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2024 University of Oxford pro-Palestinian campus occupations

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2024 University of Oxford pro-Palestinian campus occupation
Part of 2024 Pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses and Israel–Hamas war protests in the United Kingdom
First day of the Oxford 2024 Palestinian solidarity encampment
Date6 May 2024 (2024-05-06) – present
(6 months and 20 days)
Location
Parks Road, Radcliffe Square and Wellington Square
Goals
MethodsProtests, occupations and die-ins
StatusOngoing
Parties

Pro-Palestinian groups:

  • Oxford Action for Palestine (OA4P)
  • Some Oxford students and staff members
Casualties
Arrested17[1]

The pro-Palestinian campus occupations at the University of Oxford[a] are ongoing occupation protests in Oxford, England, organised by Oxford Action for Palestine (OA4P).[2] The occupations started on 6 May 2024 on the Museum of Natural History's lawn, in front of the Pitt Rivers Museum.[4] Escalating the protests, a second encampment was established on 19 May outside the Radcliffe Camera.[5] Protests have taken elsewhere in the city, including on Wellington Square, where 17 students were arrested after occupying the Vice-Chancellor's office on 23 May.[6] Protesters demands include disclosure of investments and divestment from Israeli companies, among others.[4][7] The university refused to negotiate with protesters until responding to an email to arrange discussion on 5 June.[8][9] The protests have been supported by over 500 members of staff,[10] and criticised by the university as intimidating.[1]

Background

See also: Israel–Hamas war protests in the United Kingdom

The encampment took place in the context of the Israeli invasion of Gaza that began in October 2023.[6] The University of Oxford had previously sent a message of "profound sympathy for those suffering in Gaza, Israel, and the West Bank".[2] It started alongside protests at other universities in the UK, and was co-ordinated with an encampment at the University of Cambridge.[4][11]

Protests on university campuses

Gaza Solidarity Encampment at Columbia University, 21 April 2024
These paragraphs are an excerpt from 2024 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses.[edit]
Pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses started in 2023 and escalated in April 2024, spreading in the United States and other countries, as part of wider Israel–Hamas war protests. The escalation began after mass arrests at the Columbia University campus occupation, led by anti-Zionist groups, in which protesters demanded the university's disinvestment from Israel over its alleged genocide of Palestinians.[12] In the U.S. over 3,100 protesters have been arrested,[13] including faculty members and professors,[14][15] on over 60 campuses.[16] On May 7, protests spread across Europe with mass arrests in the Netherlands.[17][18] By May 12, twenty encampments had been established in the United Kingdom, and across universities in Australia and Canada.[19][20] The protests largely ended as universities closed for the summer.[21]

Demands and negotiations

Protesters demanded that the University of Oxford divest from companies linked to Israeli-occupied territories, maintain relationships with universities in Gaza rather than in Israel, and give impunity to protesters.[4] Other demands included the disclosure of university assets, divestment from Barclays bank,[7] and financial contribution to the rebuilding of Palestine.[22] Campers agreed to the Thawabit.[23][24][25] One demonstrator said they were inspired by the Rhodes Must Fall and FeesMustFall campaigns in South Africa and Oxford as well as anti-war movement history.[26]

According to OA4P, the university continued to refuse discussion with the protesters as of 25 May, instead responding through public statements.[8] The university said it would not negotiate due to students' "prejudicial" preconditions and a lack of transparency by OA4P.[8]

Two professors asked the university what prevented public disclosure of investments by the Oxford University Endowment Management (OUEM). The university's gazette responded that it had to comply with confidentiality agreements but had an Investment Policy Statement that prevented direct investments in arms that were illegal in the UK and indirect investments in some related funds.[8]

On 5 June, according to Cherwell, the Vice-Chancellor, Irene Tracey, along with other administrators, responded to the request from OA4P for a meeting. According to the group, the university expressed "the desire to work with the students".[27][9]

