Tuesday, May 13, 2025
Blog Page 909

MPs outraged as Labour takes no further action against alleged OULC anti-Semitism

Ethan Croft
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MPs outraged as Labour takes no further action against alleged OULC anti-Semitism

A group of Labour MPs have criticised the party’s decision to take no further action against Oxford University Labour Club students accused of anti-Semitism.

At a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party on Monday, John Mann, Ruth Smeeth, and Ian Austin all raised concerns about the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) ruling to suspend any further action towards the pair of OULC members implicated in anti-Semitism by Labour peer Baroness Janet Royall’s investigation last year.

Baroness Royall’s eleven month inquiry, summarised in a report last May, was triggered by the resignation of OULC co-chair Alex Chalmers in February 2016 after the club voted to endorse the controversial Israel Apartheid Week (IAW). He claimed some members of the club “have some kind of problem with Jews.”

Speaking about the NEC’s decision not to take further action, Chalmers told Cherwell: “This latest move by the party leadership is disappointing but unsurprising considering its track record on the subject.”

In response to the NEC’s decision not to take further action, Baroness Royall said: “I am deeply disappointed by the outcome and fear it will further harm relations between the Jewish community and our party by confirming a widely held view that we do not take anti-Semitism seriously.”

John Mann, one of the Labour MPs who railed against the NEC’s decision and chair of the All-party parliamentary group against anti-Semitism, told Cherwell: “Having spoken at Oxford Labour club and to Jewish students, I well understand what has been happening at Oxford. I am extremely disappointed that no action has been taken and that communication with Jewish students throughout the process has been so dismal. Simply put this is not good enough. If our party is to be taken seriously as an antiracist institution, we must act. I will continue to call out inaction and reassure Jewish students and others that apathy to anti-Semitism will not be tolerated by me or many other Labour MPs.”

Oxford’s Jewish Society stated: “The Labour NEC Disputes panel decision to clear two individuals of from OULC of anti-Semitism is utterly shameful and demonstrates yet again that the Labour Party is unwilling to confront the anti-Semitism in its ranks. This decision is bitterly disappointing and will only continue the trend of Labour spaces becoming increasingly frightening and alienating for Jewish students. It is hard to believe that following Baroness Royall finding that the incidents in the OULC took place, that the NEC decided to drop the case.”

An anonymous source told Cherwell: “The total dropping of this investigation seems like the final straw, undermining the very serious allegations made by both myself and my peers.

“Whilst the party and indeed Oxford Labour club may not be, as has been concluded in the past, institutionally anti-Semitic, it certainly has endemic problems that need to be tackled and the only way I truly believe these problems can be solved is if there is full awareness of the facts on the ground and an honest relationship between the party and its Jewish members. What I experienced in OULC was extremely humiliating, demoralising and profoundly unpleasant and I am utterly appalled that justice will never be served.”

 Ian Austin and the OULC were contacted for comment. Ruth Smeeth declined to comment.

Magdalen JCR backs Fairtrade

Romy Catmull
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Magdalen JCR backs Fairtrade

Magdalen College JCR passed a motion on Tuesday applying for Fairtrade accreditation of the college and endorsing the University-wide campaign that aims for every college in the university to be Fairtrade certified.

The motion, proposed by Magdalen’s outgoing Environment and Ethics trustee Matthew Steggles, supports Just Love, a Christian social justice organisation, who are working in collaboration with OUSU Environment and Ethics representatives in colleges. Together the groups are encouraging people to source more ethical goods in their day to day lives.

The proposal states that the JCR “have obligation as global citizens to respect those who provide our food and clothing”, adding, “Fairtrade certification provides a clear, sustainable and effective framework through which to fulfil this obligation.”

Having passed with 42 votes in favour, and only 1 against, the successful motion mandates Magdalen’s Environment and Ethics representative to liaise with the college’s home bursar and senior staff in order to make the college Fairtrade.

The motion also outlines proposals to create an annual Fairtrade subcommittee of the JCR.

This step follows in the wake of 97 other universities, including Oxford Brookes and Cambridge, all of which have become Fairtrade certified, along with Lady Margaret Hall, Linacre and Christ Church colleges.

Mr. Steggles, who tabled Magdalen’s motion, told Cherwell: “Ideally I’d like to see Oxford as a university be more proactive in supporting worthy causes than I feel they are at the moment. Fairtrade measurably improves the lives of people in some of the most impoverished areas and to be able to take a step towards that through Oxford is definitely worthwhile.”

