A number of high-profile figures have demanded St Andrews University to reinstated Rector Stella Maris to their governing body after she was removed over a statement in support of Palestine.

Ms Maris made the statement in November last year, just a month after she had been elected to the role. She had called for an immediate ceasefire and said Palestinians had been subjected to ‘practices such as apartheid, siege and illegal occupation’.

A report found that her statement had caused ‘anxiety and fear’ among Jewish students at the university after an independent investigation had been carried out.

That led to St Andrews removing her from her role as president of the university court, which is the institution’s supreme governing body, and she will no longer be a charity trustee of for the university.

Read More: University rector vows to appeal after being removed from role over Gaza statement

Now figures such as Dr Robina Qureshi, Aamer Anwar, Professor David Miller, Paul Laverty and Peter Mullan are among though who have written an open letter to the principal of the university – Professor Dame Sally Mapstone - urging them to reinstate her and say she is being made a ‘scapegoat’ for ‘doing and saying the right thing’.

They say her statement was supported by an ‘overwhelming majority’ of students and believe the decision to remove her is ‘silencing pro-Palestinian and anti-genocide’ voices’.

Others who have signed the open letter include human rights campaigners Maz Saleem and Mohammed Asif as well as Dr Ghada Karmi, Yanis Varoufakis, Professor Henry Maitles and Yonatan Shapira.

They said: “We the undersigned stand in solidarity with Rector Stella Maris of St Andrews University who has been shamefully dismissed from the University's governing body and removed as a trustee.

“We condemn the decision to remove her after she called for an end to Israel’s genocide and apartheid, a statement supported by the overwhelming majority of students. 

“We call on the University to immediately reinstate Stella to University Court and as a trustee. Stella Maris should not be made a scapegoat for doing and saying the right thing. 

“The University is acting outside of it's legal duty to protect individuals academic freedom under the Higher Education (Scotland) Act 2026, part 2.

“The silencing of pro-Palestinian or anti-genocide voices is the reason why this genocide is still going on after 10 months.

“The respected British Medical Journal - The Lancet - reports that the number of Palestinians killed directly or indirectly since Oct 7 is at least 186,000 people. The world is observing these atrocities unfold to the utter indifference of so called world leaders.

“We find it shocking that a university that prides itself on being a bastion of learning, should stifle the free speech by ‘victimising’ Stella & bringing shame on St.Andrews University.

“Since Ms Maris’s statement, the International Court of Justice has ruled that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements violates international law and should end as soon as possible. The ICJ has further found a plausible case of genocide against Israel.

“The idea that some Jewish students might feel threatened by someone effectively saying “Never Again” to genocide is implausible especially as many young Jewish students are at the forefront of condemning this genocide. We are faced with the actual televised daily mass slaughter of women, children and babies for the past ten months. We have all seen the images. There is no excuse.

“The idea that Palestinian human rights and the war crimes of Israel in Gaza cannot be discussed in higher education is deeply concerning. Really the question is: which side of history does St Andrews University want to be on?

“Stella has repeatedly made clear that she accepts that she is bound by a Code of Conduct and the requirements placed on her as a charity trustee. She does not accept that these allow the university to interfere unilaterally and unduly in her right to express her views or manifest her protected anti-Zionist beliefs.

“For too long, advocates for peace and justice in a free Palestine have been left to stand alone while the rest of us remained silent. That time is over. All human rights converge on Palestine and the world demands change.

“We therefore call on St Andrews University to reverse this decision and immediately reinstate Stella Maris to University Court. We further call on the trade unions & student body to unite and join with the widespread calls seeking her reinstatement immediately.”