'Constant targeting': Pro-Israel legal group slammed for reporting Oxford Union president to police

'Constant targeting': Pro-Israel legal group slammed for reporting Oxford Union president to police Submitted by Imran Mulla on Wed, 06/24/2026 - 11:10 Palestinian Arwa Elrayess accuses UK Lawyers for Israel of an 'attempt to suppress' Palestinian voices Oxford Union President Arwa Elrayess (R) speaks in the union chamber in early June 2026 (Arwa Elrayess) Off Oxford Union President Arwa Elrayess has condemned the controversial group UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) for reporting her to the police over remarks she made about Palestinian resistance, which she says were taken out of context. Elrayess, 20, who has Palestinian heritage and lived for part of her childhood in Gaza, has been president of the prestigious student debating society in Oxford over the past two months.  UKLFI reported her to the police over comments she made in a private WhatsApp group chat last September, which were leaked and widely reported on earlier this month. Elrayess was accused in the press of making "supportive comments" of Hamas, which is a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK. But in fact, in the text messages she said she was not justifying Hamas' actions and that her analysis was not suggesting they were right. Elrayess had texted: "Any resistance group will inevitably be deemed a ‘terrorist’ organisation by the West until they achieve their liberation (by which time, they’ll be lauded as heroes, as history has repeatedly proven)." Nelson Mandela's African National Congress used violence in its fight against South African apartheid and Mandela was labelled a terrorist by Britain. But after the end of apartheid he was lauded as a hero.  'I condemn Hamas' targeting of innocent civilians, just as I condemn the targeting of innocent civilians by the IDF or any other actor' - Arwa Elrayess, president of the Oxford Union In response to a group member saying Hamas "actions have been too bad and severe" to be considered a "liberation struggle", Elrayess said: "I think the severity of resistance is often proportional to the severity of oppression." She said that there "were various, more peaceful forms of resistance in the past that ended with nothing but massacres". Elrayess added: "This is not to justify anything but just to point out that it’s quite rich to allow for decades of oppression and massacres, only to be shocked when the resistance movement responds with proportional severity.” Later in the conversation, when challenged on describing the group's actions as "proportional", Elrayess said "some would argue it’s less than proportional. Have you seen what Israel has put Palestinians through for decades?" Crucially she added: "Proportional does not mean right by the way." 'I condemn the targeting of innocent civilians' Inviting support for a proscribed organisation, or glorifying such an organisation, is a crime in Britain. Nothing Elrayess said supported or glorified Hamas. UKLFI claimed her comments could "radicalise" other students and risked "normalising and legitimising a proscribed terrorist organisation". A spokesperson for Thames Valley Police said: "We can confirm that we are aware of a complaint relating to an allegation of support of a proscribed terror organisation in Oxford. We are continuing to assess this allegation and have been in discussion with Counter Terrorism Policing South East." Earlier this month Elrayess said "I condemn Hamas' targeting of innocent civilians, just as I condemn the targeting of innocent civilians by the IDF or any other actor. I have consistently maintained this position." Inside the Oxford Union debate where Tommy Robinson lost to a Palestinian student from Gaza Read More » The leaked messages were reported in national newspapers this month after Elrayess invited American political commentators Cenk Uygur and Hasan Piker to address the union. The British government denied them entry, apparently over their criticism of Israel, after which Elrayess allowed them to address the union over livestream, stating a commitment to free speech.  She cited that same commitment in debating far-right activist Tomym Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, last week on whether the West should be suspicious of Islam, despite huge protests from left-wing groups. Robinson's side of the debate lost to Elrayess'. "I have yet to be contacted by the police," Elrayess told MEE.  "UK Lawyers for Israel and other pro-Israeli voices have repeatedly sought to have friendly media outlets in the UK publish hyped-up stories intended to convey the impression that I am an extremist, a supporter of terrorism, and a facilitator of antisemitism," she said. "These are slurs, directed at a young politically active Palestinian woman who chooses to use her platform to spotlight issues that matter to my family and my community, and that I believe should matter to the public at large. "In my opinion, this is nothing more than an attempt to suppress voices like mine and to deny me the right to express my views – a strategy that groups like UK Lawyers for Israel have deployed for some time because they know they cannot successfully challenge the facts of the matter." Since it was founded in 2011, UKLFI has been at the forefront of efforts to discredit and pressure individuals and organisations that criticise Israeli policies or express solidarity with Palestinians. UKLFI appears 128 times in the European Legal Support Centre's Britain Index of Repression database, which documents what it describes as the systematic repression of Palestine solidarity activism across Britain. The centre argued that UKLFI has helped to create of a "chilling environment" in which individuals and organisations withdraw or modify lawful Palestine-related activity due to fears of legal escalation. 'Relentless': How UK Lawyers for Israel targets pro-Palestinian voices Read More » In the centre's analysis, UKLFI appears repeatedly as an "initiating" or "escalating" actor against acts of Palestinian solidarity - often through complaint letters, legal threats or public pressure that prompts schools, universities, employers and public bodies to open disciplinary procedures or cancel events. Elrayess survived a motion of no confidence in her presidency in the Oxford Union earlier this month. Speaking in the debating chamber, she said it was "disappointing that at every stage of my existence as a Palestinian there seems to always be this post-mortem vilification of Palestinians in any way shape or form." She condemned the "constant targeting and attempt to find any singular reason to put down Palestinians because Palestinians when they talk are for some reason a danger. “Our very existence is something that is scary and something that needs to be criticised and something that needs to be vilified. They attribute things to us that are false and defamatory. And it is non-stop, it is never ending and I am sick of it. “I have had to grow up with this idea in the back of my mind that I have to be so careful about every single little thing I say… because God forbid someone takes something out of context and puts it in the Telegraph." MEE has contacted UKLFI for comment. UK Politics News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0