However, there has been some controversy surrounding the campaign. One student speaking to Cherwell, questioned: “Why Fairtrade? I support the Rainforest Alliance. All I care about is having a world for us to live in.”

Other students felt they would prefer to align themselves with a charity more efficient than Fairtrade.

This comes after last year’s contentious news that Cadbury was abandoning its Fairtrade certification in favour of its parent company’s in-house fair trade scheme, Cocoa Life.

Speaking in Oxford Town Hall last month however, Chief Executive of the Fairtrade Foundation, Michael Gidney, offered support for Cadbury’s Cocoa Life Scheme, and concentrated on the wider vision he held for Fairtrade’s future, especially the role played by Fairtrade colleges, schools and communities.

OUSU, in its 2016/2017 policy, committed to supporting Fairtrade, said: “The Vice President for Charities and Communities will campaign for increased Fairtrade consumption within the university departments and colleges.”

OUSU also hopes to convince the University to assign a Fairtrade officer to oversee Fairtrade at Oxford.

The Fairtrade Foundation claims that it helps over 1.65 million farmers and workers across 74 countries. This includes giving the cooperatives a premium to invest back into the community through such means as education and improved technology.

Review: STOP

Amaris Proctor
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Review: STOP

In a production which spoke loudest in its low key moments, I was struck by something quite rare in student drama—a lack of pretension. The thought of watching a  piece of new student writing—a musical, no less—that presents a chronologically disordered narrative exploring mental illness left me rather frightened that I would have to sit through an overly inventive piece, or one that mimicked an overwrought Hollywood incarnation of depression.

There is nothing more irksome than a depiction of suicidal thinking in the tone of Effy from Skins, all romantic melodrama and no reality. This piece, in complete opposition, was crafted by Annabel Mutale Reed and Leo Munby to have an admirable everyday humanity and frankness to it, as its four mentally ill characters find themselves stuck in the most mundane location: a London bus stop.

The characterisation in the first half is the musical’s fiercest aspect, with delightfully idiosyncratic and detailed performances by Kathy Peacock, Annabel Mutale Reed, Jack Trzcinski, and Eoghan McNelis. They managed to catch hold of some of the embarrassment, awkwardness, and the outright sorrow of mental illness which is not grand, but mundane, snivelling and raw. Reed gives a particularly excellent performance, with her brisk, ‘I’ve got my shit together’ verbal patterns perfectly toned.

The set and score maintain simplicity which allows storytelling to take centre stage. The Burton Taylor studio is used well: the conventionality of the seating imposing some sense of order, pleasantly resisting the amateur urge to go a bit madly experimental. The bus stop, only lightly touched by the hand of musical theatre, remains unobtrusive and familiar to any Londoner.

The map of bus routes in the background provides a subtle nod to the motif of connections, both human and neurological, without being too heavy handed. Even the inflammatory name ‘TRUMP’, scratched into the plastic post, fades easily into the distance, just another anxiety in a story thick with them.

Ultimately, it’s refreshing to see a production so immune to gimmicks. It’s almost as if it realises that it is conceptually strong enough in manifesting mental illness as a physical space, as something tangible and immobilising, when so often we hear it’s all in people’s heads, that it doesn’t have to work too hard. Tonal shifts are left to lighting, conveying both warmth and distress. The music, too, doesn’t try to be too avant-garde. Although occasionally abruptly silenced by a percussion instrument, for the most part it complements rather than overshadows the exposition of the plot.

If I had one critique of the piece, it would be that the latter half could occasionally feel weighed down by the emphasis on its message, which lessened the authentic emotional punch. However, conceptually, it’s very good. It offers up a spool of various threads that get tugged at throughout the piece in a fascinating and satisfying way.

Food diary: in search of pasteis de nata

Pauline Chatelan
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Food diary: in search of pasteis de nata

Portugal became the hot travel destination this past year. Naturally, with that, its popularity has translated into a new food trend in England. Nando’s hasn’t become Instagram worthy yet, but some of London’s top foodies (i.e: @clerkenwellboyec1) are contributing to the recent hype around Portugal’s iconic custard tarts, also known as ‘pasteis de nata’ (singular: pastel).

