Issue 20: 21 March 2022

SOAS SPIRIT

21 MARCH 2022

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SOAS Occupied: Students Removed From SOAS Main Building

On day one a banner serves as the border of the occupied space on the first floor of the main building. (Credit: Frances Howe)

Lara Holly Gibbs, MA Gender Studies On the morning of 23 February, a group of students began occupying the first floor of the SOAS Main Building where the executive offices and staff common room are located.

On Thursday 3 March the remaining students were evicted by a private eviction company, nine days after the occupation began.

Throughout the occupation, students gathered on campus in support of the occupiers.

Sometime after 11 PM on Thursday 3 March, an unknown number of men entered the SOAS Main Building. Some entered the building through the balcony using a ladder. Several men were seen wearing uniforms from a company called Eviction Response Team, while others could be seen outside

of the Main Building holding riot shields.

Occupiers were given the option to leave or told they would be ‘carried out.’ SOAS Solidarity Instagram live streamed the events and urged those nearby campus to come and support the occupiers.

A video posted by SOAS Solidarity (the group behind the occupation) showed a student being carried out of the Main Building. Students gathered and shouted ‘shame’ as the student was removed from the premises. The student filming the video was describing the situation and could be heard saying ‘there are people down on the floor and security are dragging them by their legs.’ By 1 AM, no occupiers were believed to remain in the Main Building. Statements from SOAS deny that any ‘injury or incident’ occurred during the removal, though SOAS Solidarity statements contradict this, saying that three students were injured during the removal.

On the first day, occupiers published a set of four demands of the occupation. The first called on management to ‘Accept, implement and advocate for’ UCU and UNISON’s demands. The second asked for demands of SOAS student and worker-led campaigns to be accepted, including English classes for the cleaning team and ‘the immediate removal of Adam Habib.’ Thirdly, occupiers asked to demarketise and decolonise the institution. Lastly, that there would be no disciplinary action taken against anyone involved in the occupation.

SOAS’s Chief Operating Officer, Khadir Meer, told the occupiers on the first day that they had until 5 PM to leave by peaceful exit. This deadline was extended to 5:30 PM, however after 7 PM, Meer told students that no action would be Continued on page 3

Letter from the Editor

Contents News

SOAS Strikes Again

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Priti Patel Says Misogyny Will Not Be Made A Hate Crime

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Iran-Qatar Talks Indicate Support of A Nuclear Deal

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Opinion Will Students Ever Feel Safe At University?

Twitter As A Voice for Indian Muslims

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Features The Perfect Hummus Recipe

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Get Puzzled with the SOAS Spirit

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Sandy Nicoll and Kerem Nişancıoğlu Interview

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Dear Spirit readers, Welcome to Issue 20 of the SOAS Spirit. What a milestone to hit! I am honoured to get to steer our team through to our final issue of the year. It’s been a strange match between being online and being in-person, with bringing the Spirit back to the hands of its readers and with navigating daily life on campus at SOAS. As always, this issue would not make it to print without the tireless efforts of our senior editorial team, section editors, sub-editors, online editors, layout designers and social media team. However, in hitting this milestone I want to take time to recognise the efforts of an even more crucial component of the SOAS Spirit: our writers. Unlike other student newspapers, the SOAS Spirit doesn’t have a set writing team, instead our pages reflect the ebb and flow of a variety of different students.

This year we’ve been able to benefit immensely from the brilliant mind of Anisah Mahamoud who has written routinely for our Culture and Opinions editor. In this issue, Mahamoud provides a review of the second season of Euphoria with a prose that is unique and instantly

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A Night at INFERNO

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Lara Holly Gibbs • SOAS News Editor • Rishika Singh • National News Editor • Clayton Barrington-Rusell • International News Editor • Leehoo Pansky • Opinion Editor • Zaynab Mufti • Features Editor • Mat Hick • Culture Editor • Mahek Arora • Sport & Societies Editor • Artemis Sianni-Wedderburn • Co-Deputy Editor

A Look Inside the Women's Football Team

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Anneka Shah • Senior Sub-Editor • Phoebe Parsons • Sub-Editor • Maryam Abdul-Mujib • Sub-Editor • Arthie Sivanantharajah • Sub-Editor • Millie Weighton Glaister • Sub-Editor • Yi-Chun Huang • Layout Editor • Aisha Fatima • Layout Editor • Frances Howe • Layout Editor •

Sports & Societies SOAS Musical and Drama Society is Back!

