LONDON—Rallies on university campuses and in the streets of the British capital to show support for Palestine as Israel bombards the Gaza Strip have themselves become controversial.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wants a pro-Palestinian demonstration planned for next week banned because it might clash with Remembrance Sunday, when Britain remembers its own war dead.
And at SOAS University of London (School of Oriental and African Studies), a controversy is continuing over that institution’s suspensions of students who participated in a rally it deemed a threat to campus safety.
Sunak has called the timing of a protest planned for Saturday, 11 November, in London “provocative and disrespectful”, according to the Times newspaper, because it could spill over to Remembrance Sunday, the traditional observance honouring those who fought in the Armed Forces of Great Britain and the Commonwealth in two world wars and later conflicts.
The justice minister, Tom Tugendhat, has written to London’s Metropolitan Police, London Mayor Sadiq Khan, and the Westminster Council to try to stop the protest from going ahead.
“Our problem was not with the rally. We recognise the right of all students and staff to protest and engage in solidarity action. … Unfortunately, the instruction to avoid the steps of the main building were violated by the organisers of the rally.”
Adam Habib, director and vice chancellor of SOAS, University of London
In a letter to chief constables across Britain three weeks ago, Home Secretary Suella Braverman said waving a Palestinian flag or singing “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” could be a criminal offence because it could harass or intimidate members of the Jewish community.
The Metropolitan Police had said before a large pro-Palestinian rally in London last week that demonstrators would be allowed to use the chant as long as it was not inciting violence or intimidating Jewish people.
Suspensions at SOAS
The dispute at SOAS University of London centers on the school’s response to a rally in support of Palestinian rights that a student group, the SOAS Palestine Society, held on the institution’s steps on October 9.
Two days after a rally, the group said in a statement published by the New Arab, a news website based in London, that the society and four students had been suspended, warned of disciplinary action, and banned from campus for rallying on the SOAS steps.
“The university’s response to our rally does not come as a complete surprise,” the statement said. “… The suspensions, ban and warnings are in complete accordance with an environment structurally linked to bias in favour of Zionism.”
SOAS’s director and vice chancellor, Adam Habib, told Al-Fanar Media that the suspensions were prompted by safety concerns over the rally’s location. He also criticised the group for targeting a specific individual as a “Zionist ally” in its social media messaging before the rally, putting that person at risk.
Habib, a South African Muslim scholar and former anti-apartheid activist who was banned from the United States for six years because of “terrorist activities”, showed Al-Fanar Media part of a letter he wrote to university staff about the suspensions.
“If a university like SOAS punishes Palestine solidarity, then anyone can be targeted by other universities for supporting Palestine. This means that not only is their education at risk, but their very physical safety and mental well-being are worsened.”
From the SOAS Palestine Society’s statement
“Our problem was not with the rally,” Habib wrote. “We recognise the right of all students and staff to protest and engage in solidarity action. This is why we wrote to the executive of the Palestine Society and offered them an alternative venue to hold the event even though they had not followed the institution’s normal event and venue protocols.
“Unfortunately, the instruction to avoid the steps of the main building … were violated by the organisers of the rally. They also tripped multiple fire alarms in the building that forced us to evacuate the buildings and cancel lectures.
“The social media posts advertising the event targeted a specific individual accusing her/him of being ‘an accomplice of Zionists to quell anti-Zionist organising at SOAS.’ I am sure you understand how in this heightened emotional environment, this can constitute a risk to the relevant individual. Frankly I think it is a huge disservice to the victims in Gaza and Israel, and the Palestinian struggle in particular, when people in London try to settle individual political scores under the banner of a solidarity event for Palestine.
“You can be assured that we would not have suspended individuals unless we were convinced of their complicity in serious violations that compromise the safety of the university and the continuation of our teaching programme.”
The Students’ Response
Students at the rally denied that they were responsible for setting off the fire alarms. In its statement on the New Arab website, the SOAS Palestine Society wrote that the “repressive wave at SOAS” had taken a turn for the worse since Habib became director in 2021.
“Since then the political and institutional shift in our democratic structures—namely our students’ union—has coincided with the increased financing of security and surveillance,” the group wrote.
“The reality is that as much as SOAS wants to present itself as a ‘decolonial’ ‘World’ university, it appears to still operate as an institution advancing colonial interests in the imperial core that is the United Kingdom.”
The statement added: “If a university like SOAS punishes Palestine solidarity, then anyone can be targeted by other universities for supporting Palestine. This means that not only is their education at risk, but their very physical safety and mental well-being are worsened.
“Yet … despite this fear, most of us are still willing to speak out. We have also been supported through a petition endorsed by a wide range of student societies including those representing sports, cultural and political groups and activities, as well as much of the staff at SOAS.”
Support on Other Campuses
Arab News, a Saudi-based English-language newspaper, has reported that Palestine student societies in the United Kingdom face criminal investigation if they show support for Hamas, which the British government has designated a terrorist organisation.
It cited media reports that university vice chancellors had filed police reports over social media posts.
”Whilst freedom of speech is a vital component of university life, we would urge people to show respect, kindness and empathy to each other during this deeply distressing time.”
A spokesperson at the University
of Warwick
The Palestine Society at the University of Warwick, in the British Midlands, is among student groups that have expressed support for Palestine on social media in recent days.It said, “We stand in solidarity with Gaza, the martyrs and the resistance to this vile occupation.”
A University of Warwick spokesperson told Al-Fanar Media, “We have a zero-tolerance policy to any form of racism, discrimination, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. Complaints will be investigated and reported to the police.
The spokesperson added: ”Whilst freedom of speech is a vital component of university life, we would urge people to show respect, kindness and empathy to each other during this deeply distressing time.
“We know how traumatic recent events have been for many people within our community, some of whom have close personal ties with Israel and Gaza. We would urge any member of our community who has been impacted by these traumatic events to get in touch with us so we can provide specialist support and practical help.”
