'An assault on history': Censorship of author Susan Abulhawa roils Oxford Union

The Oxford Union, which calls itself the world's most prestigious debating society, is embroiled in a major scandal after being accused of censoring renowned Palestinian-American author Susan Abulhawa.

Middle East Eye can exclusively reveal details of the row, which saw the society's members vote last week to upload Abulhawa's full speech from November 2024 in defiance of alleged pressure by the union's trustees.

Union officials have claimed that the society's president Moosa Harraj, the son of Pakistani minister Mohammad Raza Hayat Harraj, has since failed to publish the video.

However, Harraj told MEE he supports publishing the video but is unable to do so.

In November 2024, the union voted by an overwhelming majority that Israel is an "apartheid state responsible for genocide" but has since faced pushback on its hosting of anti-Israel criticism.

On 5 December, the union published a speech from the debate by Abulhawa on YouTube, where it racked up hundreds of thousands of views within a few days.

But in under a week the video was removed from YouTube without explanation.

At the same time, another version of the video, with 73 seconds of Abulhawa's speech removed, was uploaded. 

Numerous sources told MEE the decision was taken under intense pressure from the union's board of trustees, and only after the president who presided over the debate, Ebrahim Osman-Mowafy, finished his term as president.

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Abulhawa brought a lawsuit against the union on 3 March, accusing it of discrimination and copyright infringement and alleging they had breached a contract signed before the debate.

The Oxford Literary and Debating Union Trust (OLDUT) - the charity board that oversees the society - reportedly threatened to shut the union down if it published the full video.

MEE revealed in mid-June, last academic term, that the union's elected standing committee, which is made up of students and serves as the institution's governing body, voted to "upload the full, unedited speech of Susan Abulhawa" - in apparent defiance of the alleged threats by trustees.

But the video was not published.

Susan Abulhawa told MEE that the union's "censorship and perversion of the truth not only violates the right to free speech, a foundational right of any democratic society, it is first and foremost unethical.  

"It is a grave offence against the historic record of this important moment of this extraordinary time of a live-streamed holocaust, which will surely be studied by generations to come," she said.

"They have no right to distort or rewrite history, as such, simply because it makes some people uncomfortable."

Clashing narratives

Moosa Harraj is this term's president of the prestigious Oxford debating society, an elected role held for one academic term. 

Harraj has being accused of failing to respect a vote last week by the society's members to upload the speech.

He has insisted that he wants to publish the video but says that his hands are tied.

Pressure by trustees not to publish Abulhawa's speech has caused widespread outrage among members of the union, which was founded in 1823 and describes itself as the most prestigious debating society in the world.

The student-led organisation at the University of Oxford says its "roots lie in free speech".

A senior union official, speaking under condition of anonymity, told MEE that the union's members "unanimously passed a motion on Thursday at 9pm to upload the full, unedited video of Susan Abulhawa’s speech within 48 hours".

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This came amid a no-confidence motion against Harraj, which failed three days after the ousting of President-Elect George Abaraonye over comments he made on the killing of American rightwing commentator Charlie Kirk.

Nearly a week later the full video still has not been uploaded.

The union source told MEE this is in defiance of the motion "carried in the House and the motion carried in the Standing Committee".

Multiple senior officials said the union has remained under significant pressure from right-wing trustees and donors, after trustees threatened it with closure if the video was uploaded.

Officials insisted the president has the power to publish the video himself and can do so if he chooses, which Harraj has disputed.

Harraj told MEE: "I personally voted in favour of uploading the unedited full video, and I stand by that vote.

"Since I became president, the staff have not uploaded the video because of legal advice that they could be exposed to criminal liability themselves.

"I tried to figure out alternative ways of uploading the video as well, such as appointing an external delegate who is not a member of staff, but even that was deemed unacceptable."

Another senior union official corroborated Harraj's account and said that union staff have prevented the publication of the full video

He said independent legal advice given to the union said that "anyone who uploads or facilitates the upload of the unedited video could face personal criminal liability".

He added that Abulhawa's legal action against the union has meant that "there is nothing else I can do".

"I am a Muslim Pakistani man and a proud supporter of the Palestinian cause and, in fact, organising a Palestine-focused debate myself this term. I voted to upload the full unedited speech and have tried multiple avenues to facilitate that happening."

Another senior union official corroborated Harraj's account and said that union staff have prevented the publication of the full video.

MEE has contacted the Oxford Union for comment.

In the censored sections of the speech, heard by MEE, Abulhawa discussed the Israeli military's documented use of booby-trapped toys and systematic rape in Israeli prisons.

She argued that Zionists feel divinely favoured and entitled and that they are unable to live with others without dominating them.

The use of booby trapped toys has been reported by Palestinians and Israeli politicians frequently make comments claiming a right to occupy and settle occupied Palestinian territories. It is not clear why exactly trustees objected to Abulhawa's comments.

A union member who attended the debate told MEE on condition of anonymity that "everything Susan said was measured and factually accurate. She is a great and experienced writer."

Abulhawa said: "I care a lot about preserving the historic audit of what actually did happen, and what was actually said. The Oxford Union is a platform for debate. They are not, and cannot be the arbiters of acceptable public discourse."

She added: "I am a writer by trade, a merchant of words. Every sentence of that speech was carefully weighed for content, cadence, and literary aesthetic.

'I care a lot about preserving the historic audit of what actually did happen'

- Susan Abulhawa, author

"It is my intellectual property, the product of my time and intellectual labor.  Removing bits here and there - by individuals with no sense or appreciation of literature or history, nor for the individual or collective struggle against systematic oppression, especially during this time of genocide shocking the world's conscience - is offensive, to say the least."

Abulhawa also pointed to the historic Oxford Union speeches delivered by African American civil rights leaders Malcolm X in 1964 and James Baldwin in 1965.

"Imagine the assault on history if those voices had been altered or censored," she said.