Frances Howe Editor-in-Chief of the SOAS Spirit

Frances Howe • Editor-in-Chief • Artemis Sianni-Wedderburn • Co-Deputy Editor • Naaz Hussein • Co-Deputy Editor •

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Bye-bye BMus at SOAS

recognisable.

Another Culture Section standout is Toby Oliver-Clarke whose writing has seamlessly filled the corners of each issue of the SOAS Spirit this year. From reviewing the Tate Modern’s biggest exhibitions to investigating corruption allegations against Tory Ministers, Oliver-Clarke’s articles are quite genuinely a delight to read and edit.

It won’t take much paying attention for readers to recognise Amelia Casey-Rerhaye’s name as it pops up again in Issue 20. Casey-Rerhaye exudes a diversity in skill set in this issue from challenging EU policy to writing the 'perfect hummus recipe.'

No mention of outstanding contributions to the Spirit this year would be complete without Anisah Islam who has graced the National News, Opinions and Features Sections this year. Lulu Goad has joined us again this year in Issue 20, following on from a trend of reflecting on society events and webinars, Goad has written two articles for the SOAS Spirit this time and asks whether university students will ever feel safe on our campuses. Gunda Pavilonytė, Hala Haidar and Madiha Najeeb have held the SOAS Spirit up this year, featuring articles across almost all sections of the SOAS Spirit between them.

We’ve been lucky enough to feature the photography and writing of Zo Wu who doesn’t shy away from hard hitting articles but instead takes a camera along for the ride.

Wu’s photography features heavily in Issue 20 adding a real richness to the pages of the SOAS Spirit. And of course, our team features a couple of tremendous writers who return each issue to ensure we have a front page, a back page and twenty-two sheets of paper in between. Finally, to all who have contributed in any way to the SOAS Spirit this year, for which this letter is too small to thank properly: thank you!

Needless to say that the SOAS Spirit will be left in more than competent hands when the time comes to pass on the baton. To our readers: thank you for joining us this year.

Your SOAS Spirit Team

Culture A Tribute to Jamal Edwards

21 MARCH 2022

Millie Weighton Glaister • Senior Online Editor • Anna Fenton-Jones • Online Editor •

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Naaz Hussein • Co-Deputy Editor

Clarissa Mondeh • Social Media Co-ordinator • Aisha Fatima • Social Media Co-ordinator •

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21 MARCH 2O22 https://soasspirit.co.uk/category/news/ News Editors: Lara Holly Gibbs, Rishika Singh, Clayton Barrington-

SOAS News

News

Continued from page 1

taken to remove students that evening but that a court order would be sought to guarantee their eviction. Security staff were stationed outside the occupation and student occupiers remained overnight.

At 12:19 PM on 24 February, SOAS management announced the closure of the SOAS main building due to a ‘health and safety risk.’ An email sent to students stated people were ‘planning to congregate on the stairway in front of the occupiers.’ A rally took place at 1 PM on the steps outside of SOAS that day.

The main building remained closed the next day. The SOAS Directors group’s daily email update said that the ‘occupation constitutes unlawful trespass’ and stated they were ‘continuing to pursue a court order.’ The email also explained that the occupiers could access toilets, however this would constitute leaving the occupation and students would not be allowed back in.

On 27 February, the Directors group published a response to the demands of the occupation. It included SOAS’s policy on student occupations, which stated SOAS ‘will not tolerate any occupation of its premises.’ The main building remained closed until Tuesday 1 March. It reopened after assurances from UCU, UNISON, and the Students’ Union that a rally in the stairwell would not take place. It is unclear what evidence SOAS had that a rally was planned for the staircase inside

the building, SOAS Solidarity deny planning any rallies inside the main building but did host rallies outside, as has occurred historically at SOAS. The main building remained open during the final 2 days of the occupation, but under ‘managed access.’ SOAS also announced extended library opening hours as well as additional opening dates due to ‘disruption to staff and students.’

On 2 March, the Directors group said they expected occupiers to leave by 5 PM and if they had not left that ‘they would be liable to being removed either through court order or under common law.’ SOAS Solidarity called on students to gather outside the Main Building steps from 5 PM onwards due to the ‘threat of eviction’ which they believed was an ‘intimidation tactic’ by SOAS. Following the eviction and as of 9 March, SOAS Directors group announced that they would not be pursuing disciplinary action against those involved in the occupation on this occasion ‘as a gesture of goodwill.’ They also commented on the increased security presence on campus, saying that this ‘reflects the School’s commitment to ensuring normal operations continue without further disruption.’