The second branch of the Oxford encampment, built on the Radcliffe Camera's lawn

Encampments

On the morning of Monday 6 May 2024, the encampment started on the lawn of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, through which the Pitt Rivers Museum is accessed, on Parks Road.[4] The second encampment site was launched on 19 May 2024, outside the Radcliffe Camera on Radcliffe Square. The Bodleian Library responded by limiting access via the Gladstone Link.[28]

The first day saw a turnout of 200 students, 50 of whom camped overnight.[3] Within a week, 500 staff members had signed a letter of support;[10] 2000 students signed a letter within the first two weeks.[29] On 5 June, an activist counted 23 college Junior and Middle Common Rooms (JCRs and MCRs) that had passed motions supporting the encampments' demands.[30] The university initially said that "peaceful protests" by staff and students were part of "freedom of expression", but that it aimed to minimise "impact on work, research and learning".[2]

Olive tree planted by Palestinian solidarity activists outside the Radcliffe Camera, Oxford
Photograph of the Palestinian encampment outside the Radcliffe Library, Oxford, 7 July 2024

A Cherwell student journalist reported that students were busy on the first day with activities such as teach-in lectures, poetry readings and protest chants alongside completing academic work. Community donations provided resources for the encampment and hot food. With no hierarchical leadership and decisions made democratically, individuals volunteered for logistical tasks such as an overnight guard rota. The Dr Refaat Alareer Memorial Library tent held a diversity of books. The Dr Hammam Alloh medical tent collected supplies. Journalists were directed to the Shireen Abu Akleh media tent; students said a Daily Mail journalist circled the encampment unzipping tents after being denied an interview. Overnight sprinklers caused drainage issues and muddy conditions.[3]

On 11 May, a daily evening vigil for those who died in Gaza was interrupted by pro-Israel counter-protesters. According to OA4P and a freelance journalist at the scene, six men arrived by taxi and threatened violence, shouting hate speech, ripping down banners and targeting Jewish students with antisemitic language. The police were called to the scene but no arrests were made.[31][32][33] A separate individual later slashed a banner at the encampment with a knife, according to one protester.[8]

The encampment was visited by scholars including Amia Srinivasan and Avi Shlaim.[3] Sharren Haskel visited to criticise the encampment;[34] on another occasion, according to Tribune, Zionist Jews came to debate the protesters.[26] According to The Jewish Chronicle, Ghassan Abu-Sittah and Tamim al-Barghouti were initially invited to the encampment.[35] Shlaim spoke positively of the encampment to Yeni Şafak, rejecting Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's claims that antisemitism on university campuses had risen and asserting that Islamophobia was a larger issue in Britain.[36] Middle East Monitor reported that Friday prayers were held on the first week and that Jewish students were among protesters.[37]

On 19 May, a second encampment was established at around the Radcliffe Camera,[38] after the university refused to accept the protesters demands.[5] According to protesters affiliated with OA4P, they would dismantle the encampment if the university entered into negotiations over key demands.[39] Later the same day 250–500 protesters rallied around the new encampment, as part of an escalation of previous protests, with the intention to disrupt university proceedings.[29][5]

On 23 May, the university said that some protesters "have created a deeply intimidating environment" for Jewish people.[1] Twelve Jewish faculty released an open letter on 27 May that contested the statement and supported the student protests.[40][41]

Students hold a die-in protest at an Oxford University graduation ceremony, May 2024

On 18 May, around 50 students disrupted a graduation ceremony at the Sheldonian Theatre with a "die-in" protest. They wore academic dress stained with fake blood. According to OA4P, university security kicked students and shut doors on their heads.[42][28]

On 23 May, protesters occupied the office building of Vice-Chancellor Irene Tracey, overlooking Wellington Square, hanging a Palestinian flag and list of demands out of an office window.[6][43] Thames Valley Police made an initial 16 arrests on suspicion of aggravated trespass, and one on suspicion of common assault, after the university authorities called the police.[44] A 17th arrest was later made.[1] The university reported that at least 12 of those arrested were current students. According to a protester, they agreed to leave when police said they would be arrested if they did not, but they were arrested anyway. They were released on conditional bail that night.[8]

