Leaked WhatsApp messages from the Palestinian president of the Oxford Union have sparked backlash from Jewish students, accusing her of justifying the October 7 attack.
| PULSE POINTS |
❓ WHAT HAPPENED: The first Palestinian president of the Oxford Union, the University of Oxford’s prestigious debating society, has faced calls to resign over leaked WhatsApp messages appearing to justify the October 7 terror attacks on Israel. 📺 DETAIL: In a private WhatsApp group of approximately 100 students studying Politics, Philosophy, and Economics (PPE) at Oxford, Arwa Elrayess argued that Hamas would be “lauded as heroes” by the Palestinians and that the group’s actions on October 7, 2023, were “proportional,” and possibly “less than proportional.” She further argued that the severity of response was often proportional to the “severity of oppression” and that it was “quite rich to allow for decades of systematic oppression and massacres, only to act shocked when the resistance movement responds with proportional severity.” Elrayess has claimed that she was providing an explanation rather than a justification for Hamas’ actions on October 7. The messages were posted in September last year. The Oxford Students Against Discrimination accused her of “actively contributing to a culture of fear and exclusion for Jewish members of the university,” while the Campaign Against Antisemitism characterized Elrayess’s comments as “attempts to rationalize Hamas’s barbaric terrorist atrocities.” 💬 KEY QUOTE: “Absolutely sickening attempts to rationalise Hamas’ barbaric terrorist atrocities on October 7 as proportionate.” – Campaign Against Antisemitism spokesman 🎯 IMPACT: The backlash has intensified scrutiny of Elrayess’s leadership of the Oxford Union and raised concerns about the safety and inclusion of Jewish students at the university. The leaked messages have sparked calls for her resignation and an investigation by the university. The story raises a debate about the difference between explanation and justification in the context of controversial geopolitical events. 📺 FLASHBACK: The Oxford Union has faced repeated controversies. In October 2025, George Abaraonye, then-president-elect of the Oxford Union, was removed from his position following a no-confidence vote by members of the prestigious institution after Abaraonye celebrated the assassination of Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA (TPUSA), the month prior. “Charlie Kirk got shot, let’s f**king go,” read the leaked WhatsApp message from the then-president-elect. The vote to remove Abaraonye took place just a few months after he debated Kirk. |
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