In a press release provided to the Spirit by SOAS Solidarity, they stated that numerous ‘privately hired bailiffs and security guards’ gained access through multiple entrances including ‘the main entrance, side entrance and through the

balcony using a ladder.’ They were observed wearing riot gear, such as ‘helmets and riot shields.’

SOAS Solidarity also maintained that ‘no notice was given’ for the eviction, nor were grounds provided as to how the removal was being able to be facilitated. SOAS Solidarity state that the ‘occupiers were given 30 minutes to pack their things and leave before being forcefully removed’ and that the evictors refused to identify themselves to students. In their statement, SOAS Solidarity again stated that they ‘demand’ Habib’s ‘immediate removal, as per our original demands, and that students and workers of the university have choice over the appointment of future management.’

A statement from SOAS made available to the SOAS Spirit on 4 March 2022 and states that SOAS are going to ‘commission a study on the attitudes of students and staff to protests and occupation, and how these incidents should be addressed in future. Many say they speak for our collective community, yet none - including the Director’s Group - do so from an evidential base. We desperately need such an evidential base to influence the future management of such challenges.’

Full statements from SOAS can be accessed by students via email and full SOAS Strike Solidarity statements can be found on their social media accounts.

SOAS Staff Strike Again

Posters lined the picket reminding passers by of the reasons behind the strikes. (Credit: Lara Holly Gibbs)

Lara Holly Gibbs, MA Gender Studies Monday 14 February marked the start of 10 days of industrial action this term. The action was announced by UCU SOAS and described as the ‘most sustained and ambitious period of industrial action’ in their history. UNISON called for strike action across the final 5 days. The strike was carried out from 14-18 February, 21-22 February and 28 February until 2 March.

Staff at SOAS were striking for five key reasons; cuts to pensions, cuts to pay, precarious employment, pay inequality, and unsafe workloads. According to UCU, UNISON, and SOAS Students’ Union, ‘the average worker on the USS pension scheme is set to lose around 35% of their pension.’

They went on to explain that this will either lead to poverty in retirement or not being able to retire. In terms of pay cuts, the three unions state that since 2009 there has been a 20% pay drop. In addition, they state that there is a 9% ethnicity

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pay gap as well as a gender pay gap of 14.8%.

A series of teach outs and events took place on the picket line over the course of the strike. Including talks on decolonising SOAS, reading groups, and a Justice for Workers rally.

A booklet created by UCU, UNISON, and the Students’ Union suggested ways students could support the strike. They asked students not to cross the picket line, but instead use off-campus facilities and join the picket line activities. They also suggested alternative study and faith spaces.

SOAS Deputy Director and Provost, Claire Ozanne, addressed students in an email. Ozanne spoke of aims to reduce the impact of the strike by extending deadlines that fell within the strike period and moving all teaching online on strike days. In addition, attendance was not recorded during the strike.

In a statement on the strike action, SOAS said ‘We have made clear to the SOAS community that we are disappointed that strike action has been called.

‘At SOAS, the executive team do not have the power to

change the outcomes of the national discussions. Changing the outcome is beyond the power of any individual executive team in HE in the UK. We are committed to the principle of fair remuneration and a decent pension for all of our staff, as we set out in our position on USS and to UUK. But strike action at SOAS cannot change the circumstances we all face, which have to be resolved at national level.

‘In place of this industrial action, we would wish to see continued national discussion and resolution to reach agreement in the interests of staff and students. However, we do recognise the right of staff to take properly constituted action. At the same time, we seek to do all we can to support our students' learning and progression.

‘We are especially focused on protecting the learning and wider student experience throughout the course of this dispute.

‘Our overall approach is to mitigate the impact of industrial action to ensure that students can successfully progress and complete their studies.’

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National News

21 MARCH 2022

National News

Priti Patel Says Misogyny Will Not Be Made a Hate Crime

Women protesting to demand safety and justice after the murder of Sarah Everard. (Credit: The Telegraph)

Madihah Najeeb, BA Global Liberal Arts Content warning: gender based and sexual violence, sexual harrasment and assualt Ministers have rejected calls for misogyny to be made into a hate crime in England and Wales, claiming that it would be ‘more harmful than helpful’ to women and girls who are victims of violence.

