The Oxford Union voted for its controversial motion “This House Believes Israel is an apartheid state responsible for genocide” last night, with the society’s buildings surrounded by tight security and protesters rallying outside. The House saw 278 votes in favour and 59 votes against.
Speaking in Proposition were Palestinian poet Mohammed El-Kurd, Union President Ebrahim Osman-Mowafy, Israeli-American activist Miko Peled, and Palestinian-American poet Susan Abulwaha. Speaking in Opposition were British broadcaster Jonathan Sacerdoti, British barrister Natasha Hausdorff, Arab-Israeli journalist Yousef Haddad, and spy Mosab Hassan Yousef. Yousef is the son of terrorist organisation Hamas’ founder who then defected to become a spy for Israeli intelligence. He has been criticised for his hatred of Islam.
Outside the society’s buildings, around two dozen pro-Palestine protesters rallied on St Michael’s Street, their chants audible from the chamber. Oxford Action for Palestine, which called the protest, wrote that its purpose is to show “Zionists are not welcome in Oxford”. A protester told Cherwell that their reason is twofold: to show solidarity with Palestinian speakers, and to stand against the Union’s platforming of speakers.
Speaking first in Proposition, El-Kurd said: “If this motion passes today, it means that this body is catching up to the moral clarity of the global majority. It is about time and about 70 years too late.” He called Zionism “irredeemable and indefensible”. Lastly, El-Kurd refers to Yousef’s work for the Israeli Defence Forces and said it “dishonours me to share a space with [Yousef]” before walking out of the chamber.
Opening for the Opposition, Sacerdoti argued that the Proposition “intended to inflame not inform” and called the motion itself “an outrage”. In middle of his speech, a member of the audience began heckling “you sick motherf***er” and “genocidal maniac” before being escorted out of the chamber. Sacerdoti continued to argue that “Gazans are eating more than the world average”.
Osman-Mowafy spoke next for Proposition, framing the debate as one that “puts correct names on self evident truths”. He cited specific Gazan families, asking: “How many bullets do you need to kill one family? 335.” He also quoted Netanyahu saying “Gaza is a city of evil” and that “Gazans are animals”, whilst noting that 50% of Gazans are children. Some of the Opposition were chuckling, to which an audience member in the balcony asked: “What’s so funny?”
Next up in Opposition Haddad told the crowd: ‘‘If you are booing, I’m sorry to say it, but you are terrorist supporters”. Haddad cited Jews, Christians, and Arabs playing football together in Israel, how as an Arab-Israeli himself he gave commands to and was saved by Jewish soldiers, and that an Arab man heads the largest bank in Israel – all evidence against an apartheid, he said. He ended by shouting: “You’re losing! You’re losing the Israeli-Arab war! You’re losing everything!” Due to a lack of decorum, he was asked to leave by the Chair during members’ speeches, at which point he put on a T-shirt that read “your terrorist is dead” with a crossed-out face.
Then in Proposition Peled argued that “What happened on October 7th was not terrorism – these were acts of heroism of a people who were oppressed.” After Sacerdoti cited a ruling that October 7th was indeed terrorism, Peled said: “Arrest me”. He argued for the establishment of a Palestinian state “from the river to the sea”.
Yousef opened by referring to his work stopping Hamas suicide bombers despite being the son of the terrorist organisation’s founder: “I sentenced my father to death”. He then turned to incendiary comments including “Palestinians are the most pathetic people on planet Earth”, which incited many Points of Orders over whether he should be removed from the chamber. In response Yousef said: “this House has been hijacked by Muslims.” He called Palestinians “a false identity” and said that “we [Arabs] will exist long after the Palestinian thugs who came to hijack our society”.
Final Proposition speaker Abulwaha began with a story: “‘When I was in Gaza I saw a little boy whose arms and part of his face had been blown off by a booby-trapped can of food.” She characterised her opponents as “invoking Holocaust and screaming Antisemitism” and said: “I came to speak directly to Zionists: we let you into our homes when your own countries turned you away. You killed and robbed and burned and looted our lives, you carved out our hearts.”
Near midnight, the last Opposition speaker Hausdorff took the stage. She said that Jewish students have been intimidated from attending the debate tonight and called it “a dark moment in the Oxford Union’s history”. In response to the alleged lack of historical and legal context tonight, she said “but I am here, so fear not, ladies and gentlemen” and goes on to argue indoctrination as the centre of this conflict. Hausdorff continued: “Genocide is a slur being alleged against the real victims of genocide in this case.”