It is no surprise that people are turning to these bite-size and golden pastries as an alternative source of joy, especially this time of year when our lack of vitamin D makes us crave anything which looks remotely like the sun. Pasteis de nata fulfil criteria number one when it comes to delicious food: they’re simple. Composed of creamy and smooth custard, perfectly balanced by crispy puff pastry and caramelised on the top, they’re a daily treat in Portugal, and usually accompanied by an espresso.

Their simplicity doesn’t make them any less precious—the recipe to make them is as secret as the Coca Cola recipe, says Jose Cardoso, owner of Tuga Pastries. He told us that pasteis are sold in almost every coffee shop or bakery in Portugal, and that a competition awards the best pastel de nata every year. In that spirit, we’ve explored Oxford’s food scene to save you the flight to Portugal and to present you with a ranking of the pasteis de nata which can be found and enjoyed right here in your city!

#4 Taylor’s, 1 Woodstock road

They were the most expensive we found and yet they lacked crispiness in addition to being overfilled and under-caramelised. £1.70 will buy you imbalanced and heavy pastel. Our advice: stick to their sandwiches.

#3 Green’s café, 50 St Giles

A little bit cheaper (£1.50), Green’s pasteis hit all the right spots of a good pastel. Open everyday, and rather central, this café is the easiest access you’ll have to a fine pastel de nata.

#2 Akiport café, 192 Abingdon road

No, you did not read the address wrong. Akiport is definitely far out on the Oxford distance scale. This yellow-ish little Brazilian and Portuguese café definitely hasn’t caught up to the Instagram coffee shop vibe but it’s where you’ll find delicious and authentic pasteis, and for only £1.20. So, which of you will be the most dedicated of foodies and walk or cycle all the way down there?

#1 Tuga pastries, Gloucester Green Market (Saturday), one day a week.

That’s your window if you want to taste what we consider to be the best pasteis de nata in Oxford. Last summer, Jose saw an opportunity in the still unknown traditional pastry of his home country and has been selling them since. What makes them so special, apart from the reasonable price of £1.30? A hint of cinnamon, which adds another depth of flavour to this sweet treat, and makes us come back for more every week.

@thecroissantpostcards

Readers’ Photo Competition

Cherwell Visuals
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Readers’ Photo Competition

Calling all photographers, ‘grammers and anyone who has ever seen a pretty face!

Cherwell Visuals launches its second competition. The theme this time is portrait photography, and we’re accepting submissions of all types and levels, whether touched up or the original thing, a high-quality selfie or a group photo, whether your subject is formal or just buddies stumbling out a bop. Play around, discover some exciting light settings, choose between focusing on mise en scene or effects, find an old favourite: think about conventional portrait photography, about modern developments and everything that has to do with the creation of a person’s image, and send it all over with a two-line explanation to [email protected] !

The Visuals team will select the 5 best photos to publish in Cherwell‘s week 6 issue.

Submissions until fifth week, Wednesday 15 February.

A product of pointless nostalgia

Natalia Bus
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A product of pointless nostalgia

Declaring that musical reunions are merely commercial ploys for bands to top up as soon as they run a little low on their fortunes seems like an overly jaded stance to take. But in this capitalist world, where Take That’s Progress reunion tour earned the boy band over 180 million dollars, I cannot help but wonder if it’s an accurate one.

Shining a light on the staple Spice Girls reunion, however, invites the further question of whether bands reuniting after a prolonged hiatus is actually more down to the obsessively retromaniac nature of our society.

Usually what accompanies a huge reunion is a new release. Blur’s 2015 The Magic Whip is a recent example, which, in the moments when it does sound like a Blur album—and these are far and few between—at best seems somewhat forced. If reunions are predominantly driven by acute feelings of nostalgia, instances like these compel many to wonder what the point actually is.

Sure, there is the undeniable fact that through these get-togethers youths get to experience bands they thought they’d never get to see live in a way that far surpasses listening to any record, however good the sound system.

Thinking back to the euphoria felt by many of my friends upon seeing the Stone Roses during their massive comeback tour last summer quickly undermines any negatives. Yet what about all the veteran fans, and their feelings of a youth that is permanently lost directly tethered to Ian Brown and co. smashing it at these live shows—is there not a cruelty or sadness to these prolonged moments of nostalgia?

Then again, God help us all when One Direction suddenly decide that they all miss each other and would like nothing more than to spend the better part of a year learning dance routines and perfecting their lip-syncing skills together. Such a constant rehashing of the past is just not necessary and, I for one, believe that music needs to move forward—as far forward as is possible from the likes of One Direction at least.