The offence had been added to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill by the House of Lords, but ministers have voted to reject this decision once the bill was raised to the House of Commons.

Home Secretary Priti Patel wrote to MPs to ensure the Government rejected the inclusion of misogyny as a hate crime under the new bill.

She also asked MPs to support this new legislation which must be fully backed by both Houses for it to become a law.

The Home Secretary has said that making misogyny a hate crime will be ‘tokenistic’ as it will cause more serious offences against women and young girls to be missed.

It is argued that that including misogyny as a hate crime would make it harder to prosecute more serious sexual offenses and domestic abuse cases. A report from the Law Commission supported this point.

Prosecutors would have to find proof that the hate crime occurred as part of another offense such as rape. The same report further argued that making misogyny a hate crime

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would create ‘hierarchies of victims.’

“The Home Secretary has said that making misogyny a hate crime will be ‘tokenistic’ as it will cause more serious offences against women and young girls to be missed.”

With this Bill, the Government has also included having mandatory life sentences for people convicted of the unlawful manslaughter of emergency workers, extending the time limit for prosecutions in domestic abuse cases, increasing the maximum penalties for child cruelty offences, and introducing a ‘breastfeeder voyeurism’ offence. These measures are part of the Government's efforts to make significant changes to the criminal justice system in the UK. Patel has stated that, ‘The bill is vitally important as we overhaul the criminal justice system and make our streets safer.’

Race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, and transgender identity are already under the Crime and Disorder Act of 1998 and the 2020 Sentencing Act. However, campaigners have been pushing for sex and gender to be added to this list, arguing that that misogyny is one of the ‘root causes’ of violence against women.

The decision has been received negatively as Priti Patel

refused to establish the controversial ‘sex for rent’ as an official offense and opposed the calls to create a ‘duty of candour’ on police.

Critics of the Bill have argued that the focus of this upcoming legislation focuses more on cracking down on disruptive protests, with Home Office officials saying that ministers will ‘continue fighting’ to bring in increased police powers to deal with ‘highly disruptive protests.’

This new policy has led to ‘Kill The Bill’ demonstrations that are taking place across the country.

Labour’s shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, has criticised the Home Office, claiming that ‘crime is rising’ and that Ms. Patel was ‘refusing’ to take ‘major steps’ to keep communities safe.

To this, she added that ‘Priti Patel is also still trying to criminalise people for protesting noisily or singing in the street rather than tackling serious crime.’

Patel has defended her support for the Bill claiming that, ’there are still too many violent criminals getting off with such inadequate sentences for appalling acts of violence and sexual offenses and still people who feel unsafe walking the streets of their own homes.’

The issue of violence against women has been strongly debated in the wake of the murder of Sarah Everard.

This decision has been met with fierce opposition, with domestic violence charity Refuge stating, ‘Crimes committed against women that are driven by misogyny, must be acknowledged as being hate crimes. In the same way that crimes are motivated by racism, disablism, religious discrimination, homophobia or transphobia are.’

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21 MARCH 2022

Russia Invades Ukraine

International News

International News

An older woman amid rubble after missiles struck residential apartments in Kyiv, Ukraine on 25 February. (Credit: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Gunda Pavilonytė, BA Chinese On 24 February, Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered military forces to enter Eastern Ukraine. Residents began to seek shelter in underground stations after being woken by explosions in the early hours of the morning.

Putin's reasoning behind his actions are to ‘demilitarize and de-Nazify’ Ukraine, protecting people from genocide.

Ukraine is a European democracy that is led by a Jewish president.

There has been historical resistance from Russia against Ukraine becoming part of the European Union and joining NATO, the defensive military alliance.

On the second day of the invasion, Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov stated during a press conference that ‘nobody is going to attack the people of Ukraine,’ and that there were ‘no strikes on civilian infrastructure.’

However, reports about residential areas being struck by missiles and apartment buildings being shelled have been shared on social media since the beginning of the invasion.

The UN says that at least 198 Ukrainian soldiers and civilians have been killed so far, while Russia has not admitted any deaths on their side.

People have been seeking safety inside underground

stations and air raid shelters with others protecting themselves in basements. Andrii Medianyk, a civilian living in the city of Kropyvnytskyi, shared his experience of living in a constant state of anxiety with the SOAS Spirit in a recent interview: ‘Our bags are already packed, every night we’re sleeping with our shoes on in case the sirens go off at any minute’.

