The Oxford Student - Week 3 Michaelmas 2023

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Culture

Justin Timberlake and the tricky art of the breakup text

Comment

Sport

Just Stop Oil: Activism or publicity?

The

Crossover Boxing: A score settled

Michaelmas Term, Week 3 | Friday 27 October 2023

OXFORD STUDENT The University of Oxford’s Student Newspaper, Est. 1991

D

emonstrators calling for the liberation of Palestine gathered outside of the Clarendon Building on Broad Street on Tuesday. The demonstra-

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Martin Alfonsin Larsen and Etienne Baker

tion was organised by Action Against Oxford War Crimes and Oxford Palestine Society. Announcing the event, Oxford Palestine Society pointed to the University accepting “millions

in research and consultancy funding from companies found by Amnesty international to fail to ‘demonstrate adequate human rights due diligence’”. Speakers at the protest force-

SU scraps half of Student Council meetings The new rules halve the

Rose Henderson and Milo Dennison

T

he SU Trustee Board has acted unconstitutionally by driving through changes to Student Council with no consultation of Student Council. The SU By-Laws only stated that the Council can amend the Rules of Council, yet new rules were published with no notice on the website and without Council approving them.

number of Student Council meetings per term from four to two, slashing the opportunity for students to have their voices heard. The provision for extraordinary meetings and extraordinary motions has also been removed. This was done without even a meeting of the Trustee Board to discuss these major changes. Instead, the SU CEO emailed the members of the Trustee Board asking them to vote Read more on page 5

Protesters carried signs with text reading slogans such as “Freedom for Palestine”, and “£190m accepted by Sanctuary Unis from Lockheed Martin, BAE, Rolls Royce, and more” One of the eight Labour councillors that resigned last week, Jabu Nala-Hartley, spoke at the demonstration. Throughout her speech, the former Labour councillor stated that Israel had created an apartheid state in Palestine. She said that Labour is sending out a message that “it is okay for Israel to obliterate Palestinians” and that Keir Starmer has “shown his true colours.” Nala-Hartley invoked Nelson Mandela in stating that the struggle against apartheid in South Africa was “intertwined” with the struggle in Palestine. A speaker later began to chant, “Keir Starmer, blood on your hands”, as well as, “Rishi Sunak, blood on your hands”, “BBC, blood on your hands” and “Oxford Uni, blood on your hands.” There was a general consensus among speakers that the most important course of action for those who support Palestine

Read more on page 4

Oxford University’s primary focus is the health and wellbeing of staff and students impacted by the terrible events in Israel and Gaza

Palestine liberation protest criticises University

forcefully criticised the University of Oxford. They drew attention to Oxford’s status as one of the top 5 UK universities in receipt of funds from money from arms manufacturers including Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, and Rolls-Royce. Protesters chanted: “Oxford Uni you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide”. One speaker stated that “only a revolutionary solution can bring Palestinian liberation.” In addition, they also critiqued the University’s apparent hypocrisy in their University of Sanctuary status, which was granted earlier this year. A speaker said that Oxford “creates displacement and then profits from those fleeing”. One speaker stated that the University was complicit in the “genocide being perpetuated against the Palestinian people by the Israeli state” and that it “[acts] and [enables] systemRead more of on page 3 atic oppression Palestinians”. They went on to say that the “reason why the University takes money is that [weapons] are used in the systems upholding imperialism and white supremacy all across the world”.

- University statement on Palestine liberation protest


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