With such high expectations almost always falling short, it seems that all that continually pushing for reunions amounts to is an ultimately disappointing search for bands who will never again reach the heights of their greatest hits.

Profile: Frank Gardner

Julia Routledge
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Profile: Frank Gardner

“When a young Saudi came up and said ‘Salaam alaikum—Peace be upon you’ and pulled out a pistol and shot me, that was a pretty bad moment.” The understatement in this is striking: Frank Gardner’s body was ravaged by six bullets from Al-Qaeda terrorists in June 2004, leaving him on the brink of death and partly paralysed in the legs. For a man who had been enthralled by the Middle East from a young age, and devoted his life to learning its language, exploring its lands and reporting its news, this left Gardner with a profound sense of betrayal.

“We’d come in peace. We were journalists and we were there to do a peaceful job,” he reflects as we sit together in Broadcasting House. His distinctive voice, crisp and elegant, is marked by a total absence of self-pity. “It took me a while to sort out in my head the difference between the people who had done this, and the rest of Saudi society and the Middle East.”

Yet his love for the region remained undimmed. A deluge of passionately sympathetic letters from Muslims all over the world played a large role in his emotional healing process, and he is at pains to “steer people away from the stereotypical view that the whole Middle East is up in flames, which it isn’t”.

The touchpaper of Gardner’s fascination with the Middle East was first lit at the age of 16 when he met Sir Wilfred Thesiger, a friend of his mother. Gardner was spellbound by the black and white photographs the explorer had taken of “camel trains receding into the dunes, of these haggard faces, of camel saddles and gourds and daggers.” His voice fills with boyish excitement as he describes this “window into another world”, which inspired him to read Arabic and Islamic Studies at Exeter University. Accustomed to travelling—the son of two diplomats, he lived in The Hague as a child—his degree took him on a “completely formative year” abroad to Egypt, where he stayed with a family in Cairo. He found it thrilling to be “living in a completely functioning medieval Islamic city”, where he could sketch the architecture, climb crumbling minarets and learn the language properly—“it’s just so singsong, so lively, so fun.”

He paints a vivid vignette of a laundryman in a cobbled backstreet “taking a swig from a bottle of water and spraying it out through his teeth in a fine mist to moisten the pair of trousers he was ironing”. Indeed, anecdotal treasures are strewn across the sands of our whole conversation, from his “horrendous” take-off from the deck of the USS Nimitz in a “diabolical device” called a COD—“you feel like you’re in a coffin and you know that you’re about to be catapulted off the deck”—to his alarming discovery after pretending to be a doctor to get accommodation in a Sudanese hospital. “In the morning I woke up and there were these buzzards and vultures wheeling above me—it was actually the morgue and there were people in white sheets there.”

After graduating, Gardner worked as an investment banker in the Middle East for nine years. This was a fascinating time, which, by his own admission, involved doing little actual banking. “It was all about opening doors, having late night meetings with sheikhs and merchants and getting to know them, and then I would bring in the real bankers from Hong Kong and London.” So what prompted his leap from this lucrative career to the uncertain world of broadcast journalism? “I was over-promoted to director back in London,” he recalls modestly. “I was bored stiff, and if you’re bored you’re not going to be good at it.”

Gardner took on an unpaid attachment to BBC World, where his extensive knowledge of the Middle East proved invaluable. His intrepid spirit was now given free rein: he purchased a video camera, which “allowed me to go off to places like Iran, Oman, the UAE, and shoot my own features, entirely self-taught, which I would then sell.” He became the BBC’s Middle East Correspondent based in Cairo, and was in the region for 9/11. He recounts with a mischievous laugh how he took advantage of his official placement on Blair’s plane tour in order to gain access as a journalist to Saudi Arabia. “Having got in, I then said ‘Bye, see you!’ and I disappeared off the radar for two weeks.”

His subsequent undercover reporting from Buraydah—“the spiritual heartland of Al-Qaeda”—attests to his fiercely daring nature; indeed, he demonstrates not a flicker of fear when describing his “fascinating” time in 2003 at the Shkin Firebase. “It was right hard up on the Pakistan border and was getting rocketed every night by the Taliban.”

