Sunday 27th July 2025
Blog Page 156

Manele: the controversy around Romani music in Romania

Joey Weinbren
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Manele: the controversy around Romani music in Romania

Manele is a modern form of Romani (or Roma) music in Romania. Using traditional Romani instruments and sounds, it also fuses other genres from the Balkans, Middle East, and India.

Manele’s rhythm and sound may be addictive for many, yet despite a general consensus in Romania that manele is catchy and nice to dance to, it remains very controversial. This is partly due to deep-rooted prejudice towards the Romani people, as well as manele’s lyrics and music videos, many of which are full of cars, money, and semi-naked women.

Tzanca Uraganu (Tzanca the Hurricane), sings his major hit single Bat la Șase Buci (I Slap Six Bumcheeks) in Silver Club, the only Romanian nightclub in London. Entry costs sixty pounds (cash only), but people are ready to spend much more, giving Tzanca up to hundreds in sterling for dedicații: special song requests, dedications and shoutouts. Prior to arriving, my Romanian girlfriend’s parents tell me to put all our valuables into a fanny pack and tightly strap it to my chest. They also make sure my girlfriend does not wear anything too ‘revealing’: “They think lots of criminals and dodgy people will be there. It’s because of the music, but also partly because of racism. A really, really normalised racism. Almost everyone in Romania thinks that stealing is part of the Roma culture,” my girlfriend tells me.

The BBC made a documentary 7 years ago about the manele controversy. In it, it linked a few figures of the Romanian underworld to manele singers as ‘acquaintances’ who had helped advance their careers. There might indeed be some truth in the idea that manele as a genre attracts a few criminals, but it is also loved by many ordinary Romanians, especially the younger generation. At the club, everyone takes turns to come to the front to see Tzanca, people smile and dance, and despite the slight stress of my girlfriend’s parents’ warnings, I feel safe and happy.

“It’s nice music, and I don’t have a problem with it,” a Romanian friend tells me. “I like its sound. It’s similar to folk music and it appeals to the music I’ve been raised to enjoy. No one seems to complain about trap or rap music, but when it comes to manele there’s always a fuss. When I had a manele phase I didn’t tell my parents or anyone, because there is such a big stigma. Many people think that if you listen to manele, you’re either a ‘gypsy’ or uneducated. And even those who say they don’t listen to it actually do when they’re drunk enough, because at that moment for them it’s acceptable.”

For some, manele’s constantly recurring clichés of cars, money, love and women, as well as its strange lyrics that often don’t make sense, make the genre more funny than offensive. In ‘Manele in Romania’, the only book that can be found online about manele, Victor Alexandre Stochiță points to the idea that what differentiates those who like the genre and those who don’t is the extent to which its lyrics are taken seriously.

Tzanca and his backup singers sing perfectly in tune despite the noise of the music and people shouting requests in their ears. His entourage of musicians playing the clarinet, violin, piano and drums also prove their skill and stamina, performing perfectly non-stop throughout the night. To be a singer or musician in manele, you clearly need talent and practice. Yet despite this, on a language course in Bucharest this summer, our class teacher refused to acknowledge that being a manelist (manele singer) is a career. “It’s not a career because they don’t study anything for it”, she told us affirmatively. This seemed ironic as a few seconds later, she acknowledged that being a shop assistant was a career despite not needing to study for it either. It therefore seems that manele singers and musicians are looked down on by many intellectuals in Romania. Both class prejudice and racism towards the Roma people without a doubt play some part in this.

As the manele controversy continues in Romania, it also continues to be a very popular genre of music among the youth with a growing international reach. The recent appearance of Florin Salam, regarded by many as the godfather of modern manele, on one of Romania’s most popular interview shows, 40 de Întrebări (40 Questions), suggests that the genre is becoming more and more mainstream. In recent years, there have also been increasingly frequent collaborations between manele singers and more conventional Romanian pop artists, albeit with some critique from the latter’s fans. It remains to be seen whether manele will go on to be fully embraced as part of Romania’s unique musical culture.

