Thursday
Jan222009
Oxford students occupy Bodleian Library in solidarity with Palestinians
Issandr El Amrani
A group of around 80 Oxford students occupied the historic Bodleian Library at Oxford University today in support of Palestinians and to protest the university's policies towards Israel, notably calling for divestment from Oxford's stake in the British arms manufacturer BAE Systems, a statement of support from the university in reaction to Israel's bombing of the Islamic University in Gaza, and the cancellation of a series of lectures inaugurated by Israeli President Shimon Peres (which the students had earlier staged a protest against). They are also asking for scholarships to be created for Palestinian students and support for Palestinian academia.
Their full statement is after the jump. The students have a blog, Occupied Oxford, a Twitter feed and a YouTube page with videos of the occupation of the library.
The question of an academic boycott of Israel and universities' divestment from companies that sell weapons to Israel has a long history in Britain, and this kind of smart initiative is good news. Eight other universities are staging similar protests and occupations: Birmingham, Essex, King's College London, London School of Economics, School of Oriental and African Studies, Sussex and Warwick. OXFORD UNIVERSITY STUDENTS OCCUPY BUILDING IN SOLIDARITY WITH GAZA
In the first week of term, over 80 Oxford University students have occupied the historic Bodleian building to demand that the university releases a statement condemning the attack on Gaza and cancel the lecture series at Balliol College inaugurated by Shimon Peres.
Students organised the sit in after attending an emergency meeting in Oxford organised to discuss the war on Gaza and the precarious ceasefire. Members of the University entered the Clarendon building and sat down at 1200, British time, on Thursday 22nd January. Their demands were presented to University officials.
The group represents a broad spectrum of concerned students and has the support of peace campaigners here in Oxford. They want the University Proctor to express solidarity with Palestinian academic community and condemning the attack on the educational infrastructure.
“Palestinians have the same rights as we do, including the right to education as enshrined in the United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights. We are proud to be students at Oxford University and do not want the University to contribute in any way to the undermining of the right to education. It is not a matter of politics, it is a matter of humanity,” a spokesperson said.
Students demand that the Master of Balliol College cancel the lecture series inaugurated by Shimon Peres. The group are also demanding that Oxford University divests from arms firm BAE Systems, an arms company who supply the Israeli military.
“The fact that Oxford University invests in BAE Systems means that it is directly profiting from the collective punishment of the Palestinian people. Our University cannot be funded by unlawful military aggression. Oxford University must divest from BAE and other arms companies immediately.
Students have also issued several demands related to providing material support for Palestinian students including providing 5 fully paid scholarships for Palestinian students and resources for education in Gaza.
Numerous Oxford academics as well as the Oxford University Islamic Society, the Oxford Palestine Society, the Oxford Indian and the Oxford Pakistan societies have already signed petitions condemning the Israeli attack on Gaza.
DEMANDS IN FULL
1) Statement
Oxford University should release a statement in support of the right of Palestinians to education and its support to the Palestinian Academic community. The University should condemn in particular the attack on the Islamic University in Gaza.
2) Divestment
Oxford University currently holds investments in BAE Systems, a firm that the Campaign Against the Arms Trade (caat.org.uk) states provides weapons and ammunition for the Israeli military. This means that our university is being directly funded by the Israeli war on Gaza. Oxford University must divest from BAE and other companies which supply arms to Israel.
3) 5 fully paid scholarships for Palestinian students.
Particularly after the attack on Gaza and the ongoing hardships suffered by Palestinians, Oxford University should offer 5 fully-funded scholarships to Palestinian students as a way to contribute to greater access to education for those affected by the conflict.
4) A cancellation lecture series inaugurated by Shimon Peres
The group demands that the Master of Balliol College cancel the lecture series that was inaugurated by the Israeli President Shimon Peres. It is not appropriate to have such a lecture series in light of the attack on Gaza and the ongoing siege.
5) Resources for Education.