It is not hard to see why Gardner commands such respect. His job is to analyse global security issues, often terror-related—so does he think that terrorism is the greatest threat faced by the West? “No I don’t. I really don’t,” he stresses. “First of all, I disagreed with what David Cameron said about a year ago, that ISIS represents an existential threat to us. No, it doesn’t. They haven’t got ICBMs. A country that has ICBMs does, in theory, represent an existential threat.”

But what of the Trump presidency and its implications for Muslims and the Middle East? We are speaking before the inauguration, and his response is measured. “We have got to distinguish President-Elect Trump from President Trump and judge him on his actions. People say things in campaigns for effect that they won’t necessarily put into practice.” Yet it is undeniable that Trump will play into the hands of terrorists.

“I have no doubt that extremists like ISIS will prey on every single comment they can wherever they see the opportunity to portray President Trump as being in some way representative of the West, of America. They will use that as a recruiting card. They definitely wanted him as President, he’s a much easier hate figure for them than someone like Obama.”

Gardner wears his prodigious intellect lightly, cautioning me against “hyperbole” when I refer to the monumental success of his debut novel, the spy thriller Crisis. Set largely in Columbia, a country that fascinates him—“Columbia is to Latin America as I see Egypt to the Middle East; it’s my gateway, my passageway in”—it follows the adventures of an MI6 agent seeking to foil a terror plot. Having written two bestselling memoirs, Gardner “wanted to have a bit of fun with this” and is now in the final stages of penning a sequel.

Gardner is captivating company, and from skiing to photography, and birdwatching to exploring remote corners of the world, there seems to be no end to his talents. He has refused to let his injuries hold him back and has always grabbed life by the scruff of the neck. With that characteristic stoicism, he reflects on his attackers. “I’m not into bitterness and vengeance. Do I forgive them? Absolutely not.”

A scientific justification for ‘man-flu’?

Maddie Hooper
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A scientific justification for ‘man-flu’?

It is widely documented that more men than women die each year worldwide, even after correction for the fact that women have a longer average lifespan than men.

One of the top three causes for these sex differences in mortality rates is a difference in susceptibility to infectious disease: many viruses cause weaker symptoms in women than in men. Indeed, the cancer risk for men infected with human papillomavirus (HPV) is five times higher than that of women also infected with HPV. This phenomenon is known as sex-specific virulence.

For years, scientists have attributed these trends to slight differences between the immune systems of males and females. Females generally rid themselves of infections faster than males thanks to a stronger immune response that attacks and clears the virus. Sex hormones have been implicated as potential factors contributing to this variation by modulating the immune response.

However, despite the fact that humans begin to produce sex hormones during puberty, the imbalance in the severity of viral infections in males and females is not observable until almost a decade after puberty, casting doubt on this theory.

Researchers at Royal Holloway, University of London, suggest an alternative explanation: evolution. They say that natural selection may favour viruses with sex-specific virulence because of the differing routes that males and females provide for transmission of an infection.

Both sexes can transmit infections ‘horizontally’, passing it on to another individual in the same population. However, females can additionally transmit pathogens to their offspring during pregnancy, through birth, or by breastfeeding. This is known as vertical transmission. Females are therefore more valuable hosts for the infecting virus, as they are likely to spread it further than men will. As a result, there is evolutionary pressure on the virus to be less harmful to women so that the infection is passed on to more individuals.

For this to be feasible, a virus would need to have some way to determine the sex of the organism that it had infected. Currently, any mechanism for this remains a mystery to scientists, although Vincent Jansen, one of the researchers at Royal Holloway, argues that it is possible. He suggests that variations between male and female hormonal pathways could aid the virus. Indeed, there are already examples of such sex-specific strategies in other organisms, including certain maternally transmitted bacteria which kill male offspring exclusively.

Naturally, this development in studies of sex-specific virulence has implications for the treatment of such infections. Currently, sex-specific treatments are not administered because of the lack of understanding surrounding these viruses. In fact, many drugs trials fail to account for gender differences altogether.

So what next? Looking for differences in the gene expression profiles between pathogens infecting males and females may indicate how they determine the sex of their host and would raise the possibility of manipulating viral genes and decrease their virulence. If successful, such treatments would have the potential to reduce the mortality rates caused by these infections.

Mrs Dalloway: A novel in cinemascope

Alice Robinson
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Mrs Dalloway: A novel in cinemascope

Picture the classic moment of any superhero movie—when the people’s protector flies over the city, and the camera focuses in on various bemused faces gazing in amazement at the heavens. However thorough histories of this trope may be, I doubt many of them reference Virginia Woolf’s famous novel Mrs Dalloway.

