Latest news with #OA4P
BBC News
2 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Jewish faculty opposes University of Oxford Gaza protest proceedings
A "concerned" university Jewish faculty has urged for the dropping of disciplinary proceedings against 13 students involved in a pro-Palestinian 23 May 2024, the group of Oxford Action for Palestine (OA4P) campaigners occupied University of Oxford building on Wellington Square, demanding a meeting over its policies relating to the Gaza an open letter, faculty and staff members said the university "adopted a needlessly hostile" stance toward its own students, whose disciplinary procedures commenced on university said the process was "confidential" and declined to comment further. The letter is addressed to Prof Irene Tracey, Vice Chancellor of the university, as well as to the Proctors and Chief Diversity Office Tim it, the group describe the university's response to the sit-in "heavy-handed" and its follow-up statement "ill-advised" that "smeared participants with unfounded accusations of violence".It added the statement's allegation "that the Oxford Action for Palestine (OA4P) encampment had created a 'deeply intimidating environment' for 'our Jewish students and staff' continues to surface". "...there is no credible evidence that the encampment, in which Jewish students were also actively involved, led to a rise in antisemitism or that it was experienced in a uniform way by Oxford's highly diverse Jewish community," the letter reads."We therefore call on the University to put the record straight, lest supposed threats to Jewish safety be used, as they have been elsewhere, to demonize the movement for Palestinian rights and to criminalize lawful protest and expression."The group said the students involved "have already suffered extensive harm" from the response, including "rough treatment by police" and "bail conditions restricting on-course students' access to University buildings" for several months."In short, the University seems to have pre-judged the case and adopted a needlessly hostile, punitive, and adversarial stance toward its own students," it also urged it: "to sever the University's financial and institutional entanglements with Israel".The letter has been signed by university professionals across various disciplines including art, science and Abbott MP previously also voiced her support for the campaigners.A spokesperson at the University of Oxford said: "The student disciplinary process is confidential and the University will not comment on ongoing procedures or their outcome." You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
Middle East Eye
2 days ago
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Oxford students call on University to drop case against student protesters
Students, faculty and alumni held a protest on Tuesday to demand the University of Oxford drops disciplinary hearings against 13 student protesters who were arrested at a sit-in of the vice-chancellor's office more than a year ago. In a statement, Oxford Action for Palestine (OA4P) described the disciplinary process against the activists as being "protracted and opaque", lasting over 10 months after a police investigation was dropped. It added that it has been based on "probably false accusations against protesters for 'violent' and 'threatening' behaviour despite CCTV evidence to the contrary". The group added that activists' arrests were "marked by unprecedented levels of police brutality" and that university employees have "utilised racist, anti-Palestinian language, suggesting that the keffiyeh, a symbol of Palestinian liberation, is synonymous with terrorism".