The Oxford University should donate resources to, and support, the University and educational infrastructure that have been bombed in Gaza.
6) Right to Peaceful Protest
Oxford University has a proud history of student activism. Students united to campaign against apartheid, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. All students have a democratic right to peaceful protest and students should not be prevented from expressing their opinions by fear of reprisals.
MEDIA CONTACTS FOR THE STUDENT GROUP
Juliette Harkin 07740818376
Omar al-Shehabi 07966570155 (for Arabic media)
NOTES TO EDITORS:
1) Oxford University is the 8th University to go into occupation and joins SOAS, LSE, Warwick, Essex, Kings College London, Birmingham and Sussex universities.
2) The Oxford University occupation follows on from emergency meetings about Gaza and a well orchestrated protest in October 2007 against the decision of Balliol College, Oxford University, to inaugurate a lecture series in the name of Shimon Peres, president of Israel and responsible for atrocities against the Palestinian people.
Their full statement is after the jump. The students have a blog, Occupied Oxford, a Twitter feed and a YouTube page with videos of the occupation of the library.
The question of an academic boycott of Israel and universities' divestment from companies that sell weapons to Israel has a long history in Britain, and this kind of smart initiative is good news. Eight other universities are staging similar protests and occupations: Birmingham, Essex, King's College London, London School of Economics, School of Oriental and African Studies, Sussex and Warwick. OXFORD UNIVERSITY STUDENTS OCCUPY BUILDING IN SOLIDARITY WITH GAZA
In the first week of term, over 80 Oxford University students have occupied the historic Bodleian building to demand that the university releases a statement condemning the attack on Gaza and cancel the lecture series at Balliol College inaugurated by Shimon Peres.
Students organised the sit in after attending an emergency meeting in Oxford organised to discuss the war on Gaza and the precarious ceasefire. Members of the University entered the Clarendon building and sat down at 1200, British time, on Thursday 22nd January. Their demands were presented to University officials.
The group represents a broad spectrum of concerned students and has the support of peace campaigners here in Oxford. They want the University Proctor to express solidarity with Palestinian academic community and condemning the attack on the educational infrastructure.
“Palestinians have the same rights as we do, including the right to education as enshrined in the United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights. We are proud to be students at Oxford University and do not want the University to contribute in any way to the undermining of the right to education. It is not a matter of politics, it is a matter of humanity,” a spokesperson said.
Students demand that the Master of Balliol College cancel the lecture series inaugurated by Shimon Peres. The group are also demanding that Oxford University divests from arms firm BAE Systems, an arms company who supply the Israeli military.
“The fact that Oxford University invests in BAE Systems means that it is directly profiting from the collective punishment of the Palestinian people. Our University cannot be funded by unlawful military aggression. Oxford University must divest from BAE and other arms companies immediately.
Students have also issued several demands related to providing material support for Palestinian students including providing 5 fully paid scholarships for Palestinian students and resources for education in Gaza.
Numerous Oxford academics as well as the Oxford University Islamic Society, the Oxford Palestine Society, the Oxford Indian and the Oxford Pakistan societies have already signed petitions condemning the Israeli attack on Gaza.
DEMANDS IN FULL
1) Statement
Oxford University should release a statement in support of the right of Palestinians to education and its support to the Palestinian Academic community. The University should condemn in particular the attack on the Islamic University in Gaza.
2) Divestment
Oxford University currently holds investments in BAE Systems, a firm that the Campaign Against the Arms Trade (caat.org.uk) states provides weapons and ammunition for the Israeli military. This means that our university is being directly funded by the Israeli war on Gaza. Oxford University must divest from BAE and other companies which supply arms to Israel.
3) 5 fully paid scholarships for Palestinian students.
Particularly after the attack on Gaza and the ongoing hardships suffered by Palestinians, Oxford University should offer 5 fully-funded scholarships to Palestinian students as a way to contribute to greater access to education for those affected by the conflict.
