The Bodleian sit-in protest has been hailed a victory by student demonstrators, even though University authorities have refused to confirm their agreement to demands made during the sit-in.
Nearly 100 students occupied the Bodleian’s Clarendon Building last week in protest at Israeli actions in Gaza. They called on Oxford University to “release a statement in support of the rights of Palestinians” as well as divestment from arms suppliers to Israel. They also demanded 5 fully-funded scholarships to Palestinian students.
University Vice-Chancellor John Hood criticised the student occupation of the Clarendon building in a letter released on Wednesday. He said the Bodleian barricade “caused disruption and inconvenience to fellow students and other members of the University” and added, “unlawful action of this kind cannot be condoned.” He also did not condemn Israel’s actions.
The Senior Proctor also avoided expressing outright disapproval of Israeli actions in his response to the demands. He, however, promised to raise in Council the concerns regarding possible University investments in arms manufacturers. He also said it was regrettable that “many civilian casualties occurred in educational establishments.”
He stated, “the occupation of University property or facilities, and disruption of the activities of the University are offences.” He added that sections of the criminal law may also apply to the protesters’ actions. However, he added that he was prepared to recommend a “relatively lenient course of action,” given the peaceful nature of the protest.
The Oxford Students in Solidarity with Gaza movement that occupied the building welcomed these letters, although some have accused the University of going back on agreements made during the negations last week.
Spokeswoman Amy Gilligan said, “whereas we welcome the Senior Proctor’s statement and view it as a positive step in upholding the University’s commitment to universal human rights, it is our view that the University should take a stronger stance condemning the horrendous attacks on Palestinian students and educational institutions.”
She went on to state that the group “insists that the promised steps be pursued and applied in full.”
Juliette Harkin of St Anthony’s College, one of the individuals responsible for organising the occupation, stated that the outcome was “definitely a victory on many levels,” not least for the way that it had opened dialogue on the situation in Gaza.
She commented, “to have a uni like Oxford talking about these issues and promising to take things forward – this is quite an achievement.”
In response to claims that the University should not take a political stance on the issue, she said, “we don’t need to talk about pro-Israel or pro-Palestine, we are just talking about justice.”
Other protesters expressed disappointment with the response of the proctors, with some arguing that they had failed to execute agreements made during the negotiations.
James Norrie of the Oxford Radical Forum stated, “we do feel they have fallen short of what they agreed in negotiations.”
Other groups have attacked the demonstration as a whole.
Presidents the Jewish Society, Rafi Cohen and Rachel Romain, issued a joint statement declaring, “we feel that it is a shame that parts of the student body have prioritised the pursuance of short term political goals over the pro-active alleviation of the suffering of all people.”
Some students have also spoken out against the protesters’ behaviour. A St. Antony’s student stated that the “protests are not aimed at dialogue, they’re the opposite, they’re silencing moderate in the face of extreme.”
A Christ Church first year called the actions of the protesters “the epitome of detached, academic self-righteousness.” They said, “the students don’t want to solve anything, but just want to feel good, self-righteous about our cause.”
