Around 50 people from OA4P and refugee advocacy groups gathered outside the Oxford Union to protest the appearance of former Home Secretary Suella Braverman. One of the protesters was able to climb over the fence and into the Union but was shortly removed by security.
The protesters also comprised of members of the Socialist Workers Party, Stand Up to Racism, and Asylum Welcome.
During the protests, several members stood on bins outside the Union, chanting through a megaphone and playing drums. Chants included calls for an “intifada revolution” and a song with the words: “Yemen Yemen make us proud, turn another ship around”.
One of the protestors told Cherwell: “I’m here because I believe that Suella Braveman is a racist, is a fascist, and wants the destruction of Palestine … Suella Braveman is a war criminal… We do not want her in Oxford.”
A passerby told Cherwell: “I’ll denounce civilian casualties on the Palestinian side, but I also denounce the casualties on the Israeli side. So I think it’s just wrong that [the protesters] actively refuse to condemn Hamas.”
Braverman is the Conservative MP for Fareham and Waterlooville, who served as Home Secretary on two separate occasions, first under Liz Truss, resigning after just a month, before being re-appointed a little under a week later by Rishi Sunak. She unsuccessfully ran for leader of the Conservative Party in 2022.
Braverman has previously made comments asserting Israel’s right to defend itself, describing pro-Palestinian protests as “hate marches”. In February 2024 said a ceasefire would be “naive and dangerous”. She has also said that she believes Israel is going “above and beyond” to protect civilians and that they were “absolutely not” in breach of international law.
Braverman also oversaw the development of the ‘Rwanda Plan’ and said that a plane taking asylum seekers to Rwanda was her “dream” and “obsession”.
