The Oxford Union has been accused of bias after holding a ‘shambles’ debate which labelled Israel an ‘apartheid state responsible for genocide’.
The event descended into chaos with audience members shouting, booing and swearing while one speaker stormed out and another was asked to leave.
The longstanding debating organization is facing criticism for conducting what some consider a biased trial on the topic of whether Israel should be seen as an apartheid state that has committed genocide.
Journalist Jonathan Sacerdoti, who spoke against the motion, said Jewish students were too afraid to attend and the audience were a ‘baying mob’.
He wrote in The Spectator: ‘This was not a debate; it was a show trial… cheered on by a mob that had no interest in facts or truth…
‘They interrupted every pro-Israel speaker with jeers, coughs, and outright abuse…
‘This felt like a marker, the moment when the Oxford Union truly fell.
‘Not just as a debating society, but as a symbol of intellectual freedom.’
A debate at the Oxford Union titled, ‘This house believes Israel is an apartheid state responsible for genocide,’ passed after the chamber descended into chaos on Thursday evening
The Oxford Union’s president, Ebrahim Osman-Mowafy, spoke in favour of the motion, as did a number of pro-Palestine activists and writers.
Mr Sacerdoti, who is Jewish and an Oxford alumnus, said there was a ‘mean girls’ atmosphere and Mr Osman-Mowafy seemed ‘openly biased from the outset’.
Mr Sacerdoti said that during his own speech, a woman shouted: ‘Liar! F*** you, the genocidal motherf***er!’
One audience member later posted on X that he was ‘amazed’ at ‘how hostile and toxic the atmosphere was’.
Another told the Oxford Student website: ‘Shambles is an understatement. It was a fiasco.’
One speaker in favour of the motion, Palestinian writer Mohammed El-Kurd, stormed out after his speech because he didn’t want to ‘share a space’ with a controversial opposing speaker, Mosab Hassan Yousef – a son of a Hamas leader who became an IDF informant.
Another speaker, Arab-Israeli activist Yoseph Haddad, was reportedly asked to leave following a confrontation with audience members.
Meanwhile, dozens of protesters outside the Union organised by Oxford Action for Palestine chanted anti-Israel slogans that could be heard inside the chamber.
Dozens of protesters outside the Union organised by Oxford Action for Palestine chanted anti-Israel slogans that could be heard inside the chamber. Pictured: Ebrahim Osman-Mowafy
It is the latest in a string of controversial incidents affecting the 200-year-old society, which is independent from the university but is run and attended by Oxford students.
It prides itself on ‘upholding the principles of free speech’ and former Union presidents have gone on to be some of the most prominent British leaders in history.
In the summer, Mr Osman-Mowafy, 21, accused the Union of being ‘institutionally racist’ after he was ousted from his role over alleged rule-breaking.
He said the decision to strip him of his presidency was ‘steeped in nothing but racism, islamophobia and persistent bias’.
The third-year law student, who is Egyptian, lost his seat after a Union tribunal decided a complaint he made against a returning officer was vexatious and unfounded.
However, this decision was later overturned and he was then reinstated.
The Oxford Union was previously accused of racism in 2019 after a security guard manhandled a blind black man who was sat in the chamber.
The Daily Mail attempted to contact the Oxford Union and Mr Osman Mowafy for comment.
