"In December 2025, I was elected president of the Oxford Union, the world-famous debating society. I made history as the first Palestinian to hold the role in the institution's 203-year history. I won the presidency by a significant margin, in an election that saw turnout far exceed recent contests. Throughout my campaign, I was open about my background as a Palestinian from Gaza, and about how my identity and family history have shaped my understanding of the importance of representation and debate."
"Rather than engaging with my stated platform or my record, early press reporting questioned my suitability for office purely on the basis of who I am. The aim was clear: to portray me as a radical, an extremist, someone inherently suspect. These reports did not emerge in isolation. They formed part of a wider smear campaign that accompanied my presidential run, in which I was cast as an extremist and a security concern."
In December 2025 I was elected president of the Oxford Union, becoming the first Palestinian to hold the role in its 203-year history. I won by a significant margin and turnout exceeded recent contests. I campaigned openly about being Palestinian from Gaza and how my background shaped my commitment to representation and debate. Press reporting shifted focus from platform to identity, portraying me as radical and a security concern. A wider smear campaign circulated false rumours that my supporters could lose visas, face watchlists, or investigations, without any evidence. Supposedly reputable outlets published insinuations and framed questions as facts.
#palestinian-representation #oxford-union-presidency #media-smear-campaigns #identity-based-discrimination
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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