First Palestinian President of Oxford Union Refuses to Resign Amid Criticism

Arwa Elrayess, the first Palestinian president of the prestigious Oxford Union debating society at the University of Oxford, has declared she will not resign after facing a wave of criticism and false accusations. In a no-confidence meeting last week, Elrayess was accused by a 20-year-old student named Ben Ashworth of creating an ‘atmosphere of hostility and harassment.’

A video of the meeting, shared by Al Jazeera, shows Elrayess wearing a blue sequin dress, responding to Ashworth: ‘Not just in my career at the union, but in my existence as a Palestinian, there always seems to be a smear campaign against Palestinians.’ She added: ‘When Palestinians speak up, for some reason, they are seen as a threat.’

The no-confidence petition was submitted after several newspapers, including The Telegraph and the BBC, cited text messages from Elrayess in which she described the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, as ‘proportionate.’ The messages also stated that groups later deemed terrorist are often ‘hailed as heroes.’ However, Elrayess insisted she does not support Hamas.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Elrayess explained that these messages were sent in a chat group nine months ago, before she became president, as part of a political discussion. ‘Analyzing something does not give it moral legitimacy,’ she said. ‘I clearly stated in all messages that I do not consider this legal or morally justified; I was only providing analysis; it was all distorted when reported in The Telegraph or Daily News.’

The full quote from the chat group reads: ‘Any resistance group will definitely be considered a terrorist organization by the West until they gain freedom, at which point they will be hailed as heroes, as history has shown.’ Elrayess emphasized the messages were not intended as a comment specifically on Hamas. In an interview with the Jewish Chronicle, she reaffirmed: ‘I condemn Hamas's targeting of innocent civilians, just as I condemn the targeting of innocent civilians by the Israeli military or any other party.’

Although Ashworth—who is not Jewish and has visited Israel with the Pinsker Center—loudly demanded Elrayess condemn Hamas, the no-confidence vote ultimately failed decisively, receiving only 126 votes in favor, well below the 150 needed to proceed.

This is not the first disinformation campaign targeting Elrayess. In October 2025, before her election, a forged minute was approved by an anonymous member, suggesting that Elrayess believed ‘alumni are incapable of making rational judgments.’ Following an internal disciplinary process, the forger was suspended and the minutes were annulled. Immediately after her victory, allegations from society opponents, ranging from social media abuse to anti-Semitism, were all found to be baseless in January, but Elrayess had already lost two months of her term.

Additionally, an article in the Oxford Standard falsely claimed she was related to a Hamas leader and fabricated an anti-Semitic caricature. However, these allegations were false: the caricature was linked to an anonymous meme page, and she has no family ties to Hamas. The Oxford Standard, a now-defunct newspaper, removed the article, but the rumors had already spread, with tweets from influential figures like Eylon Levy, a former Israeli spokesperson, sharing the misinformation.

Despite everything, Elrayess remains steadfast. ‘My father is from Gaza,’ she said. ‘He always told me: No matter what you say or don't say, people will find a way to target you, because you are already a target.’ She declared: ‘I will not resign. They can throw 1,000 different letters into 1,000 different articles. I am very outspoken, and I am a very proud Palestinian.’