Pro-Palestine protesters gathered outside the Oxford Union tonight as the Union hosted the Israeli Ambassador to the UK for the second time in a year.
The protest, organised by the Oxford Students Palestinian Society, with support from various other student groups including the Oxford Socialist Worker Student Society and Oxford Arab Society, swelled to over a hundred students by 8pm. Non-student organisations like the Socialist Worker newspaper were also present and handing out flyers.
Members inside the chamber could hear the crowd chanting outside as the panel on the controversial Abraham Accords began, featuring Israeli ambassador Tzipi Hotovely and her counterparts from Bahrain and the UAE.
The Abraham Accords are a series of agreements signed in 2020 with the intention of normalising relations between Israel and the Gulf states in the midst of increasing Israeli-Palestinian tension. The UN marked 2022 as the “deadliest year” for the occupied West Bank with 152 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces.
Ms. Hotovely had previously spoken at the Union in TT22 and faced similar protests. Some Oxford students outside of the Union tonight cited an alleged lack of fair and critical questioning during the Israeli ambassador’s last appearance as reasons for them coming to protest tonight.
A no-confidence petition has been posted against Union President Charlie Mackintosh for inviting the Israeli ambassador back with short notice, with Hamzah Mahomed, the motion’s proposer claiming that at her last visit: “Israeli security conspired to harass members of colour and pro-Palestinian members”. The organisers of tonight’s protest mentioned this motion in front of the crowd and encouraged all Union members to sign it. Protesters outside were heard singing: “Charlie, Charlie, you can’t hide, you’re supporting apartheid.”
A 2nd year Palestinian student who is a member of the Union voted in support for the petition as she stated she wouldn’t “support the Union who claims freedom of speech whilst not providing a platform for the Palestinians”.
During the event, a handful of pro-Palestinian protesters were escorted out of the chamber after shouting that Palestinians aren’t terrorists, and chanting. After they left, the Israeli ambassador praised this display of free speech, which led to applause within the chamber.
The crowd shouted “shame” at anyone who tried to enter the Union gates. Continued chants of “1,2,3,4 occupation no more! 5,6,7,8 Israel is a terrorist state”, “there is only one solution: the Intifada revolution!” and “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” continued into the evening. The American Jewish Council has said that, while advocating for Palestinian statehood is not antisemitic, this slogan, “calling for the elimination of the Jewish state, or suggesting that the Jews alone do not have the right to self-determination, is antisemitic”.
There was a brief moment of silence, shortly before the Union event started, to commemorate Palestinian victims of violence in the occupied territories. The 11 Palestinians who were killed in an Israeli raid on Nablus recently were named before a minute of silence commemorated them as a drone flew overhead the protesters.
There was a strong security presence at the Union event and the protest, with mounted police at the end of the street and a tight controlled perimeter around the Union. Members of the public had to prove residence on St Michael’s Street or Union membership in order to get through. Access to the Union was cut off entirely at 8pm, and inside the Union Ms Hotovely was accompanied by private security officials. A Cherwell reporter from the protest witnessed a young man carrying a Palestinian flag attempting to enter but was escorted away by police.
When asked for comment, the Oxford Union said: “This is a panel discussion among high level representatives of the three signatories of the Abraham Accords, not an invitation specifically to the Israeli Ambassador.”
