Featured Articles
By Ahmad Jamal Wattoo (BA Politics) After a decade-long rift, Hamas and Fatah announced their reconciliation in Cairo, Egypt on October 12th. This settlement between both Palestinian factions will likely play a large role in strengthening the Palestinians’ bargaining power vis-a-vis Israel. It has been agreed under the settlement that
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By Ali Mitib (BA Law and Politics) The first SOAS Union General Meeting (UGM) of the academic year took place on 13th October 2017. UGMs are meetings involving all members of the Students Union (SU), where members of the SOAS community are welcome to put forward, discuss, amend and pass
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By Maya Alsughaiyer (BA Politics and World Philosophies) On October 12th, the U.S. State Department declared that the country will be withdrawing from UNESCO at the end of 2018 citing the organisations “continuing anti-Israel bias”. The announcement was followed by Israel’s decision to also quit the 72-year-old world
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By Indigo Eve Lilburn-Quick (BA History and Politics) On October 1st, I sat with my flatmates in pure horror and disgust watching video after video of peaceful protesters getting assaulted by an armed police force in Barcelona. Right there and then, I was ready to get “Visca Catalunya” tattooed across
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By Ali Mitib (BA Law and Politics) On the 18th October, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) retook Raqqa Stadium, the last ISIS stronghold in the city. The liberation of the city marks the end of the Raqqa campaign, codenamed “Operation Wrath of Euphrates”. The SDF operation, which was supported by
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By Phillipa Wilkinson The results of the referendum on the future of ULU, released this week, show overwhelming support among students for a democratic union. Out of 4545 voters, 86% voted yes to the question, “Should ULU’s building, activities and campaigns continue to be run democratically by students?” with
Featured Articles
Mel Plant, BA Arabic and Turkish Following allegations of unethical conduct made in February, a Freedom of Information request submitted by the SOAS Students’ Union and Dr. Angela Chiu has revealed that the allocation of Alphawood Foundation funds has continued in a secretive manner, jeopardising the academic careers of several
lacrosse
Mel Plant, BA Arabic and Turkish ‘Sports doesn’t have to be aggressive, boisterous and alcohol-fueled like it is at every other uni,’ says Reiss Palmer, captain of SOAS’ first lacrosse team, ‘people forget we’re SOAS students too.’ Palmer met with The SOAS Spirit last week to talk about
camden
Aidan Lonergan, BA History ‘Camden Cares’, a project created through the 3 Faith Forum’s ParliaMentors programme, was launched recently by five SOAS students. ParliaMentors is a UN award-winning leadership programme which gives university students the unique opportunity to work with MPs to form projects for social action. With the
decolonise soas
Ella Linskens, BA Arabic The results of the strategic priorities referendum places Decolonising the Curriculum as the Students’ Union number one priority. This result, alongside current movements such as Rhodes Must Fall and ‘Why Is My Curriculum White?” indicate a growing activism which questions remnants of colonialism within the university.
j4c
Ella Linskens, BA Arabic An APSE Report entitled ‘Review of Integrated Facilities Management Proposal’ refutes the claims of SOAS Management that bring the cleaners in- house would not be cost effective by reporting that meeting Justice for Cleaners campaign demands would be ‘cost neutral.’ The Justice for Cleaners campaign, in
campaigns
This year The SOAS Spirit decided to go further in our election coverage. The SOAS Students’ Union elections can be intimidating, whether you’re a candidate or just a regular student voter. Campaigning is intense, with much of candidates’ success being weighted on who has the widest friendship circle or