“Shimon Peres, you’re a war criminal!” say Oxford students

Silent women in black, shouting students, small babies in prams, university lecturers and a local elected official were just some of the crowd gathered to voice their protest against an Oxford college's decision to honor Peres on Tuesday, 18 November as he gave the inaugural lecture in a series to be named after him. Some handed out leaflets and many were carrying signs, one of which read "Globalization of Apartheid," a pun on the title of the lecture, "Globalization of Peace."

After the Master of Balliol College, Dr. Andrew Graham, refused to cancel the series in response to earlier demands, including open letter by students and academics from the United Kingdom and protests from as far away as South Africa, the Oxford University Student Palestine Society in conjunction with the city's branch of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) called for the people of Oxford to protest outside the hall as students interrupted the lecture inside.

PSC General Secretary Betty Hunter said she was delighted that Oxford PSC and supporters had shown Peres "that those who condone war crimes are not welcome here." A Labour Party member of Oxford's City Council, John Tanner, said, "I'm here because I think it does Oxford University no good to have the President of Israel greeted and feted this way."

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