We’re delighted that Middle East Solidarity magazine is supporting the following teach-out organised by University of Cambridge UCU union members as part of the strike action across the country in defence of academics’ pensions

Monday 5 March

How UK policy fuels war and repression in the Middle East
2-3.30pm – CUSU lounge, Cambridge University Students Union, 17 Mill Lane, Cambridge (entrance off Silver St)

Speakers: Ann Feltham (Campaign Against Arms Trade), Liesbeth ten Ham, Sue Woodsford (Amnesty International and Truth for Giulio campaign) Anne Alexander – chair (Middle East Solidarity magazine and Cambridge UCU)

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/154910001879267/

This teach-out session takes us behind the UK government’s claims to be ‘working for a more secure, prosperous Middle East and North Africa’ to examine the role of UK arms and diplomacy in fuelling war and repression. Saudi Arabia’s attacks on Yemen have killed thousands and created a humanitarian disaster – yet the UK continues to export billions of pounds of weaponry for use in the bombing. Meanwhile, despite all the evidence pointing to the responsibility of the Egyptian security forces for the murder of Cambridge PhD student Giulio Regeni, the UK continues to do “business as usual” with Egypt’s military regime, citing the need for support in the “war on terror” and the battle against “illegal migration.” We ask what are the most effective ways to build campaigns which challenge our government’s role in the Middle East, and how do we ensure that our own universities are not complicit in repression?