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ISSUE 778 28 JAN 2026 exepose.com @exepose
THE UNIVERSITY OF EXETER’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1987 Image: Wikimedia Commons
Student new year resolutions Page 14
Honorary degree sparks controversy over Dame Fiona’s comments on Israel/Gaza War Emily Sara Rizzo and Nina Exton Editor-in-Chief and Deputy Editor
D The verdict on veganuary Page 28
Women’s indoor golf league launches Page 31 Images (top to bottom): Pexels
URING the University of Exeter’s most recent winter graduation ceremony, Dame Fiona Murray CBE DCMG was awarded an honorary degree of science “for her contribution to public service.” Following this event, much concern has been expressed by the student body surrounding Murray’s appearance and comments at the DefenseTech Summit hosted last December by the Israel Ministry of Defence and Tel Aviv University. At the Summit, which focused on technological innovation in the context of the war in Gaza, Murray openly praised the innovations in technologies for defense and security that have been developed by Israel. She was cited by IMOD in their post on X, saying that “In Israel, innovation is vital. Defense Ministries around the world try to follow suit, but without the existential threat, the spirit is there but the execution falls short.”
Murray openly praised the innovations in technologies for defense and security that have been developed by Israel.
Professor Murray, an Oxford alum herself, is the William Porter (1967) Professor of Entrepreneurship at the MIT School of Management. She was also elected to the Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology in 2014, and has since been appointed Vice-Chair of the NATO Innovation Fund. At the Summit in Tel Aviv, Murray shared that when teaching about innovation, she frequently uses Israel as a case study, saying “there are real events of self-defence here, not just internal security matters”. Murray is likely referring to Israel’s repeated military campaigns in Gaza over the last 20 years, as well as Israel’s close defense partnership with the US, intelligence-sharing agreements with NATO members and regular airstrikes in Syria and Lebanon. Thus, focussing on the Israeli State’s position as a country that has been “forced” to develop their defence systems leads to a dangerous redirection of attention off the effects of said defence technologies particularly on the Palestinian people, and onto a justification of the heavy armament of Israel. Murray went on to lament how other countries have struggled to achieve the same level of success as Israel when integrating startup technologies into their military arsenals. She also left attendees, which included former UK Chief of De-
fense staff General Sir Nick Carter and several officials from the US Department of Defense, with this advice – “We must industrialise at a scale. It’s no good making one of something. We need many solutions. We need many missiles, many drones, many interceptors”.
We need many missiles, many drones, many interceptors”. Murray’s remarks emphasise the rapid scaling and mass production of military technologies as well as a further militarisation of the technology sector. In Gaza, mass produced weapons that utilise startup technologies have enabled sustained military action at scale and distance, minimising exposure to those deploying it. While this is strategically effective, it raises several humanitarian concerns. Human Rights Watch has warned that the IDF’s use of surveillance technologies, artificial intelligence and other digital tools “may be increasing the risk of civilian harm”. Similarly, Amnesty International has highlighted the IDF’s use of precision weaponry to target and kill civilians, which is widely considered illegal in international law. It is currently estimated by the Gaza Health Ministry that over 72,400 Palestinians have been killed by the IDF since the onset of the war. Her participation at the De-
fenseTech Summit took place in the first two days of December — only a week and a half before the Winter Graduation Ceremony at the University of Exeter. Given this quick turnaround, some students have suggested that the University selected Murray many months previous to the award ceremony, and were unable to take recent events into account. In Gaza, mass produced weapons that utilise startup technologies have enabled sustained military action at scale and distance, minimising exposure to those deploying it.
In a statement provided by the student-led group Friends of Palestine, they said “We understand that the honorary graduate selection process begins around 18 months before the ceremony, which may explain why recent developments were not considered. It’s likely that the University chose Dame Fiona Murray based on her long academic career, her senior role at MIT, and her work on innovation and entrepreneurship. These are contributions that, in a different context, universities often want to highlight.
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