Oxford Action for Palestine (OA4P) staged a protest against Nikki Haley, former Republican presidential candidate and the US ambassador to the UN, outside the Blavatnik School of Government where she held a talk today. They branded her a “proud genocidaire” over her support for Israel and alleged that Blavatnik hid Haley’s identity from the student body until this morning to avoid backlash.
Although the protest was only announced three hours earlier on social media, several dozen people showed up at the Blavatnik building to chant and march. University security stood by the entrances and few people walked in or out of the building.
Protesters held signs against the building’s windows and marched around it while chanting. Their calls included “Stop the bombing now” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”, as well as calling Haley a “genocide inciter”. Using a megaphone, the chants could be heard a block away, although it was not clear whether they disrupted Haley’s talk inside.
Before and during the protest, OA4P emphasised Haley’s visit to Israel earlier this year. She met Israeli soldiers and wrote “finish them” on artillery shells. In response, OA4P wrote: “genocidal maniacs are not welcome at Oxford!!”.
OA4P told Cherwell: “OA4P is sickened that the Blavatnik School of Government has invited Nikki Haley, a proud genocidaire, to Oxford’s campus. BSG clearly knew that the Oxford community would not welcome Haley’s presence, given that the School hid her identity as the Dean’s Forum speaker from the student body until this morning.
“Shame on the University of Oxford and the Blavatnik School of Government for continuing to support and platform war criminals. We will not rest until Oxford ends its complicity in crimes against humanity.”
A Blavatnik School spokesperson told Cherwell: “The School’s mission is to improve government and public policy across the globe by teaching the next generation of public leaders. Our students regularly hear from senior officials and leaders from around the world and from different political persuasions, giving them the opportunity to listen, ask questions, learn from those whose journeys and views might be very different from their own, as well as to learn to build coalitions across political divides.”
Blavatnik School did not respond to Cherwell’s question regarding OA4P’s allegation of hiding Nikki Haley’s identity.
