SOAS Suspension Sparks Debate Over Freedom of Expression and Peaceful Protest

By Hiba Ul Hassan, BA History

On Monday 9 October 2023, a rally was organised at SOAS to demonstrate solidarity with Palestine. A large crowd was addressed by representatives from various societies, including the  SOAS Palestine society, SOAS Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism!, and Justice for Workers. The event encountered a brief interruption when a fire alarm was triggered, momentarily halting the rally. However, momentum was quickly regained as students and staff were evacuated. 

Following this event, on Thursday 12 October, some of the students involved with the demonstration received notices of suspension. The following day members of the Palestine Society were issued a formal warning from disciplinaries, pending a further investigation, despite not being present at the rally. As a result, the Palestinian Society formed a petition calling for SOAS to drop all disciplinary actions against those suspended and revoke the warning given to Palestine Society members. An international general strike was called for Friday 20 October, as a day of protest ‘against repressive state terror’, although the gathering on campus failed to gather any meaningful momentum, despite one activist’s use of a smoke bomb. 

SOAS has provided a statement about the suspension of students stating that they were made due to a violation of ‘an agreement with the executive, supported by the Students’ Union, which disrupted our teaching, learning and wider activities and led to a significant breach of health and safety policies and procedures.’ In addition to these disruptions, SOAS has stated that, ‘during the rally, multiple fire alarms were activated across our buildings that forced us to evacuate all buildings.’

‘Where actions or statements on the part of staff and students are potentially unlawful or do potentially breach our policies or expectations of behaviour, they will be investigated and if misconduct is established, appropriate action will be taken.’

A statement from the Palestinian society says, ‘Our rally was initially held on the steps of the SOAS main building which is where rallies have always been held at SOAS. The SOAS Palestine Society has held a rally there as recently as September 29th without repercussions or complaints from the University.’ 

‘The rally we held on October 9th was no different. We made it clear that we would in no way block access to the main building. We then safely moved off of the steps and onto the green, as instructed, as soon as the fire alarm was triggered. Needless to say, no member of the SOAS Palestine Society was involved in triggering the fire alarm, a fact confirmed by SOAS management.’

The Palestine Society is yet to receive a clear explanation for the issued suspensions and warnings and the investigation into the 9 October rally is still ongoing. 

SOAS’s statement further outlined that ‘Like all British universities we have a legal duty to protect freedom of speech – however unpalatable the views may be to individual members of our community – and as such we have a clear and zero-tolerance policy in relation to anti-Semitism and all forms of racism.’ It is not unlikely that this statement is made as a result of ex-student Noah Lewis’s abandonment of his studies in 2020, due to what he referred to as a “toxic antisemitic environment” present at SOAS, says the Guardian. The university was forced to refund £15,000 in fees.