“Five Lost Dads’ Descent into Nihilism”: Strike Force Five Review

Liz Lane
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“Five Lost Dads’ Descent into Nihilism”: Strike Force Five Review

With the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike now officially over, it’s time to say goodbye to the brief, joyful and surprisingly nihilistic podcast Strike Force Five. Initially proposed by the host of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, America’s five biggest talk show hosts, namely Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, John Oliver and Stephen Colbert came together to record and raise money for their striking writing staff.

148 days of striking later, a deal was finally made. Following concerns around streaming service payments and the development of AI, the agreement has been hailed largely a success. Whilst there are still more details to come from the deal, the WGA described the contract as “exceptional — with meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of the membership”. So, with the strike now over and the air jubilant, how should we reflect on a podcast that only existed because of threats posed to the entertainment industry?

The first thing to note about the Strike Force Five podcast is that it is completely odd. There’s something unnatural about five TV hosts trying to talk to each other – at each other – unsure of when to talk and when to listen. The first episode, aptly titled ‘Five Late Night Hosts Talk at the Same Time for the First Time’, captures the chaos that comes from a podcast where nobody is quite sure who is host and who is guest. “I think you’re really gonna feel [the writers’] absence while you listen,” Myers says. There’s little doubt he is correct.

The hosts, usually so confident in their late-night slots, appear lost without their writers to guide them. Their wildly unstructured conversations range from American classic Moby Dick to Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle (the latter may have been on a date with Colbert’s mother; the former is still to be read in full by Fallon). If nothing else, their meandering conversations resemble five dads catching up after a run-in at the local store. Sure, they happen to be some of the biggest names in American TV entertainment, but as you hear them discuss fishing, first dates and the pros and cons of eating in bed, all the grandeur of their professions quickly disappears. These are dads being dads in podcast form.

The best episode undoubtedly is the hilarious ‘Strike Force Wives,’ which sees Jimmy Fallon asking the wives of the hosts questions in an increasingly convoluted and nonsensical manner. Yoda-like comments are thrown around as the hosts, through tears, try to understand how to play Fallon’s game. It’s the sort of podcast that will make you cover your mouth in embarrassment as you chuckle walking down the street. “I need segment producers so bad and writers,” Fallon gasps through giggles, “I miss everybody so bad.”

Not all episodes, however, have the same breezy tone. Episode seven, with ex-Daily Show host John Stewart as guest, proves remarkably nihilistic. When asked how he’s coped following giving up the Daily Show, Stewart responds “it’s important to remember [that] when you leave what we do, you disappear.” Commenting on the ephemeral nature of satirical comedy, and the fact that viewers are unlikely to re-watch jokes made about the 2016 Iowa caucus, Stewart advises the hosts to get a hobby following their late show retirements. To put it more bleakly (as Stewart does): “Find God, I’m telling you, you’re worthless and insignificant.” It’s a fantastic commentary on the fickleness and fragility of fame.

 Another ex-TV host Conan O’Brien made a similar claim in 2019. “In this culture?” he responds, when asked about his legacy, “[In] two years, it’s going to be, ‘Who’s Conan?’ . . . Eventually, all our graves go unattended”. “None of it matters” is his simple takeaway. Is this the fate all ex-talk show hosts face? Perhaps Stewart’s comments were provoked by the dreariness of the writers’ strike but it’s telling that podcasting, an industry which O’Brien also dominates, has proved a common thread in these nihilistic reflections.

Is being “reduced” to what could be considered a new-age radio part of the impetus behind the feeling that “none of it matters”? Just a few years ago, the idea of a talk show host doing a podcast was laughable but now podcasting is a multi-billion dollar industry whilst the viewership of late-night TV is swiftly dwindling. This is a strange, if still highly lucrative, time to be a talk show host and it must have been baffling for the five hosts to succumb to such a new (and potentially threatening medium) in Strike Force Five. This, if anything, makes the podcast all the more fascinating to listen to.

