**Student Gaza Protestors Get Support from Labour MP**
Diane Abbott, a Labour MP, has spoken out in support of students who protested against the Israel-Gaza conflict at the University of Oxford. The students were part of the group Oxford Action for Palestine (OA4P) and were arrested during their protest in May 2024.
The university has said that it will take disciplinary action against the students, including potential suspensions. But Abbott believes this is unfair. She wrote a letter to the university saying that treating student protests as misconduct risks undermining the values of freedom of expression and academic freedom.
Abbott is worried that any disciplinary action could have serious consequences for the students’ future careers. She also thinks it’s not fair to treat principled protest on urgent moral issues like this as something wrong. Instead, she says universities should be encouraging civic engagement and moral leadership in young people.
The university has said before that the student protest was “not a peaceful sit-in” but an action designed to escalate tensions. It also mentioned that the protest created an intimidating environment for some students and staff, including Jewish students and members of the local Jewish community.
This is not the first time Abbott has spoken out about the Israel-Gaza conflict. She has been vocal in her support for Gaza during the ongoing crisis with Israel. The conflict began over a year and a half ago when Israel launched a military campaign against Hamas after an attack on 7 October 2023 that killed around 1,200 people.
Since then, at least 54,470 people have been killed in Gaza, including 4,201 since Israel resumed its offensive on 18 March. The BBC has tried to contact the university for comment but hasn’t received a response yet.
**What’s next?**
The university is expected to hold hearings about the disciplinary action against the students this month. Abbott’s letter is an important voice of support for these students who are facing potential consequences for speaking out on an important issue.
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