OA4P: Matriculation Disruption & More: Updates and Upcoming, Oct 21st
OA4P: Matriculation Disruption & More: Updates and Upcoming, Oct 21st
Picnic for Palestine / Keffiyeh study / Two upcoming events
Welcome back to the Oxford Action For Palestine newsletter.
Thank you for being here.
Coming up this week:
Keffiyeh study, Weds 23rd Oct
More information below
Matriculation disruption: no “truth” in complicity
On Saturday 19th October, it was the University of Oxford’s matriculation day. Matriculation is the ceremony by which every new student at Oxford, from undergraduate to DPhil, becomes an official member of the University. It is a ceremony that deliberately gestures back across the centuries, as students are required to wear sub fusc, academic dress that has remained largely unchanged since the Edwardian period.
Cecil Rhodes wore sub fusc. Alfred Milner wore sub fusc. Arthur Balfour and Walter Rothschild, at Cambridge, both wore sub fusc. Oxford is a University which loves to emphasise its long history and reputation; but that reputation is one of centuries of colonial power and bloodshed. Today, their institutional and financial ties to israeli universities, israeli officials, and international companies supplying weapons to israel continue this legacy. OA4P refuses to let this be overlooked, and Oxford students showed their support for Palestine and fury at the University’s complicity during matriculation.
While queuing to enter the ceremony, students held Palestinian flags and wore keffiyeh over their sub fusc — although neither of these acts of solidarity were allowed inside the Sheldonian Theatre, where the ceremonies were held.
Inside the hall, Vice Chancellor Irene Tracey’s speech to incoming students emphasised freedom of speech and the need for truth. The disconnect between her words and actions did not go unchecked; she was interrupted by a matriculating student in the first ceremony of the day, who spoke directly to her in front of hundreds of onlookers.
“You will not address that there’s a genocide happening right now […] You will not be honest about that. You talk to us about truth; it’s disingenuous. It’s really disingenuous!”
Then, in the third ceremony, another brave student interrupted to hammer home the message:
“Irene, why are you not addressing the blatant cognitive dissonance between your words and the University’s actions?”
Outside the Sheldonian, more than twenty members of OA4P held a “die-in” at the entrance gate. They wore white shirts covered in bloody handprints, a literal representation of the blood-stained academic dress of a University deeply complicit in genocide. Signs held by fellow activists read WHILE YOU READ / GAZA BLEEDS and ISRAEL KILLS / OXFORD FUNDS / STUDENTS DIE.
Oxford students, both new and returning, refuse to be silent about the genocide in Palestine. Our fellow students in Gaza are unable to return to school. Thousands have been killed. We will not let the University and its administrators rest while their reputation and finances support israeli genocide.
News from OA4P
Picnic for Palestine, 15th Oct
Our first event of a packed week for was a picnic in University Parks to meet fellow OA4P members, new and old. It was wonderful to see so many new faces there and spend time getting to know one another in a relaxed environment — and for once, the sun (mostly) shone.
Keffiyeh Study, 16th Oct
The top floor of the Radcliffe Camera was home to the first OA4P keffiyeh study session this week, which several dozen students attended. The University’s increased security measures at the library — triple checking students’ BOD cards — certainly proved a ridiculous overreaction given the calm, productive nature of everyone who came to study.
Given how many people showed up to study with us on Wednesday, keffiyeh study is happening again this week (same time, same place) and will likely become a regular occurrence.
Vigil & evensong, 20th Oct
On Sunday evening, we held a vigil followed by evensong outside the RadCam. At the vigil, we read the story of Shaban al-Dalou, whose life and martyrdom have been sitting heavily on many people this week. He was a mentee in the Scholarships 4 Ghazza initiative, a program established to make fully funded international scholarships more accessible to students in Gaza. In his honour, if you have the means, please consider donating to the Scholarships 4 Ghazza fundraiser.
After the vigil, we held evensong, with a register of songs that all call for peace in different ways. Evensong has become an important part of OA4P, a space to connect to ourselves and to emotions that might be easy to ignore during the rush of activism and academia. You can hear part of a recording of Ya Rabb As-Salami above, a piece that has been present at every evensong since camp began. Thank you to all those who joined us and who sang with us, it was a powerful evening.
Coming up this week:
On Wednesday 23rd October, we are running our second keffiyeh study after a great response last week. Oxford students and staff — join us on the top floor of the Radcliffe Camera library!
Closing thoughts
At our vigil on Sunday evening, we opened with news about the current situation in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon. israel’s campaign of violence is increasing everywhere. Today marks day 378 of israeli genocide in Gaza, day 19 of the ongoing israeli invasion of Lebanon, and a continuation of israeli attacks on the occupied West Bank, Yemen, and Syria. At least 42,603 Palestinians have been killed and 99,795 wounded in Gaza, with hundreds more killed and thousands more wounded in the occupied West Bank. A July 2024 Lancet article has conservatively estimated over 186,000 deaths in Gaza could be attributable to israeli aggression since October 2023.
Today, the israeli siege of Jabalia, North Gaza, enters its 18th day. Over the past year, israeli troops have repeatedly returned to raid and destroy the Jabalia refugee camp, which was created during the Nakba of 1948. On Thursday, 28 Palestinians were martyred and 160 injured following the israeli massacre in Abu Hussein school for displaced people in Jabalia refugee camp. The school housed thousands of Palestinians, who were displaced due to shelling on their homes. An estimated 400,000 Palestinians remain in the North with nowhere to go, facing forced evacuation orders but being met with indiscriminate violence if they attempt to move from their current sheltering places. Man-made famine is also murdering the residents of North Gaza, as israel has prevented all food from entering since October 1st.
Oxford University is complicit in the atrocities of israeli genocide.
This week, Oxford Action For Palestine has worked hard to prevent the University from forgetting that fact. It has been a busy programme of academic work, disruption, solidarity, community, education, and music. It has never been more important for us to raise our voices.
In strength and solidarity,
Oxford Action For Palestine.
Any newsletter questions/suggestions? Message Helium, or leave a comment below.