The Ukrainian Government has called for civilian recruits to fight back, issuing more than 18,000 guns to volunteers with locals resisting the invasion with makeshift firebombs.

When receiving an offer from the US to aid him in escaping the country, Ukrainian president Vladymyr Zelensky refused the offer saying: ‘There’s a battle happening here. I need ammunition, not a ride.’

As of 11 March 2022, the Guardian reports that 2.5 million people have fled Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict.

The European Union, United States, Australia, Japan, and other countries have condemned Russia’s actions, not only sanctioning its companies and individuals but also Putin himself. Reinforcements to assist Ukraine and provide ammunition have been delivered from several European governments.

On 26 February, the EU, US, and their allies announced Russia’s removal from SWIFT. Removing Russia from the

world’s largest international payment system means that payments are blocked and thus transactions outside of Russia and movement around the world are reduced.

Russia has been the second largest SWIFT user, heavily reliant on the system for its key oil and gas exports. Such action is likely to cause serious damage to Russia’s economy and infrastructure.

Additionally, a radiation spike has been detected near Chernobyl's nuclear power plant which has been seized

by Russian forces, monitoring data shows.Radiation levels have increased by 20-fold ever since heavy military vehicles entered the area.

Moreover, protests over Russia's war in Ukraine have been taking place all over the world. Thousands have gathered to show support and push their governments to implement harsher sanctions.

During a protest in Ukraine, a woman confronted heavily armed Russian soldiers telling them to ‘Take these seeds, so that sunflowers grow when you die here.’ Demonstrations in solidarity with the Ukrainian people are ongoing in at least 27 cities all over Russia.

Russia's Investigative Committee warned that participation in any anti-war protest was illegal, threatening that such offences would be considered a criminal offence.

after, she was heckled by a large group of boys who expressed slogans as they encircled her.

Speaking to the SOAS Spirit, Muskan’s father Mohammad Hussain Khan said that ‘my daughter is focusing on her studies right now. But we know that this issue will get resolved soon. The matter is in court and hopefully things will get better as this whole issue is created to stoke tension in the society.’

The hijab issue has now reached the Karnataka High Court when petitions were filed on 31 January 2022.

Muslim students demanded the right to wear the hijab in classrooms under Articles 14, 19 and 25 of the Indian Constitution.

Protests across India intensified when the High Court on 10 February called for students to be banned from wearing any religious attire to school. This included saffron shawls that some students from the Hindu faith started wearing to protest against their fellow classmates who were wearing a hijab.

Shortly afterwards, a female Sikh student (who is obligated to wear a turban like her male counterpart) was asked to remove her turban by her college in Bengaluru, the capital city of the State of Karnataka. This event prompted the Karnataka Government to clarify that the interim order does not apply to Sikhs, making it targeted.

The government reserves the right to issue appropriate directions to schools and colleges to ensure maintenance of

public order.

In the Karnataka High Court where the case is going on, the debates have covered what constitutes secularism in Indian schools and colleges, and what religious markers should be allowed. There are parallels with the law of 'Laïcité' in France, where any 'religious article' is not allowed to be worn in public.

Maryam Nasir Alavi, a lawyer who wears Hijab, stated that the attack on the hijab has escalated beyond freedom of conscience. ‘There is now video evidence of women in hijabs being denied banking services, of teachers in hijab being forced to disrobe beyond institution gates.’

Alavi alluded to cases coming in from all over India where hijab-clad women were 'discriminated against.' New Delhi’s Municipal schools have also asked for students to not come to schools with a hijab. She further added that the Constitution of India protects 'freedom of conscience and the courts have repeatedly recognised individual belief as the core of freedom of religious practice.’

Indian academic Pratap Bhanu Mehta, in an Indian Express article, stated that the motivating principle behind the removal of the hijab 'is not progressive equal rights for all.

It had four functions: An instrument by which to browbeat minorities and erase Muslim cultural presence in the public sphere; to continue and create a sense of dread and fear; to trap self-described progressives into a politics of 'ifs and buts'; and to foment more violence.'

Hijab Becomes Cause for Concern in India Mohammad Ibrar, MA South Asian Area Studies

An intense debate is underway in India that could have repercussions for the secular nation’s interaction with religious attire in schools and colleges.

In early 2022, six teenage students donning hijab were denied entry to their government-funded pre-university college.

The issue arose in the region of Udupi in coastal Karnataka, a place that is known for Hindu-Muslim group tensions.

