After four and half hours of heated debate, OUSU Council has voted against the motion to condemn the conflict in Gaza.
The motion was beaten decisively, with 21 colleges in favour, 39 against and 15 abstentions, but only after 41 different votes on moves to vote and changes to standing orders and discussion of eight amendments.
The motion, in its original form, would have mandated the Student Union President to condemn Israel’s attack on Gaza and to write to Tzipi Livni, Israeli Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and to David Miliband, UK Foreign Secretary, demanding the maintenance of the ceasefire and to ensure that all borders are opened.
The result of the divisive motion has produced mixed reactions among students.
Some students have said that it was wrong for OUSU to take a political stance. But Lewis Owen, a first-year Jesus student, expressed disappointment at the defeat of the motion. He said, “I think it’s a real shame that nobody in Oxford has the guts to make bold political statements any more. We’re all apathetic drones, which is sickening.”
He commented on OUSU’s handling of the motion, stating, “I suppose that they attempted to make the process more democratic by allowing each college their own views, but ultimately it just muddled it up. At our meeting, we were told that we’d have a chance to vote on an amended version of the motion, before being told that it wasn’t going to be amended at all.”
Sanjay Nanwani, JCR President of St Peter’s, who voted against the motion, agreed that the phrasing of the original motion had been a problem in bringing about a consensus on the matter. He said, “I do believe the original motion was regrettably very poorly phrased and was therefore not conducive in forging a consensus on the issue.”
Despite the lengthy meeting devoted to the motion, some also argued that the timing denied a fair debate, as observant Jews had to leave the marathon OUSU council early in order to observe the Sabbath.
Lewis Iwu, OUSU President responded to the criticism, saying, “I made sure I spoke to as many people from different groups as possible when setting the time for council, hence why I moved the traditional starting time forward.”
The Gaza motion was also placed top of the agenda in both meetings. Furthermore I believed that over the course of two OUSU councils people had ample chance to contribute to this motion.”
Iwu commended on the way OUSU had handled the motion, “I think OUSU, and indeed its membership in common rooms across Oxford, dealt with this complicated issue in an adult and sensible manner. The chairing during council was excellent.”
The motion had been hotly debated in JCRs across Oxford since it was originally brought in response to the protesters who barricaded themselves inside the Bodleian Library three weeks ago.
At St John’s College, students even petitioned for an emergency JCR meeting in order to reconsider their vote. At Sunday’s JCR meeting they had voted to support the motion at Friday’s Council, condemning Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
But the petitioners demanded a secret vote, arguing that this was an issue of conscience.
Their petition failed, however, as JCR meetings must have 48 hours notice according to their constitution.
As students raised the matter on Tuesday night, the meeting would have been held in the early hours of Friday morning, ahead of the Council at 1:30pm. But college administrators refused to allow the JCR to book a room at that time of night.
Karl Eastman, a St John’s student involved in pro-Palestinian campaigning, said, “a referendum which began at 2am on Friday morning and closed at around 12 noon would not allow people to express their views anywhere nearly as effectively as they would at a JCR meeting.