So, is Strike Force Five worth a listen? Absolutely. Go for the playful laughs, behind-the-scenes anecdotes and intriguing set-up. Stay for the gentle reminder that nothing (specifically, a TV legacy) really matters.

A walk down Magpie Lane on one winter night

Adrian Kuba
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A walk down Magpie Lane on one winter night

Wandering nightly through the cobbled pavements of the city of dreaming spires,
I could not help but notice the darkening shade of sandstone under the yellowing hue of orange lampshade.
The sandstone walls that saw the greatest wars and the greatest minds
flourish, and vanish without a single trace,

Except for written words, tireless recreation,
A distant dream in the milky fog of one’s own false recollections,
Of what is written on those sepia walls in dusty libraries,
A personal Alexandria of the romantic mind.

Those dark amber walls, who have eyes,
Remember better than the greatest scholar, preserving the legacy
Of elfin spirits of men, just like you and me,
Aspirations and visions of grandeur; lived or unreached.

Those ghostly wails of the past still remain,
Resounding through the rooms of poets and politicians-
Becoming accustomed to these hallowed walls, just like you and me,
Wilde and Wordsworth, Shelley and Graves,

Their thoughts and words echo through empty streets,
Greeting me from windows and doorways, lit up cafes and dingy side-street pubs,
An omnipresence worthy of gods- these lecture halls, their shrines.
A dream to live by; a breathable mythology of those like you and me.

And I, and you too, may perhaps be one of those souls,
Spending endless wintery nights wandering that stone,
A future ghost, of a glorious past, echoing through those rooms at last.

Analysis

Adrian Kuba’s poem ‘A walk down Magpie Lane on one winter night’ is set within the stream of consciousness of a fresher walking down Magpie Lane in Oxford at night. This character is starry eyed: filled with passion and potential they cannot yet express. Adrian writes in a purposefully rambling and disorientating style to reflect the experience of leaving home and starting your life proper in such an odd place. Adrian himself came from Liverpool to Oxford, a big change which left him equally excited and confused.

A consistent theme in this poem is the immortality of art. ‘Wilde and Wordsworth, Shelley and Graves’ have made their mark upon this historic town and survive through the ‘shrines’ of ‘lecture halls’. They have become ‘Gods’ in a metaphorical sense through their shrines, but in a literal sense too. They are immortalised in the University- in the ‘darkening shade of sandstone’, the ‘sepia walls in dusty libraries’, and in in ‘amber walls’.

Adrian is a Classics student, and he reflects on a historical tenant that he believes to stretch back all the way to Homer- that is, the notion that great deeds- often in real life, artistic ones- are a form of immortality, which results from the long-term remembrance that the artist is often endowed with. He mentions that Achilles’ great decision of long life in obscurity, versus death shrouded in fame, although comparatively more dramatic, reflects this human desire for great deeds and remembrance. For the Homeric hero, the outlet for this was war; for those writing such stories, it’s the art

How can one, even immortal, survive as their true self? This is the question Adrian asks the reader to ponder in the line on ‘false recollections’. In the ‘milky fog’ of history, can we know anyone, or only how they wish to be perceived? Can our own identities survive unchanged, even if we rise to the status of Gods?

In Adrian’s first encounter with Oxford, he was struck by the solidity and liminality of it. Solid in the sense that it has withstood the tides of time, and liminal in the sense that Oxford is a place where the past and the present uniquely intermingle to create an atmosphere of electricity and potential. ‘Magpie Lane’ is one of the oldest streets in Oxford, one which artists and authors before him have walked, and will continue to do so in the future. Adrian attests that in Oxford ‘you can feel the history in every brick’. His protagonist starts the poem walking down the lane in life and ends walking down the poem in death. It is exciting to think we are walking alongside the metaphorical ghosts of the past, and that we may become them in the future.

Read more from The Source!

