On 26 February, a group of students marched from Greg’s Place to Heslington Hall to demand the University of York divest from Cisco Systems. The company, whose security application Duo is used throughout the University for two-factor login authentication, has been linked to the Israel Defense Forces through the sale of servers, as well as previous formal partnerships and contracts with the Israeli Government.
The ‘Rally for Palestine’, organised by student groups including York Action for Student-Staff Solidarity (YASS) and Palestinian Solidarity Society, met at Greg’s Place at 2:30pm to protest the University’s use of Cisco software. Some protestors wore masks, whilst others carried Palestinian flags, a banner emblazoned with “York Action for Student Solidarity”, a drum and a megaphone. A member of Campus Security was present, following the group throughout campus.
The march, delayed by a brief heavy downpour, went past Central Hall, Spring Lane and Derwent College, before stopping behind Heslington Hall to hear testimonials from its members on why they were marching. The group of about 30 protesters continued to the front of Heslington Hall, walking through the front gates and stopping outside the entrance for more chants and testimonials. Heslington Hall is the building in which the University Executive Board (UEB) hold their board and more informal ‘Think Tank’ meetings, each usually twice a month.
Chants heard along the way included “Free, Free, Palestine”, “Uni of York, blood on your hands”, “What do we do if we don’t get it? Shut the uni down”, “We want justice, you say how? Divest, divest from Cisco now” and “Uni of York, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide”, the latter a reference to the University's affiliation with Cisco.
Testimonials from the protestors consisted of their own personal grievances with the University’s use of Cisco’s Duo technology. A student from Cuba, whose family members had been involved in the Cuban Revolution, said: “I spend so much f*cking money to come here, and I don’t want that money spent on genocide.”
Another protestor, a history student, complained that his history module (Decolonisation and Social Revolution in the Modern Middle East and North Africa, 1945 to the present) was only accessible on the VLE through Duo, noting the irony of having to “be complicit in the Israeli terror state” to learn about settler colonialism in Palestine.
The rally, and the Instagram posts advertising it, are part of a larger effort to have the University cut all ties with companies which implicate “the University in harm on an international scale which damages its standing as a protector and promoter of human rights”, according to a statement from YASS.
The University had previously been put under pressure to divest from Cisco Systems and Smiths Group, whom the University had invested a total of £33,251 in. This divestment was announced on 11 April 2024, with the University announcing that “it holds no investment in companies that primarily make or sell weapons and defence-related products or services”.
Cisco Systems held a formal three-year contract with the Israeli Ministry of Defence (IMOD), with an official Cisco press release from 2016 announcing “a strategic partnership to accelerate the [Israeli] government’s Digital Agenda”. In the same press release, Cisco explains its previous relationship with Israel:
“Cisco has a nearly 20-year history of investing in Israel via acquisitions and supporting the entrepreneurial community through strategic corporate investments in startups. Cisco has invested over $2 billion in Israel through acquisitions, direct and indirect investments; Cisco acquired 11 companies, invested in over 30 startups and four funds.”
Cisco has continued to support Israel; between November 2023 and January 2024, IMOD purchased Cisco servers worth a total of almost $2 million in eight different contracts.
Cisco has also been implicated in the poor treatment of Uyghurs in China. In a 2020 report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Cisco was found to be “potentially directly or indirectly benefiting from the use of Uyghur workers outside Xinjiang through abusive labour transfer programs as recently as 2019”. This again calls into question the University of York’s commitment to being a “University of Sanctuary”.
The University of York has been contacted for comment.
