Oxford Union criticized for censorship, altering videos after Israel debate

The Oxford Union didn't publish two of the debate videos until Friday and reuploaded the others after they had been edited.

By MICHAEL STARR DECEMBER 15, 2024 17:41

TENTS ARE pitched outside the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, as students occupy parts of British campuses in support of Palestinians in Gaza, this week. Supporters of genocidal jihadist groups are spreading mayhem across the Western world, says the writer. (photo credit: HOLLIE ADAMS/REUTERS)

The Oxford Union Society released several edited videos of its recent Israel-related debate on Friday after the student group faced heavy criticism for the alleged censorship of videos, the conduct of the audience and participants, and alleged pro-terrorism rhetoric in some of the speeches.

Following the November 28 debate on the proposition that “Israel is an Apartheid State Responsible for Genocide,” the Oxford Union published on December 5 videos of some of the speakers. Opposition debater, writer, and Oxford alum Jonathan Sacerdoti. Sacerdoti said on social media that the video of his speech had been edited to hide the heckling and abuse that he and other opposition debaters had experienced. He and former Palestinian spy and anti-Hamas activist Mosab Hassan Yousef also charged that the Union had failed to upload Yousef's speech for the same reason. 

"They've tried to hide what happened in the video of my speech by muting the sound and sticking to a wide shot," Sacerdoti said on December 6. 

Sacerdoti published his own recording of the debate on YouTube on December 6. The Union issued a statement blasting the journalist for publishing and recording content without permission and declared that the recordings were under legal review, but it removed the video of Sacerdoti's speech and, on Friday, reuploaded it onto YouTube. 

The video of Yousef's debate was also released on Friday, which he said had been hidden in an attempt to hide the "moral rot" of the audience. Sacerdoti speculated on Wednesday that the Union was "ashamed" not just of the abuse he received but by the attempt of then-Oxford Union President Ebrahim Osman Mowafy to remove Yousef from the room when he described Palestinians as a "pathetic" people. 

Footage of Yoseph Haddad being kicked out of the Oxford Union debate (credit: SCREENSHOT/X/VIA SECTION 27A OF THE COPYRIGHT ACT)

"Since thousands pressured the students who run the Oxford Union to publish Mosab Hassan Yousef’s excellent speech, they’ve now caved in and made it public," Sacerdoti said on Saturday. "But only after I’d already shown their failures and extremism by publishing the uncensored audio. And now they’ve deleted other speeches and censored those instead, making a complete mockery of freedom of speech."

Oxford Union addresses footage in a statement

The Union issued a statement on Friday that said, "Consistent with our existing practice of upholding standards while being mindful of potential legal concerns, sections of the official footage of the debate have been removed."

Among the speeches that were edited was pro-resolution team debater and anti-Zionist Israeli writer Miko Peled, which, like Yousef's speech, hadn't been uploaded until Friday. Yousef said on X on Wednesday that the Union had withheld Peled's speech in an attempt to "destroy evidence" when Peled reportedly made statements of support for the events of October 7. Sacerdoti had uploaded onto Youtube an alleged recording of Peled in which he said that "October 7 was not terrorism," but "acts of heroism of a people who have been oppressed." The statements did not appear in the speech uploaded by the Oxford Union.

Opposition team debater and Arab pro-Israel activist Yoseph Haddad said that with the acknowledgment that it had edited the video for legal compliance, the Union "literally admitted that during Miko Peled's speech, he supported terrorism, and instead of calling him out and expelling him from the debate, they allowed him to continue and even cheered for him!"

Proposition team debater and Palestinian writer and activist Susan Abulhawa on Saturday criticized the Union for removing her speech and reuploading a version that was about a minute shorter. Abulhawa demanded to know why her speech had been edited when the Union had not issued "statements, retractions or other forms of censorship" in the past. 

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"Such modification of my speech and censorship is unethical and contrary to the ideals they purport to uphold. This censorship and perversion of my remarks come after the original YouTube video had garnered hundreds of thousands of views and thousands of comments in less than one week, which was apparently bothersome to Zionists," Abulhawa said on social media. "I demand the original speech be reinstated in its entirety as it was previously posted."Abulhawa said that the Union had folded to demands by Zionists, who had been "rewriting history for the past eight decades."

Yousef on Wednesday also accussed Union president Osman-Mowafy of packing the audience to "guarantee vote results that suited his personal political views" when he debated on the side of the proposition. The proposition had passed 278-59 in favor of the proposition that Israel was committing genocide. On December 4, the Union issued a statement explaining that the withdrawal of a guest speaker on short notice necessitated that Osman-Mowafy fill the slot. Norman Finkelstein reportedly backed out because historian Benny Morris declined to join the opposition team. The video of Osman-Mowafy's speech notes that "This speaker is a competitive debater, and the views expressed may not represent their own beliefs."

The debate between the team of Sacerdoti, Yousef, Haddad, and UK Lawyers For Israel Charitable Trust legal director Natasha Hausdorff against Osman-Mowafy, Abulhawa, and anti-Zionist Israel writer Miko Peled was rife with jeering and interruption. The proposition team refused to be photographed with their opponents, and El-Kurd and Peled refused to shake their hands.

Abulhawa shared on X that an audience member called Hassan Yousef a “whore” in Arabic when he went to the podium. Sacerdoti was repeatedly interrupted by guests yelling that he was lying. 

Haddad was removed from the debate when he challenged an audience member about their supposed lack of concern for hostages.

The union said in its Friday statement that it was committed to free speech and that it did not endorse any singular viewpoint. 

"We are aware that the union's recent debate on Israel/Palestine has drawn widespread commentary and attention," said the union. The union acknowledges that facilitating difficult conversations carries a responsibility to approach sensitive topics with care."