As the Committee for Academic Freedom reports, the University of Birmingham is threatening to take extreme action against two pro-Palestine students – just the latest attack on pro-Palestinian activists on British campuses.
9 February 2025
Two University of Birmingham students face expulsion after participating in protests
Two students at the University of Birmingham may be refused graduation this spring because they took part in pro-Palestinian protests on campus. After winning the court case to remove the protestors’ encampment, the University is continuing a proceeding against only two students, in what looks like a needlessly pitiless attempt to make examples of them.
Writing for the The Dispatch, Kate Knowles reports that Antonia Listrat, 22, and Mariyah Ali, 20, are facing disciplinary procedures, including potential expulsion from the University of Birmingham. This happened after the students took part in what the University calls “unauthorised” protests on its campus.
The ordeal for Listrat and Ali began in 2023, when they both became convinced that Israel was perpetrating a genocide against the people of Gaza in retaliation for the massacres on 7 October. According to Knowles, the two students and several of their peers were inspired by the protest encampments emerging on American campuses, and in the spring of 2024, they decided to establish their own camp.
First, tents, signs and Palestinian flags appeared on the grassy area in front of the University’s library referred to as the Green Heart. Soon after, the camp moved to the Chancellor’s Court surrounding the Aston Webb building, one of the most iconic structures on the Birmingham campus.
Like their American counterparts, the student protestors demanded a disclosure of investments made by the University, and an end to any that may benefit the Israeli armed forces. They dubbed the encampment the “Birmingham Liberated Zone”, and as at many similar gatherings across the country, the camp soon became a buzzing hub of activity for like-minded students and staff.
“It was the best thing we did”, Antonia Listrat told Knowles, adding that “the campus was alive”. Another staff member described the scene to Knowles as “the first time it felt like this is what a university should be, with organic conversations about important issues and proper community engagement”.
However, the University management soon grew tired of the Zone’s disruptive nature, and began a legal case to obtain a Possession Order for the camp’s removal. The court proceedings lasted only a week, and the judge ruled in favour of the University, allowing for the forced eviction of the encampment.
Had things ended there, the story might look indistinguishable from those of many other universities that eventually lost patience with the protest encampments and obtained the legal means to remove them. But the UoB had other plans for Listrat and Ali.
Mariyah Ali was first summed to a hearing in June over a protest that she attended in May, which took aim at an investments sub-committee meeting at the University. According to Knowles, the court documents claimed that staff at this meeting were “visibly shaken” by the students outside “shouting, chanting loudly” and reportedly banging on the doors of the building.
As Ali recalls it, she engaged in neither intimidating nor disorderly conduct that day, but simply wanted to voice her concerns about the University’s investments with arms manufacturers. Moreover, it appears that Ali and Listrat are the only two students who are facing disciplinary actions over this protest. It seems unlike that the two young women, all by themselves, could have intimidated the staff to be point of being “visibly shaken”.
Antonia Listrat is also facing disciplinary hearings with the University this month over the May protest, and two other protests as well. Unsurprisingly, both women say that their mental health has been negatively impacted by the ordeal. “I continue to attend classes, work on my dissertation, and try to hold myself together”, Ali told Knowles, “all while carrying this weight of uncertainty”.
Although the University has not explained why they are only taking actions against these two students, Listrat believes it could be an attempt to send a warning to others. “I believe the university management saw how passionate I am and wanted to make an example out of me”, she told Knowles. A petition has been started, calling for an end to the disciplinary proceedings.
After obtaining permission from the court, the University of Birmingham had every right to disband and evict the encampment from its campus. It is also within its rights to limit certain forms of especially intimidating or disruptive protests to ensure that other students can receive their education. However, singling out two students for potential expulsion over attending a non-violent protest is going several steps too far.
Even if the University feels compelled to issue some sort of disciplinary actions against students engaged in particularly disruptive conduct, it is excessive to deprive these two students of their degrees after almost three years of study. This would have a hugely negative impact on their lives, and is by no means a proportionate punishment for their alleged transgressions. We urge the University of Birmingham to close the disciplinary hearings against Listrat and Ali, and allow them to finish their degrees.
A spokesperson from The University of Birmingham told CAF that they were “unable to comment on active cases involving individual students”. However, the person also added that “The University has never, and would never, act against any member of our community because of the views they lawfully hold or express. Any report to the contrary is inaccurate.”