It continued to the whole of the State of Karnataka where other instances of Muslim girls getting barred from college came to the fore.

The principal of the Udupi college, Rudre Gowda, claimed that the students used to wear hijab when they would come onto campus, but would remove it when entering class. He claimed that there was no hijab-wearing rule, and alleged that this was an effort by outside forces.

The protests took a turn when several men were seen protesting against hijab by donning saffron shawls – a marker of their Hindu nationalist or Hindutva background. These same men were found to be harassing Muslim girls in several videos that circulated online.

One such video that went viral was that of Muskan Khan, a student at Mandya district in Karnataka, who was seen getting down from her scooter and entering her campus with a hijab and a Covid-precaution mask on her face. Shortly

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International News

21 MARCH 2022

Mandatory Vaccine Pass Sparks Dissent in French Capital Artemis Sianni-Wedderburn, BA Politics and Arabic Thousands of police officers mobilised in Paris on Saturday, 12 February following the ‘vaccine pass’ coming into effect on 25 January 2022. This was after approval by Parliament and being judged as constitutional by the ‘Conseil Constituionnel.’

The vaccine pass replaces the ‘health pass,’ and requires one of three pieces of evidence to show that the holder is fully vaccinated. These include the full course of the vaccine (including a booster dose), a recovery certificate that is more than 11 days old, or a certification of contraindication to vaccination. Failure to check vaccine passes means that venues can be fined up to 1000 euros.

The pass does not apply to 12-15 year olds who may still use a ‘health pass’ or present proof of a negative covid test as opposed to being fully vaccinated. Negative tests must be pharmacy approved, and are priced at 25 euros. Under 12s do not have to show any kind of pass.

According to government advice, the pass is designed to alleviate pressure on hospitals in an attempt to curb the spread of Covid-19. Neither a vaccine nor health pass is required for emergency medical treatment.

‘The vaccine pass is a disguised form of compulsory vaccination’ French health minister Olivier Véran told BFM TV in February, adding that ‘when we have emptied intensive care units or at least (…) when there is no further cancellation of

procedures and if no new variant is in circulation, then the utility of the vaccine pass will be debatable.’

In order for the pass to no longer be mandatory, the number of covid patients in intensive care needs to come down to roughly 1,000. France has more than 3,500 patients in intensive care as of February, 2022.

There has been a mixed reaction to the pass, with more than 105,000 people taking part in protests across the country. Parisian resident Maeve, who preferred to use her first name only, told the SOAS Spirit that the pass makes people who do not have it ‘alike to second class citizens, which they are not - they are unvaccinated.’

The demonstration on 12 February was one of the largest so far, with teargas being used to disperse the protestors alongside the stopping of around 500 vehicles at three entry points to Paris.

The protest took inspiration from Canada’s ‘Convoi de la Liberté,’ translating to ‘Freedom Convoy,’ and resulted in the arrest of 97 people who attempted to block traffic in the French capital.

‘If they block traffic or try to block the capital, we must be very firm about this,’ the French Prime Minister, Jean Castex, told France 2 on Friday 11 February, one day before the event.

'The right to demonstrate and to have an opinion are a constitutionally guaranteed right in our republic and in our democracy. The right to block others or to prevent coming and going is not,' Castex said. For three days, 7,200 police

officers were deployed all over Paris.

At the protest banners were flown reading: ‘it is not the virus they want to control, it is you,’ with the main cry heard being ‘liberté’ translating to ‘freedom.’

The police ‘were quick to use aggressive tactics despite a notable lack of aggression from protestors,’ said Maeve, recalling the use of teargas. ‘There were rumours that people were fined for waving the French flag because it was inciting protest,’ she added.

French president Emmanuel Macron addressed the protestors' frustration with the pandemic, saying that 'this fatigue also leads to anger. I understand it and I respect it.

But I call for the utmost calm,’ in a statement made to OuestFrance newspaper.

These events are unfolding two months before the first round of the French presidential election, which is set to take place from 10 to 24 April.

From 28 February, masks will no longer be mandatory in public places where the vaccine pass applies, such as bars, restaurants and tourist sites. Additionally, primary school children will not be obliged to wear a mask in playgrounds, and will be allowed to interact with classmates after the school holidays in February.

Although no date has been set for the removal of the pass, it ‘could be reduced and kept in places that are very high risk, such as nightclubs, where it would be until late March, early April,’ Véran told Franceinfo.

