LONDON — Haya Adam, a Pro-Palestine student activist has been expelled by the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (Soas) as a disciplinay measure taken against her pro-Palestine activism.
Adam, 21, is the president of the Soas Palestine Society, and has been one of the most visible participants in a 15-month-long student encampment protesting the institution’s alleged complicity in Israel’s war on Gaza.
The disciplinary panel on Wednesday said that Adam breached the university’s code of conduct over her appearance in a video posted on 16 January to the student encampment’s Instagram page, reports Middle East Eye.
In the video, Adam criticises a Soas student union co-president, stating that her tenure had “only served institutional oppression”, and calling her a “careerist”.
Adam’s case is the second instance of Soas expelling a pro-Palestine activist, following the expulsion of student Abel Harvie-Clark in December 2024.
Prior to her expulsion, Adam had been suspended from campus for over a year over disciplinary charges relating to her pro-Palestine activism on campus.
Students hold placards during a pro-Palestine protest at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in May 2024 — AFP
A second-year law and international relations student, Adam had attempted to continue her studies online, but could not attend lectures and had limited access to university resources.
“Soas have used me as an example to intimidate the rest of the student body. But students will continue to rise up regardless, as there is a genocide going on,” Adam told Middle East Eye.
“To politically criticise an elected official is well within our rights to freedom of speech,” Adam added.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous that criticising someone in a position of authority would result in an expulsion. That’s a dictatorship at Soas – not democracy.”
The Soas encampment is one of hundreds of student demonstrations worldwide protesting university complicity in Israel’s war on Gaza, in which over 61,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023.
Human rights groups, international law experts and a growing number of countries have labelled the Israeli campaign a genocide.
Soas, which specialises in the humanities and social sciences, does not hold research partnerships with arms companies participating in Israel’s war on Gaza to a similar extent as many other universities.
However, protesters have criticised the university’s research links with the UK Ministry of Defence and Israeli universities, as well as its financial ties to banks accused of financing Israel’s genocide in Gaza, such as Barclays.
Soas took the student protesters to court in October 2024, obtaining a High Court injunction that prohibited demonstrations on university premises without the prior written approval of university management, creating legal consequences for non-compliance.
Similar injunctions were filed by various UK universities, including the University of Cambridge and the University of Bristol.
Adam was one of three named defendants in the university’s court submission.
Ejected from campus, the group now protests on a nearby pavement, where their demonstration has become the world’s longest-running pro-Palestine student encampment.
Adam says that she was initially surprised by the firm response to pro-Palestine activism she received at the university.
“I was under the impression that I’d have an anti-colonial education at Soas, and would have a place where I could speak out against injustices.
“I thought Soas would encourage their students to take action against these crimes against humanity – instead, they’ve chosen to punish their students.”
Dr Grietje Baars, a Reader in Law and Social Change and an associate member of the Centre for Palestine Studies at Soas, told Middle East Eye that she believes the expulsion decision is a “grave mistake on the part of the university”.
But Baars added that she thought “it won’t have the effect the university is hoping it will have”.
“Our students are not afraid,” Baars said.
“They know that the genocide in Gaza and the situations in Sudan and the Congo are of the utmost importance and urgency and are intimately tied up with their chance of a liveable future: they’re not going to be intimidated into silence.”
“I commend the students for their courage and perseverance,” she added.
Adam said that she plans to appeal the university’s decision and will continue to participate in protests at Soas.
“I will never stop what I’m doing, and the university will never silence or intimidate me because we’re doing all of this for our Palestinian brothers and sisters,” Adam said.
“There is an intensifying genocide that has been going on continuously, so it’s our responsibility and moral duty to speak up.” — Excerpted from Middle East Eye report