4) A cancellation lecture series inaugurated by Shimon Peres
The group demands that the Master of Balliol College cancel the lecture series that was inaugurated by the Israeli President Shimon Peres. It is not appropriate to have such a lecture series in light of the attack on Gaza and the ongoing siege.
5) Resources for Education.
The Oxford University should donate resources to, and support, the University and educational infrastructure that have been bombed in Gaza.
6) Right to Peaceful Protest
Oxford University has a proud history of student activism. Students united to campaign against apartheid, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. All students have a democratic right to peaceful protest and students should not be prevented from expressing their opinions by fear of reprisals.
MEDIA CONTACTS FOR THE STUDENT GROUP
Juliette Harkin 07740818376
Omar al-Shehabi 07966570155 (for Arabic media)
NOTES TO EDITORS:
1) Oxford University is the 8th University to go into occupation and joins SOAS, LSE, Warwick, Essex, Kings College London, Birmingham and Sussex universities.
2) The Oxford University occupation follows on from emergency meetings about Gaza and a well orchestrated protest in October 2007 against the decision of Balliol College, Oxford University, to inaugurate a lecture series in the name of Shimon Peres, president of Israel and responsible for atrocities against the Palestinian people.
Reader Comments (9)
The title is somewhat misleading - it is not the Bodleian Library that has been occupied - it is the nearby Clarendon Building.
The Occupation sit in was a success!
It is now over, and we have made excellent progress towards meet all of our demands.
The Clarendon building is part of the administration of the Bodleian library and was where a major student protest was held in 1969.
The Occupation was indeed successful, in that all of our demands have been met. We have also included a donation to Gaza and increased the scope of our clause for aiding the destroyed university.
All peaceful actions calling on universities to divest from companies that sell weapons to Israel seem legitimate to me. But on the issue of academic boycott, I'd like to be convinced. If most Israeli academics are "guilty" for supporting, and/or not opposing enough, their own country's policy, it doesn't seem to me that an indiscriminate boycott can change anything about it, on the contrary. Such action is more likely to unite all Israeli academics/public opinion against it and make dissent even more difficult. I don't think that the "peace-minded" Israeli minority supports that. Symbolic violence makes you feel good (and it's not much compared to real oppression), but it gives credit to the opponent. I still believe that even academic perversion should be challenged academically, but again, I'd be happy if you prove me wrong.
The calls I've seen for an academic boycott tend to be against things like partnerships with Israeli institutions, not with blacklisting all Israeli citizens. Naomi Klein's letter in particular went into how boycotts as a tactic should be a means to further facilitate dialogue and cooperation with individual Israelis.
...but anyways it doesn't seem to be on this list of demands.
The occupiers of the Clarendon made no demand for an academic boycott of Israel. We did, however, feel very strongly that Shimon Peres should not be honoured in the way that he was last November seeing that the last governing head of state to be so celebrated, was Nelson Mandela. We simply called for Peres not to be given such pride of place within our university and certainly not to have a lecture series inaugurated in his name (particularly his sale of weapons to the apartheid regime of South Africa when he was defense minister at a time when the entire world had decided to place an embargo on SA). This is an issue that we will continue to protest to Balliol College. It is important to recognise that this is not at all a call for academic boycott. On the contrary our list of demands were framed to be constructive and aimed at trying to revive academic life in Ghazza.
Sure Hussein, I took up the issue of academic boycott after the Arabist mentioned it, but it is clear that what you're doing is something else. I didn't mean to mix things up.
Note that I simply mentioned that the issue of an academic boycott has long been discussed in Britain by students and faculty alike. Personally, I do not think a blanket boycott is workable, although certain institutions could be targeted. Generally speaking I think it is better to raise the issue of Palestine and take Israeli academic to task over it at every possible occasion - never let it pass unmentioned. Divestment is a no-brainer, as is the preposterous idea of honorong Shimon Peres.