Iran-Qatar Talks Indicate Support of Nuclear Deal

President of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi. His visit to Qatar is his fourth foregin visit since becoming President in 2021. (Credit: Mehr News Agency via Wikimedia Commons)

Josh Mock, BA Arabic and Persian Qatar’s Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, indicated his country’s support for the Vienna-Iran nuclear deal talks during a visit by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to Doha on 21 February. The discussions between the two Gulf nations resulted in the signing of several bilateral agreements, including a plan to connect the countries via an underwater tunnel.

Raisi’s visit to Doha is considered by academics to be significant on many fronts. It marks his first visit to a Gulf nation and his fourth international visit since taking office in June 2021. It is the first visit by an Iranian President to Doha in 11 years.

The visit follows an unannounced visit by Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani to Tehran earlier in January. The Qatari Foreign Minister discussed Yemen and Afghanistan with his Iranian counterpart

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Hossein Amirabdollahian.

Qatar enjoys good ties with Iran, with whom it shares the world’s largest natural-gas condensate field in the Persian Gulf. Iran supported Qatar during the 2017 Qatar diplomatic crisis when Saudi Arabia and its allies boycotted the small Gulf nation due to allegations of supporting terrorism and diapproval of Qatar’s ties to Iran and Turkey. Qatar and Saudi Arabia agreed an end to the crisis on 4 January 2021 after signing an agreement brokered by the United States and Kuwait.

Raisi had hoped that his trip to Qatar would boost political and trade relations with Gulf Arab countries, as well as being an opportunity to discuss issues of ‘common concern’ between the two nations. One such issue was the ongoing Vienna talks that aim to revive the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and western powers, known as The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the JCPOA in May 2018, calling it ‘defective at its core.’

President Joe Biden has been trying to revive the deal since taking office in January 2020. He says the US will rejoin and lift sanctions if Iran reverses its breaches of the JCPOA, while Raisi maintains that the US must make the first move.

Commenting on the Vienna talks, Raisi said that ‘guarantees are essential to reach an agreement,’ and urged the United States to prove it is willing to lift heavy sanctions if a deal is struck. Qatar’s emir said his country was prepared to do what it can to assist in bringing an agreeable solution to all sides in Vienna.

Iran also suggested that it would be open to discussions with Saudi Arabia, which Al-Jazeera reporter Jamal Elshayyal suggests could lead Qatar to find itself ‘in a position where it may play mediator’ between the two opposing regional powers.

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International News

21 MARCH 2022

India Sends Aid to Distraught Afghanistan: A New Plan to Deal with the Taliban?

Mohammad Ibrar, MA South Asian Area Studies

On 22 February, India sent over 2,500 metric tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan via the land route through Pakistan. Carried in 50 Afghan trucks, the wheat will be handed over to the UN's World Food Programme in Jalalabad.

This aid is part of a commitment made by India to deliver 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat to assist the people of Afghanistan. This comes after weeks of negotiations with Pakistan which allowed India to use the Wagah border for the shipment to pass into Pakistan and eventually reach Afghanistan.

Transit trade was suspended between India and Pakistan three years ago over tensions between the two nations.

Indian Foreign Secretary, Harsh Shringla, and Afghanistan ambassador to India, Farid Mamundzay, were present when the first 50 trucks left from the Indian border post of Attari and crossed into Pakistan through the Wagah border.

These trucks will eventually cross the Afghanistan border of Torkham. This aid comes at a crucial time for the country, as Afghanistan has been reeling under a severe economic collapse and food shortage since the return of the Taliban rule in August last year.

According to Avinash Paliwal, Deputy Director of the SOAS South Asia Institute, ‘This is a humanitarian gesture which will help India regain some respect among the wider Afghan population. But it is also a sign of India coming to terms with the reality of the Taliban in Kabul, and such supplies, which require coordination with the Taliban officials, will help New Delhi to measure the political and security

temperature in Afghanistan.’

On January 1, India sent 500,000 Covid-19 vaccine doses to Afghanistan via Tehran. India had been requesting Pakistan to allow a land route since October last year but was met with hesitancy.

“This aid comes at a crucial time for the country, as Afghanistan has been reeling under a severe economic collapse and food shortage since the return of the Taliban rule in August last year.”

Pakistan had suspended Indian transit trade to Afghanistan after India’s move to abrogate Article 370, which gave a special status to the State of Jammu and Kashmir, in 2019.

