{"id":6689,"date":"2025-12-05T00:32:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T00:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/?p=6689"},"modified":"2025-12-05T00:32:00","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T00:32:00","slug":"controversial-activist-addresses-students-eight-years-after-university-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/news\/2025\/12\/05\/controversial-activist-addresses-students-eight-years-after-university-ban\/","title":{"rendered":"Controversial activist addresses students eight years after university ban"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last Sunday, a few dozen people gathered at an unsanctioned rally featuring pro-Palestine activist Jackie Walker who was banned in 2017 from speaking at the university.<\/p>\n

Palestinian Solidarity Society (PSS) partnered with the Scottish Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (SPSC) to host the event where the speaker appeared via a video projected on King\u2019s College Chapel.<\/p>\n

A fierce advocate for Black and Jewish people throughout her career, Jackie Walker is a British-American author and activist. She was one of 12 party members expelled from Labour in 2019 for alleged antisemitism following an investigation which included her remarks about Holocaust memorials failing to encompass other genocides.<\/p>\n

In 2017, then-Principal Ian Diamond responded to controversy by withdrawing<\/a> a student society invitation for her to speak at University of Aberdeen.<\/p>\n

Jackie Walker began her talk by criticising the university’s decision to cancel her planned talk, and for banning a planned talk with Mandla Mandela last year.<\/p>\n

In October 2024, the university faced backlash<\/a> for cancelling a planned talk with Nelson Mandela\u2019s great-grandson after he was denied entry from the UK for supporting Hamas.<\/p>\n

The event with Jackie Walker marked the first anniversary of an outdoor talk<\/a> with Mandla Mandela which was also held on Elphinstone Lawn without authorisation and in defiance of the University\u2019s ban.<\/p>\n

\"A
A poster reading ‘ABERDEEN SAYS NO TO APARTHEID’ by King’s College Chapel (Photo: Jie Chong)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

SPSC and PSS did not inform university officials about plans of the event with Walker and plan to host annual rallies until the university apologises to Mandla Mandela for cancelling his talk last year.<\/p>\n

When asked by The Gaudie <\/i>if they would meet the demand to apologise, a spokesperson for University of Aberdeen replied, \u201cWhen it comes to the use of our buildings, we reserve the right to cancel or refuse bookings where appropriate and in line with our policies,\u201d adding, \u201cWe do however support and promote the rights of all members of our community to have a voice.\u201d<\/p>\n

The talk attracted a crowd of about 40 people outside King\u2019s College Chapel where the colours of the Palestinian flag were projected, and a poster calling for the \u201cend of apartheid\u201d and the \u201cend of genocide\u201d was surrounded by lit candles.<\/p>\n

Walker spoke about her concerns over the rise of the far right throughout Britain and the complicity of the British government in the Gaza genocide. She also spoke about the “Israelification” of institutions around the country, citing the proscription of activist group Palestine Action as an example of this.<\/p>\n

Walker criticised Edinburgh City Council for removing Saltire-Palestinian flags to appease residents who complained that the flags caused them significant distress. She said:<\/p>\n

\u201cAt a time when we are seeing the kind of images that should make anyone sick to their stomach, in Gaza there doesn’t seem to be any concern for the distress being caused about the injuries, massacres or torture of Palestinians.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A
A police van arrived on High Street (Photo: Jie Chong)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Towards the end of the talk, a police van of four officers arrived. Officers appeared to ask organisers to reduce speaker volume, and stayed around until the event had concluded.<\/p>\n

The police presence comes amid recent clashes between opposing protesting groups in Aberdeen. Responding for comment, Police Scotland shared only that \u201cofficers were in attendance due to a planned protest.\u201d<\/p>\n

PSS members spoke with The Gaudie<\/i> to share their aims going into 2026. Members of group said they wanted the university to \u201cbe transparent about their investments\u201d, \u201cdivest from companies complicit in the genocide\u201d such as \u201cCyberArk\u201d, a cyber-security company with Israeli links used by the university. Student activists also called on officials \u201cto actually give\u201d scholarships to Palestinian students \u201clike they said they would.\u201d<\/p>\n

The PSS are feeling \u201cmore optimistic\u201d about the new principal Pete Edwards than his predecessor, and are hoping to meet with him next year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last Sunday, a few dozen people gathered at an unsanctioned rally featuring pro-Palestine activist Jackie Walker who was banned in 2017 from speaking at the university. Palestinian Solidarity Society (PSS) partnered with the Scottish Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (SPSC) to host the event where the speaker appeared via a video projected on King\u2019s College Chapel. A […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":6692,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","iawp_total_views":71,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[1634,1635,656,1636,1633],"wf_post_folders":[181],"class_list":{"0":"post-6689","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-jackie-walker","9":"tag-mandla-mandela","10":"tag-palestine-solidarity-society","11":"tag-police-scotland","12":"tag-scottish-palestine-solidarity-campaign"},"acf":[],"author_meta":{"display_name":"Hannah Fortune","author_link":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/author\/hannah_0525\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/DSC_18111-300x172.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["News<\/a>"],"unlinked":["News<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["jackie walker<\/a>","mandla mandela<\/a>","Palestine solidarity society<\/a>","police scotland<\/a>","scottish palestine solidarity campaign<\/a>"],"unlinked":["jackie walker<\/span>","mandla mandela<\/span>","Palestine solidarity society<\/span>","police scotland<\/span>","scottish palestine solidarity campaign<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 8 months ago","modified":"Updated 8 months ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on 5 December 2025","modified":"Updated on 5 December 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on 5 December 2025 00:32","modified":"Updated on 5 December 2025 00:32"},"featured_img_caption":"Jackie Walker addresses rally participants at Elphinstone Lawn (Photo: Jie Chong)","series_order":"","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6689"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6689\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6693,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6689\/revisions\/6693"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6689"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=6689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}