The SOAS Liberated Zone: 200 Days Later

Barty Roberts, Editor-in-Chief, BA Politics and International Relations

The SOAS Liberated Zone has now existed for 200 days. In that time, it has had three locations, gone from over 100 members to less than 20, been raided by the police, been served multiple court orders and hosted a man wearing a Nazi uniform. This article is the product of coverage from the last six months, including conversations with multiple sources, all of whom had been or still are members of the SOAS encampment.

The Liberated Zone began on May 6^th 2024. Students from the SOAS Palestine Society took inspiration from other UK Universities and ‘liberated’ the space between Senate House and the Brunei Gallery. They quickly gained nationwide support and were even visited by Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn (pictured). They had seven demands for SOAS management: the full disclosure of SOAS’ investment portfolio, divestment from all companies they deem to be complicit in the genocide of the Palestinian people, termination of SOAS’ banking agreement with Barclays Bank, cut ties with Haifa University, commit to increasing the number of scholarships available at SOAS for Palestinian students, revoke the new protest policy and advocate for the UK government to implement an arms embargo on Israel. The main objection to the protest policy is that it forbids criticism of any one individual, which means that the students who called for the dismissal of Adam Habib following his use of a racial slur in 2021 would now be at risk of disciplinary action. 

Since the beginning of the Liberated Zone, there has been growing tension between camp members and SOAS security. On June 4^th 2024, a Liberated Zone rally turned violent following a forceful confrontation with security. This came after the Liberated Zone refused to enter into negotiations with SOAS management due to various members of the encampment having been served with disciplinary notices for breaking the new protest policy. 

The SOAS Liberated Zone was at its most populous during June. The Liberated Zone regularly drew more than 100 people to their rallies, had 50 campers and numerous day-time visitors. One such day-time visitor was a pan-Africanist activist dressed in a Nazi uniform (pictured). This man would attend the encampment, discuss his antisemitic theories and often play chess with members. He was known to distribute leaflets detailing police identity codes as well as expressing many antisemitic tropes, and was even seen performing a Nazi salute. This caused alarm to camp members and led to a unanimous vote to have him banned from attending Liberated Zone events. When this man reappeared, members of the Liberated Zone’s leadership ignored the vote which banned him and instead opted to allow him to continue to attend events.  Current members of the SOAS Liberated Zone dispute this, they state that “Once the camp found out about this person, the decision was to immediately ban them from camp events and this person was told to leave immediately when they came back to the courtyard. They never entered the camp. The SOAS Liberated Zone for Gaza is grounded in anti-racist principles and does not tolerate any form of racism or discrimination. This is what we have always stood by.” Despite this, multiple sources told us that when a Jewish member of the encampment took issue with his continued attendance, the complainant was dismissed as ‘anti-Black’ and ‘racist’ for opposing the presence of a man dressed in Nazi uniform. 

On July 9^th, the Metropolitan police entered the Liberated Zone following an incident in which two Zionist activists confronted members of the encampment and sought to physically intimidate them. This soon escalated into a confrontation between campers and the police. Seven people were arrested, with the police exercising violent methods of restraint in order to suppress the protesting students. Of the seven people arrested, four were not charged, with three others having to appear in court. Since then, one of the cases has been dropped with the final two hearings still yet to occur, one of which is scheduled for 2026. 

Following this incident, the University of London wrote to the High Court seeking a repossession order of the land seized by the SOAS Liberated Zone in order to evict the encampment. SOAS released a statement in support of a repossession order citing that the encampment had become ‘unmanageable.’ The repossession order was granted on July 30^th. 

In the period between the University of London applying for and receiving the repossession order, the SOAS Students’ Union fired Abel Harvie-Clark and Alex Cachinero Gorman, two co-presidents. Harvie-Clark was (and still is) a prominent member of the encampment and Cachinero Gorman had spoken at many of their rallies. The Liberated Zone immediately alleged that the two co-presidents were fired for their political views. Abel Harvie-Clark had been expelled and banned from campus for multiple breaches SOAS behavioural policy, and Alex Cachinero Gorman had been given a formal warning for the same reason. The SOAS Students’ Union does not comment on individual HR matters and while the dismissal of Harvie-Clark and Cachinero Gorman is still at an appeal stage, the Students’ Union cannot comment on an ongoing investigation so as not to prejudice the process. 

As a result of their eviction and the dismissal of the elected co-presidents, the Liberated Zone soon changed their tactics. They briefly relocated to another piece of University of London land near Woburn Square but were immediately evicted and have since been occupying a piece of land on Byng Place. Byng Place is not University of London land and is, in fact, owned by Camden Council. The evictions resulted in a dramatic decrease in numbers and a transition into protesting for the reinstatement of the two dismissed co-presidents as well as the initial seven demands. 

The SOAS Liberated Zone was largely dormant over the summer break. The lack of students on campus led them to pursue a more active role in the nationwide campaign for Palestinian Liberation, and they also held a protest at The Guardian’s offices criticising their coverage of the genocide in Gaza. 

The start of a new academic year and the accompanying Freshers’ events reinvigorated the encampment and also birthed the Democratise Education campaign. Democratise Education is exclusively committed to campaigning to reinstate Cachinero Gorman and Harvie-Clark as well as pursuing a petition in order to trigger a no-confidence motion in the Students’ Union Board of Trustees. 

The SOAS Liberated Zone held their first protest of the academic year on September 27^th. Notably, Andrew Feinstein, the former African National Congress (ANC) MP and parliamentary candidate for Holborn and St. Pancras in 2024, gave the first address. Feinstein called SOAS, and other British universities ‘absolutely complicit’ in genocide and called SOAS’ response to student protests ‘appalling.’ 

At the 200-day mark, Liberated Zone protests now exist entirely in tandem with Democratise Education. The two dismissed co-presidents are now pursuing legal action against the Students’ Union for unfair dismissal under the grounds of the Equality Act 2010. Numbers within the encampment are dwindling and the future remains unclear, with the University of London currently pursuing a court case that could effectively ban all encampment members from University of London land. 

In response to the encampment’s demands, SOAS have made their investment portfolio available online, added seven full Palestinian scholarships, and lobbied the UK government both Conservative and, since the general election, Labour, for a permanent ceasefire. As of June 14^th, SOAS had liquidated their investments in Barclays, but it should be noted that this decision was made for commercial, not ethical, reasons. They still hold a credit arrangement with Barclays worth £10 million and two loans totalling £3 million. These are set to fully expire by 2027, which is when SOAS will review their relationship with Barclays. 

SOAS still has an official relationship with Haifa University despite no students or capital being exchanged since October 7^th 2023. SOAS have indicated that they wholeheartedly support the protest policy, claiming to be committed to making SOAS a ‘safe space for all to express their views.’