Embattled Palestinian president of Oxford Union: ‘I’m not resigning’
Key takeaways
- Arwa Elrayess, the first Palestinian to lead the University of Oxford’s debating society, has been misquoted and troubled by falsehoods.
- The room was full of onlookers as Elrayess, who became the head of the Oxford Union late last year, stood tall in a green sequinned dress.
- “Palestinians, when they talk, are for some reason a danger.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
Arwa Elrayess, the first Palestinian to lead the University of Oxford’s debating society, has been misquoted and troubled by falsehoods.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Arwa Elrayess was voted in as the head of the Oxford Union late last year, becoming the first Palestinian to lead the prestigious debating society [Courtesy of Arwa Elrayess]By Laura O'Connor Published On 11 Jun 202611 Jun 2026At a motion for a vote of no confidence against Arwa Elrayess, the first Palestinian president of the University of Oxford’s debating society, Oxford Union, she was accused by a 20-year-old student of contributing to “an atmosphere of hostility and harassment”.
In a video of the forum last week at the prestigious university, which was shared with Al Jazeera, Elrayess is seen replying to Ben Ashworth, “Not just in my career within the union but in my existence as a Palestinian, there seems to always be this post-mortem vilification of Palestinians.”