:
The QUB Palestine Assembly has been one of many universities participating in the all-island walkouts across Ireland, has organised disruptions and sit-ins, along with teach-ins and educational events for students. However, now, more than ever, we must not just maintain our efforts but escalate them. The lies of the so-called ceasefire and the repression of student activists demonstrate that we must continue to organise, continue to agitate, and continue to struggle for an apartheid-free campus and a free Palestine.
Featured image via the Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.