Distress among applicants as admission tests mix-up papers

Bintia Dennog
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Distress among applicants as admission tests mix-up papers

Oxford’s first day of admission testing has led to distress amongst applicants. The paper for  the English Literature Assessment Test (ELAT) was reportedly from the previous year and technical errors led to delays, provoking outrage on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

Last year, Oxford announced that they would no longer use Cambridge Admissions Assessment Testing for their testing, which is set to be discontinued in 2024. While the TSA and BMAT will still be administered by CAAT for this year, the majority of admissions tests are now being conducted by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in an online format. 

HSFC Reach & Early Apps, a sixth-form affiliated X account, called for a formal apology, writing: “We look forward to a written apology and statement about the progress of these tests today. Not only with technical errors, but also the error on the ELAT. Students have prepared for these for months, so rapid response is necessary to assure them they will not be disadvantaged.” 

A picture of a broadcast message that appeared on the screen was also posted on X, which read: “We would like to inform you that we are experiencing slowness in accessing the tests. We request you to wait for a few mins and we will let you know when things are back to normal. We assure you that students will not loose [sic] any test time.” 

One person said that they had “over 90 minutes [delay] plus ongoing glitches followed by issuance of a paper version of the MAT after two hours.”

Further criticisms were made over the lack of communication channels, with one X user writing: “It was a total shambles this morning. Students stressed out due to the Oxford server crashing out. No phone number to call. No updates on the website. This should not have happened!”

The University has been approached for comment.

The joys of room decorating

Christina Kurian
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The joys of room decorating

An Oxford term vanishes in the blink of an eye. So much happens in eight short weeks – time flies from the moment suitcases are hauled upstairs, to fifth week blues, to hugging your friends goodbye in eighth week. It’s no wonder, then, in all the chaos, that often our rooms go undecorated. What’s the point, after all?

All of it has to be stripped down and hauled right back down those same stairs eight weeks later. Worse still if you’re an international student, forced to decide whether to pack clothes or posters – the airline won’t give you more luggage capacity just because Oxford has special rules about accommodation. As an international student myself, I spent the majority of my first Michaelmas staring at bare walls.

More recently, I’ve come to realise the importance of decorating my room – if only for the short amount of time we spend there. Without any personalised touches, a room is just four walls. But add decorations, and, suddenly, it’s your room, your home, even though the house you grew up in might be thousands of miles away on a different continent. It becomes a safe space to be creative, and remind yourself of who you are away from the constant turbulence of Oxford life. When you need a moment to breathe and calm down after a hectic week of tutorials, you can look at the pictures you’ve strung up on your walls – happy memories of times gone by, of the people and places you still love. When you go to sleep, it’s relaxing to drift off under posters of your favourite films and celebrities.

For home students, it’s definitely worth bringing the little things that matter so much to you. For international students, if this isn’t practical, remember that Oxford has great places to shop for decorations and take this as a chance to let your creativity shine! You can start as big or as small as you like – print off some photos of your friends, or head down to Blackwell’s Art and Poster shop and have a poke around. There’s bound to be something that appeals to you. Fairy lights are definitely a popular option – they create a soft, cosy atmosphere without breaking the bank or requiring too much creative effort. Some rooms come with a pin-board, so stock up on pins and photographs of your most treasured memories. A personal favourite of mine is books; I’ve met very few people here who don’t like to read, and a curated book collection is often one of the most telling indicators of your personality. And if none of the extra decorating appeals to you, then stick with the basics and decorate your furniture. Pick a colour scheme and match your pillowcases to your duvet cover, throw, and blankets.

Whether you choose to start small or go all-out, decorating your room at Oxford is definitely worth it despite the short terms. Vac storage exists for a reason – the posters can always be rolled up and the fairy lights taken down. The inconvenience of finding a place to pack it away doesn’t compare to the small joys of looking at your favourite photos, being proud of yourself for an attempt at interior design, and snuggling against your favourite cushions when you go to bed. So, get here early in 0th week and start decorating!                                                                                             

Image credit: John Mark Arnold via Unsplash.

