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SOAS expels head of Palestine society as ex-and current students fight back

The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) have expelled the president of the university’s Palestine society. Haya Adam, a Law and International Relations student had been suspended for months. Now, it would appear that Haya’s expulsion is the most direct recrimination from university management yet for speaking out about the genocide. SOAS’ Liberated Zone – a group of students organising to end Israel’s genocide – said in a statement:

After a year-long open ended suspension, and multiple disciplinary actions solely for speaking out for Palestine, SOAS has taken the final, most extreme step to silence student activism – a first of its kind expulsion of a student in the midst of her degree.

Haya’s expulsion is a brutal reminder that SOAS, despite its facade, serves as a tool of empire and represses those who oppose it.

As the group mention, SOAS are famous for their international approach to academia. They provide students and researchers with a platform to study and research languages, cultures, and politics of, as their name suggests, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. In fact, the Centre for Palestine Studies was founded in 2012 at the university.

So, why exactly is a university who houses such apparent internationalist critical thinkers expelling people who speak out about Palestine?

SOAS betrayal of values

The SOAS Liberated Zone answered this question rather succinctly:

SOAS’s refusal to divest and boycott alongside the violent suppression of student activists has proved to us that SOAS is merely another tool of empire and is not ‘the world’s university’.

We are outraged at management’s response to pro-Palestine activists, rather than listening to their students who are calling out genocide and urging complicity with international law, management has opted to brutalise its students, punishing them for their moral compasses instead of looking themselves in the mirror and addressing the root of the problem, complicity in genocide.

And, the group were clear about the message from the university:

Her expulsion is a clear message of intent from the university to intimidate others from following in her footsteps and speaking out.

Haya’s expulsion is, unfortunately, a pattern of support of suppression from SOAS. Earlier this year, a couple of students from the same university, the SOAS 2, were charged by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). As the Canary’s Hannah Sharland reported:

the CPS currently has preposterous terrorism charges levied against a Palestine advocate and SOAS University of London student. Specifically, in March, the Met Police arrested and charged one of the now so-called ‘SOAS 2’ under Section 12 of the Terrorism Act. The other student was arrested at the same time, and is currently on bail pending further investigation.

The force imposed this repressive overreach of terrorism powers for the crime of?

Speaking out for Palestine.

Of course, the criminalisation of these students and the expulsion of Haya comes among the absurd government and police orchestration of criminalisation of dissent.

Continued mobilisation

Former SOAS student and research director at advocacy group CAGE, Dr. Asim Qureshi, burnt his Masters degree in protest at Haya’s expulsion:

Dr. Qureshi also wrote to SOAS with a formal request to rescind his degree after Haya’s expulsion. And, he singled out the hypocrisy of SOAS’ apparent decolonial background:

Journalist Matt Kennard called the expulsion “disgraceful”

Writer Laleh Khalili pointed out the fact that genocide apologist David Lammy has an honorary degree from the same university:

And, Middle East Eye characterised the silencing of Palestine protestors across British universities as a “mounting repression”:

Cultural problem

Haya spoke to The New Arab about her expulsion. In the interview, she explained how she is accused of breaking the university’s code of conduct. She stated that part of the allegations levelled at her were due to her criticism of a SOAS Student Union co-president as a “careerist.” Haya said:

By the legal definition of harassment and their definition of the SOAS dignity policy, I did not actually meet those standards. I’m going to appeal the decision, and I’m going to challenge it in any way that I can.

SOAS have maintained that it has not expelled any students for their views on Palestine. However, many of the student body are firmly standing behind Haya as a prominent organiser on campus for Palestine. Over 20 societies from the SOAS Student Union have condemned the expulsion, stating:

We see the repression on the student body for protesting the genocide against Gaza and its forced starvation on its people as an attack on all students within SOAS and across the student body as a whole.

SOAS has been complicit in the genocide in Gaza, through their academic investments and partnerships, and has continuously suppressed students for speaking up against it.

Despite SOAS’ protestations otherwise, their own students are calling out what they see as the university’s silencing and repression. And, we are firmly in a climate where objections to Israel’s genocide, or even support of Palestine, can lead to censure and arrests. It would be foolish to consider Haya’s expulsion as anything but an attempt to create a climate of fear over speaking out.

Sign the petition here to revoke Haya’s expulsion. 

Featured image via YouTube screenshot/Fourman Films

By Maryam Jameela

This post was originally published on Canary.