Yet, unexpected as it may be, Woolf’s novel is heavily influenced by cinematography, complete with its very own ‘Is it a bird, is it a plane…?’ scene: “All down the Mall people were standing and looking up into the sky”. This aeroplane skywriting scene flits between characters’ perspectives: Mrs Coates, Mr Bowes, Mrs Bletchley and more. The Times Literary Supplement at the time even commented on “the cinema-like speed of the picture”. Perhaps that critic was reminded of George Pearson’s Reveille (1924), released the year before Mrs Dalloway was published, which contains a similar moment of what we could call communal individual thought.

In the movie, the striking of Armistice time (eleven o’clock) is highlighted by eleven shots showing the film’s characters in different locations, all at the same moment. Woolf’s skywriting scene echoes this: “In this purity, the bells struck eleven times”. If we count Mrs Coates’ baby, there are also eleven characters glimpsed in her passage. Woolf is imitating the cinematic montage in literature—basically creating the literary equivalent of all those people dramatically removing their Guy Fawkes masks at the end of V for Vendetta. The masks, like Woolf’s aeroplane and armistice time, have both an obvious public significance and can mean something different and personal to each individual.

Mrs Dalloway’s cinematic quality is unsurprising, as the Bloomsbury Circle was deeply involved with the London Film Society. Woolf’s own personal opinions of the creative possibilities within the medium were expressed in an essay on ‘The Cinema’ (1926): “We are peering over the edge of a cauldron in which fragments of all shapes and savours seem to simmer”. Mrs Dalloway is heavily influenced by the idea of these unknowable, unfinished, fragments. During this period of silent film, where voiceovers weren’t possible, and spectacle was prioritised over introspection, it was particularly difficult to get to know a character intimately in film. As she wrote in her notes for Mrs Dalloway, Woolf’s characters “must be seen by other people”. The novel zooms in on characters, and then draws back before we fully know them, imitating the camera’s ever-present third-person gaze.

Mrs Dalloway’s setting is equally filmic. Reflecting the avant-garde cinema of the twenties, Woolf creates a ‘city symphony’ of London, as James Joyce does with Dublin in Ulysses. Nowadays we have the celebration of Los Angeles in La La Land or of New York in just about any chick flick ever: in 1926 there was Walter Ruttman’s Berlin: Symphony of a City. Mrs Dalloway translates this tribute into poetry-prose. The growth of these cities was itself crucial to both cinematography and Woolf’s writing. As Ezra Pound wrote in 1922, “The life of a village is a narrative… in the city the visual impressions succeed each other, overlap, overcross, they are cinematographic”. The focus on busy city life—where you can glimpse a person only once and then never see them again—changed the way literature was written. Just comparing the village life of Middlemarch to the multiplicity of voices in Woolf’s “Murmuring London” makes this clear.

Cinema’s uninterrupted set running time also distinguishes it from the serial novels of a century past. It has a chronological continuity which novels only gained with the emergence of Modernism. Nineteenth-century novels like Bleak House span over years, even decades. Mrs Dalloway takes inspiration from cinema’s temporal parity and situates her narrative in a continuous present, over the course of a single day, a ground-breaking decision at the time. The persistent chimes of Big Ben throughout the novel highlight the difference between what Henri Bergson termed ‘historical time’ and ‘psychological time’: the former never stops whereas the latter is flexible. This combination of relentless continuity and yet seemingly endless imaginative time is intensely cinematic. It’s the reason that the cinema can be such a heady experience, leaving you bewildered by the real world after a mere hour and a half absence.

Mrs Dalloway doesn’t actually mention the cinema all that much. The only time the “pictures” are brought up in the book is when “the young people” talk about their plans for the evening. We see, then, the cinema being linked with youth, newness, and innovation: everything Woolf was trying to achieve with her (pardon the pun) novel writing style. She took inspiration from a new art form and used it to revolutionise an old one. It is this kind of dialogue between the arts that should encourage anyone who fears that the book will be overtaken by film, television, gaming, and the new virtual reality headsets.

Oxford unites to condemn Trump ban

Lucy Endersby and Jack Hunter
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Oxford unites to condemn Trump ban

Oxford Muslim groups, along with the University’s Chancellor, students and senior academics, have joined a worldwide condemnation of Donald Trump’s executive order signed last Friday banning immigration to the US from seven Muslim-majority countries.