Keble students petition against heating cuts

Faris Firoozye
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Keble students petition against heating cuts

Keble students have started a petition to protest a trial of turning the heating off from 10pm to 6am. The trial is a part of a college-wide sustainability initiative which will involve turning off the heating in communal spaces, student rooms, and Fellows’ rooms overnight.

The College stated that they “are determined to take action to address the climate crisis and become more sustainable.” In response to the trial announcement, the JCR has created a petition “to protest this idea to present to the sustainability committee.” The sustainability committee comprises students, staff, and fellows. 

One Keble student told the Oxford Mail: “People with health conditions such as Raynaud’s will not be exempt putting them at serious risk.” 

“Students were not allowed a say in whether this trial would take place and there is nothing they can do either as the next meeting with two representative students present is after the trial period is due to begin.” 

Electric heaters are also banned by the college due to being a “fire risk”.

When approached for comment, Keble College told Cherwell: “Student welfare is always our concern. Any students who may be adversely affected due to medical conditions, disabilities or other similar concerns will be offered appropriate support and mitigations.

“Student representatives on sustainability committee were consulted before the trial started. The whole community can provide feedback at any time via a designated email.” 

They added that there will be a weekly review and that “[t]he feedback from the JCR will be considered by the committee as part of the review.”

Christ Church votes to separate Dean position from head of College

Jakub Trybull
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Christ Church votes to separate Dean position from head of College

The Governing Body of Christ Church has approved a proposal to separate the responsibilities of the Dean into two roles, allowing non-clergy to head the College. In an email to students this morning, the College described the proposal as representing a “historic change for both the Cathedral and the College”. The proposal follows two internal tribunals against Very Rev Prof Martyn Percy, the College’s former Dean over pay and conduct concerns.

Currently, the Dean has charge of a single Foundation comprising both a Cathedral and a College of the University of Oxford. In future, the Dean will only lead the Cathedral, working beside a separate head of the Foundation.

In an email sent to students the College said: “​​The proposal would enable future Deans of the Cathedral to dedicate themselves exclusively to leading the mission, ministry and management of the Cathedral Church of the Diocese of Oxford, overseeing its prayer and worship.”

Both institutions will, however, remain within the single Foundation of Christ Church Oxford, despite separate leadership of the College and Cathedral.

The change could be seen as following a lengthy row with the previous Dean, Very Rev Prof Martyn Percy. In 2018, Percy faced a pay tribunal. Despite being cleared of the initial tribunal, Percy would later find himself caught up in a four-year-long saga of disputes and accusations, leading up to a second tribunal against him after he was accused of inappropriately stroking a woman’s hair in Chapel.

The conflict, which involved student protests and intervention from the University’s chancellor, cost the College £6.6 million in legal and public relation fees. It concluded early last year when the former Dean stepped down. A Financial Times investigation in 2019 called Christ Church “virtually ungovernable.”

Percy was replaced by Very Revd Professor Sarah Foot who, when talking about the vote, said: “It is no longer appropriate that the leadership of an Oxford University college should be reserved exclusively to ordained priests. The Governing Body’s decision will ensure that future appointments to the headship of the Foundation can be drawn from the widest range of applicants. 

“The deanship of the Cathedral is a senior office in the Church of England with significant responsibilities. Future Deans will be able to dedicate themselves to leading the mission, ministry and management of the Cathedral Church of the Diocese of Oxford, overseeing its prayer and worship.”

This proposal is one of the many recommendations from an independent governance review that Christ Church is considering. Despite the result of this indicative vote, the proposal’s implementation is subject to a future formal vote.

Report shows Oxford accepted £1.2 million in funding from fossil fuel companies in 2022

Grace Kyoko Wong
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Report shows Oxford accepted £1.2 million in funding from fossil fuel companies in 2022

Oxford University was the sixth-largest beneficiary of funding from fossil fuel companies out of all UK universities in 2022-23, according to an investigation by DeSmog, a climate-focused news site. Forty-four UK higher education institutions received a total of £40 million from oil and gas firms over the past year, of which Oxford received £1.2 million.

