Oxford Israel Society issued a statement on Wednesday condemning the pro-Palestine encampment organised by Oxford Action for Palestine (OA4P), which was set up on Monday 6th May in front of the Pitt Rivers Museum. The Society condemned OA4P’s “failure” to mention Hamas’ role in the war in the Gaza strip and called on the University to reject the protesters’ demands.
Jewish Students for Justice (JSJ) also issued a statement in solidarity with Oxford Action for Palestine saying they “fully support the encampment’s struggle” and “call for the University to accept their demands in full.”
Oxford Israel Society’s statement expressed disappointment that students and staff at Oxford “have chosen to mimic” pro-Palestine encampments at US universities which it says “have already led to violence and antisemitism there.”
The encampment in Oxford follows dozens established across the US, notably at Harvard, Yale and UCLA, where instances of violence and police-involvement have occured. The Society stresses that in Oxford “the demands of the petitioners and protestors are not the way forward.”
Oxford Israel Society also says the statements from protestors “have failed to mention Hamas” which the Society describes as “by design” and states: “by not calling out Hamas, they are unwittingly complicit in its propaganda and strategy.”
The Society describes itself as “a Zionist organisation, defined as desiring the maintenance of the sovereign democratic Jewish State of Israel.”
On 2nd May, the Union of Jewish Students, which represents 9,000 Jewish students across the United Kingdom of Ireland, issued a similar statement. “While students have a right to protest, these encampments create a hostile and toxic atmosphere on campus for Jewish students.” They also called on universities to take “their duty to care for Jewish students seriously.”
JSJ expressed support for the encampment stating it is “a diverse and welcoming space” and that “as Jewish students we have felt nothing but support and solidarity.” Their statement also referenced “attempts of zionist communal organisations…to trivialise antisemitism by conflating it with antizionism.”
The statement urged “the University to abandon the toxic IHRA definition of antisemitism” since it “shuts off legitimate criticism of Israel and does nothing to protect Jewish students.”
Since the beginning of May, encampments have been set up at the universities of Cambridge, Manchester, Sheffield, Bristol and Newcastle. Today Rishi Sunak will meet with vice chancellors from universities across the country at Downing Street to tell them to do more to combat antisemitism on college campuses.
He issued a statement ahead of the meeting stating: “Universities should be places of rigorous debate but also bastions of tolerance and respect for every member of their community. A vocal minority on our campuses are disrupting the lives and studies of their fellow students and, in some cases, propagating outright harassment and antisemitic abuse. That has to stop.”
The statement from Oxford Israel Society ends by “call(ing) upon the University to reject all the protestors’ and petitioners’ demands” and expressing confidence that the University will ensure that “antisemitism is swiftly and sharply addressed, and that the rights of Jewish and Israeli students and staff to move about the University free of harassment are respected and safeguarded.”
The full statement from Oxford Israel Society follows here:
“The Oxford Israel Society is saddened and disappointed that students and staff at our shared university have chosen to mimic the encampments at US universities, which have already led to violence and antisemitism there. The suffering of innocents in Gaza is heartbreaking, a terrible consequence of a war Israel never wished to fight. However, the demands of the petitioners and protesters are not the way forward. Their statements contain a litany of half-truths and outright lies, and crucially, they have failed to mention Hamas, the source and cause of this war. This is by design.
To acknowledge Hamas would be to acknowledge that Hamas initiated this war, with its horrific invasion on October 7th, when it murdered over 1200 people in Israel and took 200 hostages – filming and celebrating the massacre and torture of innocents. To acknowledge Hamas would be to acknowledge Hamas’ use of innocent Gazans as human shields and propaganda props. To acknowledge Hamas would acknowledge the twenty years of terror inflicted not just on Israel, but on Gazan civilians. To acknowledge Hamas would therefore acknowledge the necessity of military action against them. These protesters are not protesting for the safety of innocent Palestinian civilians and peace, for if they did, they too would demand the removal of Hamas from Gaza. By not calling out Hamas, they are unwittingly complicit in its propaganda and strategy.
We call upon the University to reject all the protesters’ and petitioners’ demands. We are confident in our expectations that the university and its administration will ensure that any antisemitism is swiftly and sharply addressed, and that the rights of Jewish and Israeli students and staff to move about the University free of harassment are respected and safeguarded.
Israel has a duty of defence towards its citizens and must pursue that duty to the best of its ability. We maintain our confidence in the IDF’s commitment to minimise any harm done to innocent people. We grieve for all the victims of Hamas, in Israel and in Gaza, direct or indirect, and hope for a lasting resolution to this terrible war. We pray for the swift release and rescue of the hostages.”
The full statement from Jewish Students for Justice follows here:
“Jewish Students for Justice stand in total solidarity with the Oxford Action for Palestine encampment.
We stand with the people of Palestine, and fully support the encampment’s struggle to end the University’s complicity in Israeli occupation, apartheid and genocide. We call for the University to accept their demands in full.
The encampment is a diverse and welcoming space, and as Jewish students we have felt nothing but solidarity and support there. We reject the attempts of zionist communal organisations – including the Union of Jewish Students (UJS) – to trivialise antisemitism by conflating it with antizionism, attempting to stoke fear of these encampments among Jewish students of this University and elsewhere. This is why we demand that the University abandon the toxic IHRA definition of antisemitism, which shuts off legitimate criticism of Israel and does nothing to protect Jewish students.
The IOF has begun its invasion on Rafah. We stand in unconditional solidarity with Palestine and call on our community to continue the fight until Palestine is free.”
OA4P was approached for comment on the statements.
, which was set up on Monday 6th May in front of the Pitt Rivers Museum.){kind=link}