The Stella Maris case
JVL Introduction
At St Andrews University the Rector, Stella Maris, has just been stripped of her role as President of the University Court and as a charity trustee.
Her crime? She issued a statement to all students in November 2023 about the war on Gaza, in which she was outspoken about the nature of the conflict and her view of it. She referred explicitly to genocide and to apartheid.
As a result, it was claimed, some Jewish students reported feeling alone, scared and unsafe. More to the point, “They expected that there would be an increase in antisemitism in St Andrews as result of the Statement.” (emphasis added)
Morag Ross KC was appointed to investigate, and reported that although, “[t]o the best of my knowledge, no incident has led to a formal complaint against a student which has been upheld”, there were more subtle effects.
Her reasoning in her long report is a model of doublethink, supporting freedom of speech and then undermining it: “I do not suggest that the Statement was bound to contribute to an increase in antisemitic activity in St Andrews, but it was reasonable to think that it might…” (para 5.19)
The University Court was quick to agree there was enough merit in the allegation to remove Ms Maris her from her role in the Court.
It is at heart a vote for censorship. Does anyone believe for a moment that if Russian students at St Andrews, after it came out in support of Ukraine, had complained about feeling “alone, scared and unsafe” their complaint would have been upheld?
Maris remains in her role as Rector, elected last year by the student body and intends to appeal her dismissal by the Court.
The University Court’s statement in full follows the report below.
RK
PS: Apologies to Edinburgh University, referred to in an earlier draft of this introduction, which was inadvertently posted.
This article was originally published by Palestine Chronicle on Fri 2 Aug 2024. Read the original here.
‘I Will Not Apologize’ – Scottish University Rector dismissed from Governing Body for criticizing Israel
“It is clear that I have been removed from university court because I called for an end to Israel’s war crimes against Palestinians, and I will not apologise for doing so.”
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I’d like to thank JVL for posting this article.. truly shocking in the Authoritarian Censorship by the University.. I have shared it on many platforms.. I hope enough people get to hear about it and protest.. otherwise Censorship in this country will increase until everyone will worry about speaking out.. on any subject…
Would it be possible for JVL to create a petition in support of Stella Maris?
We must challenge this outrageous injustice and misrepresentation as strongly as we can.
How is it that group think and propaganda are taking precident over international law?
We must be allowed to separate out anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism.
There is already at least one petition calling for Stela’s reinstatement which we would encourage everyone to sign
https://www.paih.org/reinstate-stella-maris
Establishment forces at Saint Andrew’s University are hypocritical and biased and they have made a narrow rotten judgement against the widely known long term persecution and genocide of indigenous inhabitants of Palestine by the land-grabbing and murderous State of Israel.
It’s obvious that Stella Maris has been victimised by St Andrews University because of her legitimate criticisms of Israel. She has voiced the same criticisms of Israel as have the ICC and the ICJ. Because some students cannot accept what is after all, the truth about Israel and feel or feign hurt or insult it reflects more on them than it does on Ms Maris. Those students should be sanctioned for wasting the University’s time.
The ease with which some supporters of the State of Israel contrive to suffer from fear and distress when confronted with criticism of Israel’s Apartheid and genocide smacks of utter humbug.
I could hardly believe that, once more, people could seriously still mix up anti-semitism with anti-zionism and objection to genocide and make it a cause for trouble within a university (Is the Board of Deputies stirring it up again?).
Those sensitive (but un-named) people who feel offended by what Stells Maris did should be ashamed of themselves. If they want her to be silent, they are expecting her to give silent approval to the greatest horror of our age, which the rulers in Israel are perpetrating. There cannot be many Jewish people who can so contradict their religion as to approve of it.
We see no evidence of who has actually been offended or threatened or in what way. However, the facts of the genocide are too real and too serious to sweep under the carpet. The health of the university, as a university, will be damaged unless the situation is rectified.
Jews don’t commit Genocide
Therefore
What should be done with those students who support it
Thanks, Mike Cushman, for the link to sign the petition.
I think I signed but I am not sure: there was no submit button or similar.
Fingers crossed:
Agnes
I followed the link and read the letter but could not sign the letter as there was no option for this.
There is a link to sign at the very end of the names
I applaud Stella for standing up against the bullying to which she has been subjected to try to force her to legitimise a fundamentally false narrative.
The ‘independent’ review by a barrister is not independent. Any barrister will produce a report to suit the wishes of the client, which in this case seems to be the establishment of the university. Barristers in themselves tend to be establishment types, in my observation. I cite the ridiculous conclusion of the EHRC report, produced by an establishment barrister, into the claimed widespread antisemitism in the Labouur Party whilst Jeremy was our Leader. I also offer the horrifying example of ultra establishment Sir Keir Starmer.
I say that anyone who expresses concern that Zionists may be upset by having the shameful facts of the Israeli oppression and genocide publicly presented demonstrates an unbalanced mind and self-serving hypocrisy.
I was unable to find anywhere to sign the petition Mike Cushman recommended we support.
there is a link at the very end of the list of names. trust that works for you
You have to bear in mind that St Andrews University is one of the largest public schools in the UK and has long been a bastion of right-wing student politics for years and isn’t even an NUS member, with 57% of self-paying students and over 50% overseas intake – mostly from the US. StA was plastered with hostage posters in the aftermath of 7/10 and not a single Palestinian flag to be seen. I put a Palestinian flag in my window which someone tried to smash. There are more radical voices now but still a minority. The University says it received 1,400 letters about Jewish students not feeling ‘safe’. I’ve challenged the local ‘Courier’ to examine these letters against names of actual students, because we’ve seen these manufactured letter-writing campaigns many times before to denigrate pro-Palestinians students and academics. Let’s establish the truth for once. I also contrasted ‘feelings of not feeling safe’ to the complete and utter destruction of the Gazan University and educational system and for the University Court to be sacked and not the courageous Stella. The University’s Principal, Sally Mapstone, was one of the Vice-Chancellors pea-cocking outside Downing Street crowing how she would be combating peace-camps, repaying the establishment for her ‘Dame-hood’ and six figure salary and living in a multi-million £ mansion of the ‘Scores’ – one the richest streets in Scotland!
Thank you for your very informative post, Chris. This one could run and run.