Oxford Union's Palestinian president on why she invited Tommy Robinson to debate Islam

Oxford Union's Palestinian president on why she invited Tommy Robinson to debate Islam Submitted by Imran Mulla on Thu, 05/21/2026 - 11:10 Arwa Elrayess says she aims to show Muslims are not afraid of scrutiny as outrage escalates over planned event British far-right activist Tommy Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, at a rally organised by Unite The Kingdom, in London on 16 May (AFP) Off Another term, another Oxford Union scandal. This time the highly prestigious free speech society has invited far-right activist Tommy Robinson to a debate on Islam.  Outrage has erupted. Hundreds of people have signed an open letter against the decision. A bishop and an imam have come together to publish a joint statement denouncing it. Former cabinet minister Anneleise Dodds has condemned the invite. Protests are anticipated and the event may be made impossible due to security risks. Some believe the union will soon be forced to cancel the debate. But there's a plot twist: the president of the Oxford Union this term is a Muslim student, of Palestinian origin. On Wednesday Middle East Eye went to Oxford to meet Arwa Elrayess, aged 20. The meeting was held in the union's wood-pannelled Gladstone Room, named after the former British prime minister and union president William Gladstone. It has high, painted ceilings and bookshelves boasting the historic archives of famous British newspapers. With its numerous leather armchairs, in a more permissive time it was the society's smoking room. The cabinet table by the window was used by Gladstone to meet his cabinet ministers. According to union lore, Elrayess explained, the desk is semi-circular so Gladstone could look each of his ministers in the eye to see if they were lying to him. 'I could not have thought of anything more vindicating than to be able to stand up there and be given equal weight, and to be able to give my views' - Arwa Elrayess, Oxford Union president So why did she invite Robinson to the union? Robinson - whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon - is a criminal who has been convicted of assault, fraud and contempt of court. He has built his name on activism against Islam. The event is scheduled to take place in just over a week and the motion up for debate is "This House believes the West is right to be suspicious of Islam".  Controversy has risen to the level that large protests are expected on the day. There is a risk that security will be such a concern the event could be made practically impossible. But Elrayess insisted she is determined to make it happen. And it is her experience as a Palestinian and a Muslim, she explained, that has made her such a committed defender of free speech.  'They deserve to be scrutinised' In her first year of university - during the Gaza genocide - Elrayess debated an Israeli soldier at the union. She had family in Gaza at the time. "I was probably one of the most affected people in that chamber that night. "I could not have thought of anything more vindicating than to be able to stand up there and be given equal weight, and to be able to give my views." She recalled that "people came up to me from all different backgrounds and said, 'thank you so much for getting to say the things that I wanted to say, but I don't think we ever had the opportunity'". Elrayess insisted that by inviting polarising figures to debates, "we don't confer moral legitimacy on them. What we are saying is that their views are influential and consequential enough that they deserve to be scrutinised." Oxford Union President Arwa Elrayess speaks to MEE in the Gladstone Room on Wednesday (Mohammed Adnan/MEE) MEE put it to Elrayess that just last weekend Robinson organised a rally in London attended by 60,000 people, at which he said he would "stop Islam" if he was in charge of the country. He told the crowd to "prepare for the Battle of Britain". Robinson even said that "it's time for many Muslims to leave this country." Wasn't this hate speech? "I think everything that was said was abhorrrent," Elrayess replied. So what if Robinson made similar remarks during the debate? "The union operates with very strict rules," she said, which apply to everyone. "Anything that goes beyond what is acceptable with the free speech legislation will be immediately stopped, and the person will be removed from the chamber." Consistency on free speech Anneliese Dodds, Labour MP for Oxford East and a former minister, said this week: "The hatred promoted by Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson, has no place in our great city." Bishop of Oxford Dr Steven Croft and Imam Monawar Hussain, meanwhile, said they were "disturbed and saddened by the event". They argued: "Those who are temporary residents in our world-leading university and who lead the Oxford Union have a duty of care to the many thousands of Muslims, Jews and others of different faiths in the city." 'An assault on history': Censorship of author Susan Abulhawa roils Oxford Union Read More » Roshan Salih, editor of the British Muslim news website 5 Pillars, said earlier in May that the "Oxford Union and its president Arwa Elrayyes are guilty of stinking hypocrisy." Calling on Elrayess to resign, he accused her of not restoring "Susan Abulhawa's full speech criticising Israel on their YouTube channel". Last year a scandal erupted after a speech by Palestinian writer Abulhawa was deleted from the union's YouTube account and then edited.  