Oxford Union threatened with closure over frank observations on Israeli war crimes

19 June 2025

The Oxford Union has been holding debates on the most urgent issues of the day for over 200 years and until now it has never been censured. But a speech by the best-selling Palestinian-American author Susan Abulhawa last November has so angered members of the Union’s shadowy board of trustees that they have threated to permanently shut down the Union if its student officers do not agree to excise a key section of Abulhawa’s speech before reposting the video of the debate online. The debate addressed the motion “This House Believes Israel is an Apartheid State Responsible for Genicide” which a packed Union supported by an overwhelming 278 to 59 votes. Predictably, the speakers opposing the motion afterwards loudly complained that the President chairing the debate was biased, Jewish students wishing to attend had been intimidated into staying away, the Union members present were unreasonably hostile, and the speakers for the motion unfairly abused Israel’s record and Israelis themselves. Officers of the Union, however, have fact-checked Abulhawa’s offending remarks and found them to be accurate enough. They therefore intend to publish the video’d speech and be damned. How far the trustees are prepared to go to shred the Union’s reputation in their effort to save Israel’s already shredded reputation may become clearer by the end of the week. Abulhawa’s website providing a detailed account of the debate and its aftermath has been blocked – almost certainly another attempt at censorship – so here are two of her comments on X:

Young people are the only hope the west has right now. The students at Oxford stood up to powerful zionists who’ve been trying to bully them not to reinstate my speech in full. @theoxfordunion claims to be “the last bastion of free speech,” but in reality they perverted and censored my speech. They purport to honor student-led decision making-making processes, but in reality the powerful moneyed folks step in through back doors and manipulations whenever things don’t go their way. Read the article in @middleeasteye to find out how ten members of the Standing Committee resigned, along with the CEO of the Oxford Union because they did not want my speech aired in full. The details are sordid, just like the zionist state they work to protect.

Owners of the @theoxfordunion charity and buildings are threatening to close down this 200 year old institution if they reinstate my speech in full.

We are currently in legal proceedings on this matter of censorship, discrimination, trespass on my intellectual property, violation of contract, and more…

all in service of Zionism!!

In the shadow of an actual holocaust, this may seem like an inconsequential matter. But the success of their genocidal colonial projects depends not on military power or cruelty, but their ability to convince the masses of their lies and fairytales. Their horrendous enterprise crumbles under the weight of truth and scrutiny.

They’ve been perverting and erasing our history for nearly 80 years, and this bit of the historic record is no exception. But I intend to do all I can to stop them. Please share and shame.

Thank you, @trtworld for breaking this story.

Here’s the link to TRT’s post: https://www.instagram.com/p/DKyktrfuwTs/

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susanabulhawa

here’s the full speech, downloaded from web archives. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnadx3_fR3Y