‘Israel is an apartheid state responsible for genocide’: Oxford Union passes historic motion

The motion “Israel is an apartheid state responsible for genocide” was passed by an overwhelming majority last week at the prestigious Oxford Union. The historic vote saw 278 members supporting the motion with just 59 voting against, following what is reported to have been one of the most heated debates in the Union’s recent history.

The Oxford Union, one of the world’s most prestigious debating societies, hosted prominent speakers including Palestinian-American writer Susan Abulhawa, Palestinian poet Mohammed El-Kurd and Israeli author Miko Peled arguing in favour of the motion. The opposition included UK Lawyers for Israel legal director Natasha Hausdorff, Arab-Israeli activist Yoseph Haddad and Mosab Hassan Yousef, son of a former Hamas leader who defected to the occupation state in the late 1990s and worked with Israel’s Shin Bet security agency.

The debate was marked by several controversial moments. Haddad was asked to leave the chamber after appearing in a provocative T-shirt displaying a photo of a Hezbollah leader killed by Israel. Further controversy erupted when Yousef claimed that Palestinians “do not exist” and accused the Oxford Union of being “hijacked by Muslims”, statements that drew strong criticism from the audience. He converted from Islam to Christianity in 1999.

El-Kurd opened for the proposition with a powerful statement on Israel’s actions in Gaza: “Personally, I don’t think there is any room for debate in the presence of burning flesh. I don’t think there is any room for conversation while people are being literally burned alive and incinerated.” He condemned what he called “the Empire’s” complicity in “funding and facilitating” the genocide. El-Kurd stated firmly that, “There is absolutely nothing the Palestinian people can do that justifies genocide,” rejecting claims about human shields.

Speaking for the motion, Peled argued that Palestinians, rather than Israel, have experienced terrorism since the establishment of the apartheid state. His controversial statement that, “October 7th was not terrorism. They were acts of heroism of a people that have been oppressed” drew several points of order from audience members accusing him of “glorifying terrorism”. Despite interruptions, Peled continued his speech.

He concluded with a call to dismantle the “apartheid state” and establish a “free, democratic Palestine from the river to the sea.”

Palestinian-American author Abulhawa presented compelling evidence of Israel’s apartheid practices and ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip. She traced how early Zionist leaders laid the foundation for Israel’s genocide in the enclave. Citing historical evidence of ethnic cleansing, she noted that while 80 per cent of Palestinians were initially expelled in the 1948 Nakba, the remaining 20 per cent continue to be viewed as a “demographic threat” by Israeli leaders. She argued that the debate transcended technical definitions, stating it was fundamentally “about the worth of Palestinian lives,” and presented evidence of systematic policies targeting Palestinians from historical documentation through to contemporary actions in Gaza.

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— susan abulhawa | سوزان ابو الهوى (@susanabulhawa) November 30, 2024

The Union’s president, Ebrahim Osman-Mowafy, stepped down from his chair to speak in favour of the motion, describing Israel’s actions in Gaza as a “holocaust”. Standing in for Norman Finkelstein, who was scheduled to appear in the debate, Osman-Mowafy highlighted the case of 19-year-old Shaban Al-Daloum, who was burnt alive during an Israeli air strike on northern Gaza’s Al-Aqsa Hospital, as evidence of Israel’s actions amounting to genocide.

The motion’s overwhelming success, with a majority of 219 votes, reflects growing international concern about the Israeli genocide and the occupation state’s treatment of Palestinians, which reflects the system of racial domination and apartheid in Israel and the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories.

The debate came on the back of arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Israel is also under investigation by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for genocide, while also being accused of committing the crime of apartheid by major human rights organisations B’Tselem, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

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