Protests greet ex-US envoy to UN Nikki Haley during visit to Oxford

Students gathered last night outside the Blavantik School of Government to disrupt the Dean’s Forum event in Oxford which welcomed former US Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley.

Activists said the “university deliberately hid Haley’s visit from Oxford students, advertising the event as including an unnamed Republican official,” however a leaked invitation showed the speaker was in fact Haley.

“Nikki Haley is an unabashed supporter of the Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. On 28 May, Haley visited an artillery outpost in the north of Israel, near the border with Lebanon. She signed an Israeli artillery shell with the words “Finish Them All!” and drew a heart in the phrase “America [Loves] Israel Always!”,” Oxford Action for Palestine (OA4P) said.

Students who attended the event report that Haley used her platform to continue dehumanising Palestinians, describing UNRWA – the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees – as a “terrorist organisation”, in line with Israel’s efforts to discredit and outlaw the vital humanitarian organisation.

Outside, student protestors plastered images of Haley signing the Israeli missile around the building. Students chanted into a megaphone and disrupted the event with noise, leading the staff inside the building to close the blinds on the main floor windows.

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At the end of the event, student protestors surrounded Haley and her entourage as they left the building, shouting “Nikki Haley you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide!”

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