By Kirsten Koss and Clive Davies
The University of Aberdeen’s cybersecurity contract with an Israeli company with links to the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) has come under fire from student activists.
According to information from Public Contracts Scotland, the contract, signed with CyberArk on 30th January 2024, came mere months after Israel began a widely condemned military operation in Gaza.
Campaigners, including the Palestine Solidarity Society (PSS), have criticised the University for associating with CyberArk, a firm listed by the group Boycott Israel as a “high impact” company to avoid due to its ties to the IDF.
CyberArk’s Chief Information Officer has publicly referenced his 25 years of service in the IDF, including work in cybersecurity, fuelling concerns of complicity in alleged human rights violations in Gaza.
Earlier this year, the University of Aberdeen backed a ruling from the International Court of Justice calling for the “the protection of Palestinian communities in Gaza from genocidal acts”.
The revelations come after students at the Glasgow Caledonian University Palestine Solidarity Society protested the use of CyberArk at their University, urging students to boycott the University’s Multi Factor Authentication system powered by the firm.
Speaking to The Herald, society President Beth said:
“CyberArk is an Israeli company with strong ties to the IDF. We don’t believe this aligns with the common good mission of the University.
“We ultimately think it is our responsibility as students to provide the truth to all the students and staff so they can make an informed decision about whether they want to give CyberArk their information.”
Here in Aberdeen, PSS President Ayah Mbarki said the University failed to tell the society about the contract, despite agreeing to transparency when senior leaders struck a deal to remove campers from Elphinstone Lawn earlier this year. Echoing similar frustrations, Ms Mbarki said:
“We are genuinely disappointed. One of our demands in the encampment was for transparency and to have an open window of all the companies that the university is associated with and for us not to be told about CyberArk considering it’s a well-known company associated with the IDF and occupation in Palestine.
“It is really upsetting to see that we have to go out of our way to research instead of just being told transparently, however we do plan to do something about this.”
As part of the transparency agreement, University chiefs pledged to campers to launch a Citizen’s Assembly as a forum to discuss “how the University can respond to international conflict.”
The University website states that the assembly is intended to include staff and student voices in shaping the institution’s stance on international conflicts, following pressure from pro-Palestine student campaigners.
While the University initially promised the first meeting would occur at the start of the academic year, it was scheduled for Wednesday 4th December , but has since been postponed to Friday 14th February.
A University spokesperson said:
“It was always the case that [the assembly] would consider international conflict in its widest sense and would not be focusing on any particular conflict – past or present.
“In order to accommodate for the availability of external speakers, this event will now be held on 14 February. The postponement was agreed following consultation at a meeting involving students and The Students’ Union. The decision to postpone the Assembly so we could engage with the identified speakers was taken to ensure the event can be as meaningful as possible.
“We are working closely with The Students’ Union and with other relevant stakeholders around plans for the event.”
Ainhoa Burgos Aguilera, AUSA VP for Communities, explained:
“This Citizen’s Assembly is being organised as a collaboration between university staff, the student community (students from the encampment and from the Palestine Solidarity Society) as well as myself as representative from the Students’ Union.
“We’ve collectively decided on the topic and we agreed that the university staff would be in charge of coordinating the event and the promo and such like. The assembly will have trained facilitators which include University staff and sabbatical officers from the Students’ Union.
“We’ve all been having regular meetings, and the students and us, the Students’ Union, have been able to provide any ideas, thoughts and feedback on how things are progressing.”
Speaking on the postponement of the assembly, Aguilera revealed that: “At the last meeting we had, [the University staff member coordinating the assembly] mentioned that it’s been difficult getting speakers for the 4th of December as they couldn’t commit to a date coming up so soon but could commit for a later date.
“Hence, we thought of two options, to postpone the event and secure those speakers, or to proceed with the reserved date and look for internal speakers. I let the students decide and they were the ones who agreed with the event being postponed so I supported their decision.”
Speaking on behalf of PSS, Ms Mbarki confirmed that the group have been working collaboratively with the Assembly organising committee, and they supported the decision to postpone.