Hundreds of protesters gathered at the scene for three hours, some of whom attempted to block the police van that carried the arrested students.[6][30] Chants included "forty thousand people dead / you're arresting kids instead". One organiser said that police broke a student's glasses, gave another student a concussion and knocked over an elderly lady.[30] A statement by protesters said the university "would rather arrest, silence, and physically assault its own students than confront its enabling of Israel's genocide in Gaza".[44]

After the arrests, the university stated that "a faction of students and faculty ... have not been interested in dialogue in good faith" and that the protest was a "violent action" that "included forcibly overpowering the receptionist".[44] Three Oxford Community Independent councillors expressed opposition to the arrests and support to those protesting.[45]

On 13 June, protesters occupied a wing of the Examination Schools and renamed it Dahshan School after the academic Saeed Dahshan, causing the university to cancel some end-of-year exams. According the OA4P, the occupation was unaffiliated with the group and its encampments, but said that it was "a reflection of the mounting frustration". The university said the action "plainly goes beyond the bounds of acceptable protest".[46][47]

Photographs of the first encampment (Oxford Natural History Museum)

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Also known as the Oxford Liberated Zone[2] or Oxford Gaza Solidarity Encampment[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Seventeen protestors arrested over University of Oxford Gaza protest". BBC News. 24 May 2024. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d "Gaza protests: Oxford and Cambridge university students set up camps". BBC News. 6 May 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d Chen, Selina (8 May 2024). "24 hours inside the OA4P encampment". Cherwell. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e Hall, Rachel; Gohil, Neha (6 May 2024). "Students stage pro-Palestine occupations at five more UK universities". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  5. ^ a b c "Oxford students rallied at second encampment outside Radcliffe Camera". The Oxford Student. 19 May 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d Gudge, Ethan; Mercer-Kelly, Phil (23 May 2024). "Oxford University Gaza protest sees 16 arrested". BBC News. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  7. ^ a b Lynch, Niamh (6 May 2024). "Oxford and Cambridge students set up pro-Palestinian camps outside university buildings". Sky News. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Saleh, Mohammad; Shalaby, Sondos (25 May 2024). "Gaza protests: Oxford University students undeterred by violent crackdown". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  9. ^ a b "Oxford University to meet with students from OA4P". Cherwell. 6 June 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  10. ^ a b "Oxford University faculty and staff endorse Gaza solidarity encampment". Middle East Monitor. 14 May 2024. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  11. ^ Mohamed, Edna (9 May 2024). "UK students at elite universities join mushrooming pro-Palestine protests". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  12. ^ "US college protests: Who are the student groups and others involved". Reuters. 30 April 2024. Retrieved 30 April 2024. Among the lead student groups in the coalition are the Columbia chapters of Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine. The two decades-old anti-Zionism advocacy groups that protest Israel's military occupation have chapters across the country that have been key to protests on other campuses.
  13. ^ Taft, Isabelle; Lemonides, Alex; Gamio, Lazaro; Betts, Anna (21 July 2024). "Campus Protests Led to More Than 3,100 Arrests, but Many Charges Have Been Dropped". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 21 July 2024. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  14. ^ "Mapping pro-Palestine college campus protests around the world". Al Jazeera. 29 April 2024. Archived from the original on 1 May 2024. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
  15. ^ Treisman, Rachel (1 May 2024). "How some faculty members are defending student protesters, in actions and in words". NPR. Archived from the original on 2 May 2024. Retrieved 2 May 2024. It's one of several schools around the country where professors are getting arrested at demonstrations, circulating letters in support of arrested protesters and holding no-confidence votes in their administrations.
  16. ^ Rubin, April; Beheraj, Kavya; Lysik, Tory; Chase, Will (3 May 2024). "Mapped: Where pro-Palestinian student protesters have been arrested". Axios. Archived from the original on 5 May 2024. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  17. ^ Kassam, Ashifa (8 May 2024). "Clashes and arrests as pro-Palestinian protests spread across European campuses". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 8 May 2024. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  18. ^ "Pro-Palestinian student protests spread across Europe. Some are allowed. Some are stopped". AP News. 7 May 2024. Archived from the original on 8 May 2024. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  19. ^ Tait, Albert (12 May 2024). "Birmingham University threatens pro-Palestinian students with police action". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 14 May 2024. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