Mirroring widespread protests across the UK, 2,500 people took to the streets in Oxford on Monday night.

This was followed by another protest on Wednesday against Trump’s immigration policy and Theresa May’s refusal to openly condemn his travel ban.

The “diversity and inclusivity” displayed by this week’s protests were praised by the President of the Oxford University Islamic Society.

Younes Saidani commented: “We at the Oxford University Islamic Society were proud to come together with local community groups to oppose the Muslim Ban. At this time it is vital that solidarity is shown with the Muslim Community, and Oxford responded to the call in unprecedented numbers.

“We’d like to thank everyone who turned up, who stood for more diversity and inclusivity, and against walls, bans and hate.”

Chancellor of Oxford University Lord Patten exclusively told Cherwell: “On the seal of the United States itsays ‘E pluribus unum’ – Out of Many, One. This serves as a reminder that America was founded to create a home for refugees fleeing the mosthorrible tragedies around the world.

It is a wonderful country created out of diversity and what this appalling travel ban does is spit in the face of that diversity. It raises the deepest anxieties for the coming months and it sheds light on atrocities to come.

The best aspects of American society are being tested. I am very proud of the fact that Oxford students have made their voices heard.”

At the protest on Monday, thousands of people assembled around Carfax Tower, before marching down the High Street. There were chants of “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA” and “Theresa May, hear us shout, Muslims in, racists out”.

The protest gained support from organisations across Oxford. Oxford Student’s Refugee Campaign, which says it seeks to “turn Oxford into a safe haven for refugee students” by increasing university funding for asylum seekers, said: “Trump’s policies go in the opposite way, making it difficult for great universities in the U.S. to offer similar programmes.

“To appease the effects, universities outside the US should step up and support the great scholars Trump is turning down. It is in moments like these that grass roots campaigns like ours become even more important. Trump’s policy on refugees rejects the very spirit of a country built on the hard work and knowledge of refugees: from the early Pilgrims to the genius of Einstein”.

Trump’s ban triggered protests in major towns and cities across the UK, with a further ‘Day of Action against Trump’ is planned to take place in Oxford on 20 February. In the US, activists gathered at airports to demand authorities release detained nationals from the affected countries.

A spokesperson for the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies told Cherwell: “One of the fundamental objectives of this Centre is to encourage dialogue between people from different cultures and traditions and to bring them together in an atmosphere of cooperation and mutual respect. Any actions that make this more difficult, or run counter to the whole principle, are obviously a matter of great concern.

“The humanitarian implications, and unfairness involved in the treatment of so many individuals, are also deeply worrying.”

Further to their president’s comments, The Oxford University Islamic Society, which represents over 800 students, said it was “deeply concerned” about the implication of Trump’s executive order on its members.

The group told Cherwell: “It affects some of our members, who have dual-passports, or simply the wrong nationality. For no fault of their own, their travel, study and career plans have been thrown into doubt at the stroke of a pen. Muslims already worry about travel to the United States, and this can only add to the anxiety and precarity of the experience.”

They described the policy as “symptomatic of a wider trend across the West,” saying: “Not only has there been a huge spike in Islamophobic hate incidents since Brexit , but a raft of measures such as Prevent – implemented by the University here in Oxford – have been designed to curtail Muslim rights. We call for solidarity with Muslim communities around the world at this time.”

Solidarity against Trump’s policy has also been expressed by the Jewish Society, who told Cherwell: “Whilst the timing of the announcement, being on Holocaust Memorial Day is unfortunate and misguided, it is important that this does not distract from the main issue here. It is our values, both Jewish and secular, which instill in us a drive to accept refugees and form a religiously tolerant society. We stand in solidarity with Muslims, refugees and others who are being oppressed as a result of this policy.”

An online petition calling for the state visit of Donald Trump to the UK to be banned has attracted over a million signatures.

The protests gained support from a range of groups and political societies. One demonstrator held a sign reading “Oxford Conservatives against Trump’s Muslim Ban”, with “Even We’re Protesting” written on the reverse.

OUCA declined Cherwell’s request for comment.

Oxford University Labour Club (OULC) told Cherwell they were “very proud” of Wednesday’s protest, which was organised by an OULC member. They said: “so many people came to show their solidarity in opposing the normalisation of Trump’s racist politics.”

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