Oxford Union chaos as debater met with 'hatred and abuse' over Israel-Gaza row

The controversy swirling around Oxford Union president-elect George Abaraonye is a "rude awakening" for the historic debating society, a pro-Israel commentator has said. Jonathan Sacerdoti endured a barrage of abuse and heckling during a fractious 2023 debate at the Union on whether Israel operates as an apartheid state, where protesters screamed slurs and security interventions failed to quell the chaos.

Mr Sacerdoti, a British journalist and Middle East expert, believes Mr Abaraonye's likely removal - following a no-confidence vote that passed 1,228 to 501 on Sunday - offers a chance for the 200-year-old institution to "right itself" after being hijacked by activists pushing an anti-Western agenda. Speaking to Express.co.uk, Mr Sacerdoti linked the scandal to broader assaults on "fundamental things to do with freedom of speech and our sort of Western liberties", highlighting Mr Abaraonye's gleeful social media reaction to the assassination of US conservative Charlie Kirk in September as evidence of a deeper problem.

Mr Abaraonye, a 20-year-old politics, philosophy and economics student, was elected president in June but faced immediate backlash after leaked messages emerged celebrating Kirk's shooting at a Utah Valley University event.

The right-wing influencer's death, ruled a political assassination by US authorities, prompted Mr Abaraonye to post: "Charlie Kirk got shot, let's f****** go" on WhatsApp, and "Charlie Kirk got shot loool" on Instagram. His remarks came just weeks after he debated Mr Kirk at the union.

The Oxford Union condemned the remarks as "deeply inappropriate" and launched disciplinary proceedings, while Mr Kirk's Turning Point USA vowed to boycott the society - a venue which has hosted Winston Churchill and Malcolm X.

Thousands voted in the no-confidence ballot, open for in-person and proxy submissions on October 19.

Proceedings were briefly suspended early on October 20 amid claims of "obstruction, intimidation, and unwarranted hostility" from representatives, according to returning officer Donovan Lock. Counting resumed later that day, sealing Mr Abaraonye's fate with the resounding margin.

However, the president-elect the continues to contest the result. In a statement issued on Monday, he alleged: "This poll was compromised from the moment [President] Moosa Harraj and his majority on the Standing Committee brought compromised and untested Poll Regulations. [Extraordinary Returning Officer] Donovan Lock who ran the election shared around the Email account collecting proxy votes, including to personnel who campaigned to have George ousted, who had unsupervised access.

"We do not know if or how many proxy votes have been tampered with." Under Union Rule 47(h)(v), his position awaits a disciplinary committee review, but sources say his tenure is effectively over.

Mr Sacerdoti recounted his own ordeal at the November 2023 debate, where he opposed the motion "This House Believes Israel is an Apartheid State".

Flanked by ex-Palestinian militant Mosab Hassan Yousef and Israeli Arab activist Yoseph Haddad, Mr Sacerdoti endured what he called a "bank of hatred and abuse" from pro-Palestinian protesters, some sporting red triangle earrings - a symbol co-opted by Hamas to mark targets.

Speaking at the time, he said: "One of them screamed at me that I was a liar. I think she screamed 'genocidal mother******, **** you'," describing the jeering as "extremely disrespectful" and "scary". Security ejected one heckler after warnings, but not before attempting to remove Mr Sacerdoti's husband for filming the chaos.

He accused the Union of a "set-up", claiming seating was rigged to ambush speakers and that eight minutes of audio - capturing Arabic slurs translated by his team - was excised from the official video. Two individuals, including an opposition speaker, were ultimately removed for breaching house rules, the Union said.

On Tuesday, Mr Sacerdoti framed Mr Abaraonye's downfall as symptomatic of the same forces he encountered. "It seemed to me... that [the Union] had been captured by a sort of very nefarious group of people who were using it with a very specific agenda, and in my case, that related to Israel.

"But it's obvious... with the reaction to the Charlie Kirk murder, that there was something much bigger at play. And so often the case, Israel was one of the many issues through which they were attacking more fundamental things."

As another Israel debate looms in November, Mr Sacerdoti urged: "One can hope that that will be conducted in a more orderly and respectful way than the one I was involved in. This will be the shock that they need."

He stressed the Union's prestige - a "training ground for Westminster" that has shaped countless prime ministers - demands accountability. "It matters how it looks to the world, and it should matter to Oxford University, even though it's not an official society."

The saga has exposed rifts over antisemitism and protest etiquette. Oxford Stand Up To Racism decried racist abuse against Mr Abaraonye, while critics like Turning Point USA decry a toxic culture.

Mr Abaraonye, in a now-private Instagram post, defended his bid for a counter-motion of confidence, insisting the Union should be a space "where students can make mistakes, apologise sincerely, and learn from them".

With the disciplinary probe ongoing, the Union - independent of the university - faces calls to tighten governance. Mr Sacerdoti's words highlight ongoing tensions over free speech and institutional control.

Writing in the Telegraph, Alexander Larman, literary editor of the Spectator, said: "The Oxford Union can still work: good riddance to its obnoxious president-elect."