  20. ^ Regan, Helen (3 May 2024). "Where pro-Palestinian university protests are happening around the world". CNN. Archived from the original on 9 May 2024. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  21. ^ "Harris faces an 'uncommitted' quandary of her own". politico.com. Politico. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  22. ^ Arria, Michael (21 May 2024). "'We have reached unprecedented levels of support for Palestine on this campus': a student on Oxford's Gaza Solidarity Encampment". Mondoweiss. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  23. ^ Gutteridge, Nick; Henderson, Cameron; Tait, Albert (8 May 2024). "Cambridge won't move pro-Palestinian protesters as PM warns over anti-Semitism". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  24. ^ "Sunak summons university leaders after 'unacceptable rise in anti-Semitism'". The Daily Telegraph. 7 May 2024. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  25. ^ Prinsley, Jane (7 May 2024). "Protests on UK campuses fail to mobilise same support as US counterparts". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  26. ^ a b Newton, Francesca (13 May 2024). "Students for Palestine Won't Be Intimidated". Tribune.
  27. ^ Williams, Lucy (6 June 2024). "Protesters to finally get chance to speak with university administration". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  28. ^ a b "Gaza solidarity encampment expands to lawn of Radcliffe Camera". Oxford Mail. 19 May 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  29. ^ a b "Rally breaks out at the second OA4P encampment at the Radcliffe Camera". Cherwell. 19 May 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  30. ^ a b c Peck-Suzuki, Miyo (5 June 2024). "Oxford Action for Palestine". London Review of Books. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  31. ^ Rahman, Billal (13 May 2024). Pro-Palestine encampment at Oxford attacked by men shouting death threats. Retrieved 24 May 2024 – via www.independent.co.uk.
  32. ^ "Oxford pro-Palestine camp 'attacked' by men screaming 'terrorists'". Oxford Mail. 13 May 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  33. ^ "Gaza protests: Oxford students reportedly threatened by group of men". BBC News. 13 May 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  34. ^ Ross, Alex (11 May 2024). "Inside Oxford University's Gaza student protests – where an Israeli MP made a bold appearance". The Independent. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  35. ^ Jordan, Eliana (17 May 2024). "Oxford students invite terrorist sympathisers as 'special guests'". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  36. ^ Şafak, Yeni (11 May 2024). "Oxford professor rejects claims of increased antisemitism in university campuses | Europe". Yeni Şafak. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  37. ^ "'Until total liberation': Oxford Pro-Palestine encampment continues 5th day". 11 May 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  38. ^ Folker, Robert (19 May 2024). "Gaza solidarity encampment expands to lawn of Radcliffe Camera". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  39. ^ "OA4P sets up pro-Palestine encampment on Radcliffe Camera lawn". The Oxford Student. 19 May 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  40. ^ Williams, Lucy (30 May 2024). "Oxford University Jewish faculty support Palestine protests". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  41. ^ "Jewish faculty critique Oxford University's response to pro-Palestine protests in open letter". Cherwell. 28 May 2024. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  42. ^ "Gaza encampment accuses Oxford University staff of harassment". thisisoxfordshire. 21 May 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  43. ^ Havergal, Chris (23 May 2024). "Police arrest 16 as pro-Palestinian sit-in cleared at Oxford". Times Higher Education. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  44. ^ a b c Pollock, Amy (23 May 2024). "Oxford University students arrested at pro-Palestinian sit-in". Reuters. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  45. ^ Cohen, Roy Shinar (3 June 2024). "Oxford Councillors support OA4P arrested protesters". Cherwell. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  46. ^ "Oxford University exams cancelled after pro-Palestine protests". BBC News. 13 June 2024. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  47. ^ Pope, Felix (14 June 2024). "Oxford exams cancelled after building occupied by anti-Israel activists". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 15 June 2024.

Further reading

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