Students call for Israel divestment by the University of Oxford administration
Dozens of students at the University of Oxford have this week set up a peaceful encampment outside Oxford's Natural History Museum, in support of the pro-ceasefire movement, and to demand divestment
Following in the footsteps of other student encampments across the US, Belgium, France, and the States, British students at respected university institutions such as the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, and Trinity College Dublin are all calling for divestment of university funds which they believe are supporting the war in Israel.
The students protesting believe that the University of Oxford is complicit in the financial aid of Israel during the ongoing conflict. A University of Oxford student spokesperson, who wishes to remain anonymous, claims:
‘We have information that Oxford University over the past seven years has actively invested over £70 million in arms and multi-technology companies, a lot of which have direct ties with Israel, and also have both economic and financial ties with a lot of other companies that are complicit with Israel’s genocide and occupation.’
The anonymous student spokesperson also outlined reasons for escalating to an encampment in support of the Palestinian people of Gaza, after what they say has been seven months of ignored action, including requests for meetings with the university administration, other protests, and community campaigns.
The protesters further stated, ‘We are committed to come together as a community and invite the university for divestment. We have a total of six demands, and that’s why we’re here as a community.’
The student encampment protests in Oxford follow the action taken by students at the University of Columbia in New York, who have been campaigning for their university to divest and sever all ties with Israel since 17th April. Since then, they have encouraged other students to speak out against their university.
‘We are building on the shoulders of other students,’ an anonymous student spokesperson at the Oxford protests informed me.
‘We are admiring the bravery with which students have been standing up to their complicit institutions, to the government. This has been universally impactful in building forward a conversation on Israel’s actions on Palestine. We are also well aware that the student protests in the US have been violently brought down in multiple places, and we condemn any actions of university administrations who are actively sending out police and military forces onto students rather than engaging in a conversation of divestment. So we are inspired and we stand united, and we are in solidarity.’
Thames Valley police were seen amongst the protestors this morning, to ensure that the safety of these individuals remains a high priority during the peaceful protest.
However, the encampment in Oxford has been met with controversy by the Jewish community after the ‘We Stand With Israel’ demonstrations took place in Bonn Square, Oxford, on 6th May. Calling for the end of what the Jewish community believes are antisemitic protests, there are fears among this group that the pro-Palestine protests are sparking fear and hatred towards the Jewish community, and making it threatening for Jewish students.
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan came forward in the Telegraph to say that Jewish students should, ‘not be intimidated by pro-Palestine protests at universities’, and the encampment at Oxford echoed this message, as an anonymous student spokesperson told me:
‘We have a lot of Jewish community members in our organisation. We are unequivocally standing against antisemitism, Zionism does not equal antisemitism. Zionism by itself is a racist ideology as it targets the annihilation of Palestinian people. Actually in supporting Palestine, we are also very strongly seeking and endorsing the protection of Jewish members of the community, so we don’t see these things as mutually exclusive at all.’
Since the student encampment has been established, over 150 professors and staff at the University of Oxford have written a letter in favour of the student encampment to the administration, in support of the students and their demands.
The demands of the Oxford encampment are clear, written on a flag at the entrance, and at the time of writing they still await a response from the university administration.