Out of the 32 contributing corporations, Shell, Malaysian state-owned Petronas and BP were the highest contributors, providing over 76% of the total funding to these institutions by fossil fuel companies. Oil and gas giants such as ExxonMobil, Chevron and Saudi Aramco were also involved in these philanthropic activities.

Oxford pledged to divest its endowment from fossil fuels in April 2020, but have maintained partnerships with oil and gas firms in order to fund research activities and scholarship programmes. For instance, two scholarships aimed at African postgraduate students studying at Saïd Business School and at St Antony’s College, respectively, were established in 2022, funded by Eni, the Italian multinational oil company.

A spokesperson for the University said: “Our partnerships with industry allow the University to apply its knowledge to real challenges of pressing global concern, with funding often going directly into research into climate-related issues and renewables. Philanthropic funding has been used to widen access to education and to fund scholarships, academic posts, and capital costs, while the proportion of research funding going into fossil fuel exploration and extraction has declined significantly over the last decade and the percentage going into renewables projects has increased.”

The average annual funding accepted by all UK universities from sources linked to fossil fuels seems to have increased in recent years: openDemocracy reported in December 2021 that in the four years since 2017, oil and gas firms had donated almost £90 million to UK higher education institutions, which, averaged would correspond to a much lower amount than was received in 2022-23. 

Over the same four years, Oxford received an average of just under £2 million per year, a considerably higher figure than in 2022-23, suggesting that the University is reducing its reliance on funding from these sources.

The environmental activist group Just Stop Oil included the most recent numbers in a press release published last Tuesday after they took responsibility for spray painting the Radcliffe Camera. 

The continued fossil fuels funding comes against the backdrop of a funding crisis in UK higher education: the loss of around £800 million a year in EU financial support due to Brexit, coupled with an extended period of high inflation, have led universities to be in an increasingly precarious financial position.

A delightfully sweet summer at Cocoa Runners

Nina Naidu
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A delightfully sweet summer at Cocoa Runners

People often say that patience is a virtue, and I embraced this mantra (unintentionally) during my quest for a summer internship. Whilst many friends of mine had already submitted a dozen applications to the top consulting firms in the world by Christmas, here I was in late May contemplating whether to bolster my CV. My initial hesitation stemmed from not wanting to work over the summer. However, reality hit when I realised that I was not going to have a summer without the funds to sustain myself. With some assistance from the Oxford Careers Website and a stroke of luck, I secured just one internship opportunity – a golden ticket to a delightfully sweet summer. 

I spent two and a half months as a Digital Media intern at Cocoa Runners, an independent sustainable chocolate company in London. While my peers in their crisp-ironed suits headed to towering office blocks down the road, I found myself swimming in chocolate. The company was undergoing a rebrand for its tenth anniversary, and I was tasked with organising their image library and updating product photos for their new website. As someone new to full-time work, this was an exciting venture for me.

At first, I fretted about my ability to fulfil the job requirements. Worries about my Photoshop skills – last exercised during my Graphic Art GCSE nearly five years prior – and using WordPress for the first time plagued me. It turned out that my apprehension was misplaced. Once I got started, I was pleasantly surprised that my eagerness to learn quickly overtook my editing prowess. With only three colleagues (one of whom worked remotely), I felt well-supported, and they showed a genuine interest in my life and degree. It didn’t hurt that the CEO was an Oxford alumnus! I remember my interview even resembling an Oxford tutorial. 

During my time at Cocoa Runners, I delved into the significance of ethics and sustainability in the cocoa industry. I learned about the exploitation of cacao farming plantations by major chocolate corporations, involving child slave labour to produce cheap, mass-market confectionery. Although most of my tasks consisted of typical office work – spreadsheet management, copywriting, and setting up numerous chocolate-tasting events. What was unique to this job was my exposure to the dark history of chocolate. Most importantly, I discovered how I could contribute to supporting small independent businesses genuinely concerned about the cacao cooperatives they employed worldwide.