But Elrayess was not president at the time. She denounced the decision as an example of censorship. MEE asked Elrayess whether she will upload the full speech to YouTube during her presidency. "I'm genuinely doing everything that I can behind the scenes to make sure that it goes back up," Elrayess said. "I cannot imagine leaving my term without that video going back up." She also won both praise and criticism for hosting Karim Khan earlier this month. Khan is the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court who has been subject to intense pressure (including from western ministers and politicians) over his applications for arrest warrants for Israeli ministers accused of committing war crimes.  Supporting scrutiny of Islam Elrayess' beliefs on free speech have caused her enormous difficulties in the run-up to Robinson's event. Speakers have reportedly withdrawn from the debate and even threatened to withdraw from other union events.  Independent MP Adnan Hussain announced last week he was withdrawing from the debate on the basis of Robinson's involvement.  Robinson is persona non grata in most British institutions. The National Union of Students has a policy of de-platforming Robinson. Right-wing news channel GB News has never invited him on. And Reform UK has said he would not be welcome in the party. One of Elrayess' most interesting arguments was that she wants to challenge perceptions that Muslims seek to prevent "scrutiny of our religion". "I wanted to prove that it is within a Muslim's term, that I was willing to have this conversation." She added: "I'm not afraid to have my faith scrutinised because I know I can defend it. "I'm not afraid to hear this rhetoric because I know what I think about it, and I want to be able to give other Muslim speakers or other Muslim students the same opportunity I had when I first came to Oxford, to be able to look someone in the eye who's done so much harm to your communities and tell them exactly why they're wrong." The Gladstone Room at the Oxford Union (Imran Mulla/MEE) The president further said that many Muslim students have told her they support the decision to invite Robinson. 5 Pillars, the news website whose editor called on Elrayess to resign, polled its readers last week and found that most of them supported Robinson's involvement in the debate. "It's not that these issues will go away" if Robinson can't speak at the union, Elrayess argued. "The real danger is when these conversations are having nobody there to confront them or scrutinise them." A profound debate over the limits of free speech At the heart of this controversy is a profound and long-standing debate over the purpose of dialogue and the boundaries of free speech. Many arguments against Elrayess' decision are based on the principle that some people's views are so dangerous and beyond the pale that they must not be debated. This position was given eloquent voice by English philosopher Bertrand Russell when he famously rebuffed an invitation in 1962 to debate him by Sir Oswald Mosley, the founder of the British Union of Fascists. "It is always difficult to decide on how to respond to people whose ethos is so alien and, in fact, repellent to one’s own," a then 89-year-old Russell told Mosley. "It is not that I take exception to the general points made by you," the philosopher said, "but that every ounce of my energy has been devoted to an active opposition to cruel bigotry, compulsive violence, and the sadistic persecution which has characterised the philosophy and practice of fascism. "I feel obliged to say that the emotional universes we inhabit are so distinct, and in deepest ways opposed, that nothing fruitful or sincere could ever emerge from association between us." 'Nothing fruitful or sincere could ever emerge from association between us'  - Bertrand Russell to Oswald Mosley, 1962 The traditional spirit of the Oxford Union has always been markedly different. Elrayess told MEE the union is in its essence a "free speech society", a member's club devoted to the principle of debate.  It was founded in 1823 after a secret meeting of students who wanted to rebel against the university's prevailing censorship. Often seen as a stomping ground for elite young Britons destined for parliament, the society has been regularly mired in often extraordinary controversy.  In 1933 it passed the motion "This House would not in any circumstances fight for King and Country", prompting Sir Winston Churchill to condemn the union as "abject, squalid, shameless" and "nauseating". At a legendary 1964 debate, civil rights icon Malcolm X made the case for armed resistance in support of the motion "This House believes extremism in the defence of liberty is no vice; moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue." Former US President Richard Nixon spoke at the union in 1978, four years after the Watergate scandal that brought him down. OJ Simpson made global headlines when he addressed the union shortly after being acquitted of murder, and the British government banned the broadcast of an appearance by Sinn Fein politician Gerry Adams. In 2024 the society was widely condemned in the right-wing press after voting resoundingly to declare Israel an "apartheid state responsible for genocide".  This latest episode, whether or not the planned debate with Robinson goes ahead, follows in a long tradition of similar controversies. The Oxford Union, former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan once dramatically proclaimed, is "the last bastion of free speech in the western world." It will almost certainly continue to inspire ferocious debate, both inside and outside the chamber. UK Politics News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0