While unrelated to my degree in Italian and Linguistics, I was fortunate to be part of a company that guided me through my first work experience. They emphasised the importance of maintaining a work-life balance, a stark contrast to the academic world where work can seep into any hour of the day. For a few months, I enjoyed a stress-free lifestyle which boosted my productivity, knowing I had only eight hours a day to accomplish tasks.

To those debating doing an internship, I urge you to apply sooner rather than later. My last-minute luck was an exception I would not recommend. Unfortunately, internships in highly competitive fields often yield more rejections than offers (which I admit is not great for your self-esteem), so starting early is key. Don’t hesitate to explore opportunities outside your degree field; any workplace experience is invaluable and distinct from your academic journey. While I plan to stay in academia for a bit longer, I wholeheartedly cherished my summer internship. 

And don’t forget the free chocolate!

Artwork by Sean Hartnett.

Pro-Palestine protests continue, calling for University to oppose Israeli violence

Cherwell News
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Pro-Palestine protests continue, calling for University to oppose Israeli violence

An estimated 100 people gathered at the Clarendon Building Wednesday morning to protest Israel’s recent violence against Palestine and to urge Oxford University to “act against genocide”. The protesters then walked to Wellington Square, where University administrators have their offices. 

The demonstration was the second major one in Oxford since Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October and Israel unleashed a barrage of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip. Since then at least 3,000 people have been killed in Gaza, in addition to 1,400 in Israel. The “emergency protest” was called following the explosion of a hospital in Gaza last night. 

Leaders of the protest said Israel has committed war crimes against Palestinians “with the support of the UK government and the complicity of Oxford University”. They circulated a petition urging the University to “Act Against Genocide” with demands to condemn Israel’s “war crimes” against Palestine; ensure preservation of free speech on campus; and “[i]mmediately sever all financial ties to all arms manufacturers and Israel-based companies complicit in the destruction of Gaza”. They directed their demands at Oxford Vice-Chancellor Irene Tracey and other administrators. 

The petition further stated: “A Freedom of Information request sent by the Action on Armed Violence found that Oxford is in the top 5 universities in the UK to accept arms funding (2013-2021) from companies found by Amnesty International to fail to ‘demonstrate adequate human rights due diligence’, including Cobham and Lockheed Martin which… are known to have contributed to weaponry that was used to bombarded Gaza.”

One student also told Cherwell: “These companies benefit from destruction and warfare and their profits have skyrocketed over the latest onslaught of war crimes in Gaza”, adding that “we must refuse complicity in the business of war and demonstrate that we value human life and human rights more so than we do money.”

Oxford’s Israel Society have since also issued a statement, writing: “Less than two weeks ago, Hamas perpetuated one of the most horrific terrorist attacks in history,” stating that “it is the duty of the world to see Hamas removed” and that “Israel unfortunately must take this task upon itself.”

They further claimed that “Hamas is using the people of Gaza as human shields. Under the laws of armed conflict, civilian infrastructure used for military purposes are legal targets, and their destruction is not a war crime. It has been well established, beyond reasonable doubt, that Hamas use civilian infrastructure and resources for military purposes.”

Additionally, they claimed that “[a]n aspect of the Hamas disinformation campaign has been the re-framing of Israeli attempts to save civilians as illegal or even genocidal.” They added: “We pray for the safety of civilians, in Israel and in Gaza” and “a swift and just end to this conflict.”

A Jewish student at Oxford approached for comment said they were “initially sympathetic to the Israeli cause” but due to Israeli actions of the last week have become “significantly less so.” 

The University also told Cherwell: “Oxford University’s primary focus is the health and well-being of staff and students impacted by the terrible events in Israel and Gaza, and it has written directly to those affected to offer welfare and other types of support. Both the University and its colleges are working to ensure all members of our community are supported as much as possible, and we will continue to respond as appropriate as the situation develops.”

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