Paliwal explained that ‘Pakistan has traditionally been averse to overland transit of goods between India and Afghanistan. But, in this case, the fact that the wheat was critical aid to address a humanitarian emergency (and not a trade item), and that the Taliban pushed Islamabad to allow overland transit - because it is cheaper, easier, and sustainable - with support from the World Health Programme helped to make it happen. Both the trucks and the drivers were Afghan, alleviating Pakistan’s concerns of Indian citizens and materials entering Afghanistan.’

What is Happening in Mali?

Clayton Barrington-Russell, BA Arabic and International Relations

After almost a decade, the French military presence in the West African state of Mali has drawn to a close. Despite President Emmanuel Macron denying a military ‘failure,’ many Malians feel that the European ‘counter-terrorist’ force has contributed to the destabilisation of an already volitile local political climate.

It is believed that French and EU troops will remain in the Sahel region, as part of a ‘joint action’ mission to combat the spread of so-called ‘jihadist’ groups, such as Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.

Despite the persistent presence of an international military force, these militias have continued to claim responsibility for attacks on civilians in Mali and bordering countries Burkina Faso and Niger. According to Reuters, an estimated 610 civilians were murdered in Niger last year by suspected ‘Islamist’ militants.

The relatively stable state of Burkina Faso has faced its own terror attacks, such as a tragic attack on a hotel in the capital Ouagadougou in 2016, despite also housing a large European military presence.

What initially brought French soldiers to the country?

French forces have been in Mali since 2013. A year prior, vast swathes of the North had fallen to Tuareg separatists and forces allied to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. Such a takeover soon garnered international condemnation, as these militias began to painstakingly dismantle the fabled Islamic monuments of Timbuktu.

In late 2012, both Mali and the Economic Community for

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West African States (ECOWAS) called for foreign military intervention, and on 11 January 2013 the French military launched ‘Operation Sevare.’

This involved the deployment of 1,500 troops who had been advancing towards the capital Bamako. Despite initially repelling the militants and pushing them back into the country’s arid North, the French forces were unable to conclusively defeat them.

To this day, these groups continue to launch attacks and kidnappings against civilians, not just in Mali, but across the wider Sahel region as well.

What went wrong for the French force?

Amid a recent surge in attacks conducted by the self-titled ‘jihadists,’ the French military withdrawal comes at a time in which it is being accused of inefectiveness in stopping such clashes. France is also facing issues domestically.

According to various polling firms, including BVA and Odoxa, almost 60% of the French public disapprove of Macron’s presidency, placing him in a precarious situation concerning international deployments.

Malians are in support of the Western military force's withdrawal, accusing them of aiding in the destablisation of the country due to their inability to conclusively deal with the militants.

Upon the news of the French withdrawal, the streets of Bamako were reported to be jubilant, with Russian flags interspersed in the crowds. Additionally, there have been many reports of the military government in Mali hiring a considerable number of Russian mercenaries to ensure its protection. Although these are presently only hired soldiers, Russian influence in the land-locked African state is growing.

By distancing Mali from Western militaries, interim President Goïta has chosen to rethink and realign alliances with

However, he points out that this could possibly thaw the India-Afghanistan relationship.

According to Dawood Mohammadi, Conflict Analyst at the Tarzi Research Foundation in Kabul, this is a sizable step.

However, he believes that more needs to be done.

He calls for India to engage more with the Taliban and take a participatory approach. ‘The last twenty years were a good opportunity for India to institutionalise and deepen its relationship with Afghanistan. But India was busy only dealing with the government and whenever the government faced any problems India started to skip from Afghanistan and stopped their involvement.’

Mohammadi explained that the current problem is that India thinks the Taliban is a proxy of Pakistan, ‘which they are right about. And so, India has stayed away from Afghanistan.’ He however adds that India’s aid is an important component to assist with the humanitarian crisis.

Mohammadi reiterated his calls for India to conduct dialogues with the Taliban ‘which is now the de facto government.’ He stated that India should initiate dialogue as it has stakes in Afghanistan.

'Even we Afghans have interests in India as it is a location for many Afghans to get educated and get humanitarian aid from.'

He however said that the Taliban does not have a strong unitary view on how to establish and maintain a relationship with India.

India will be sending more wheat in the coming few days, which will hopefully serve to alleviate the food shortage in Afghanistan.

Russia - a military force that has demonstrated its capabilities in Syria and elsewhere.

A diplomatic breakdown

The decision for these forces to leave comes after a recent breakdown in relations between Mali and its former colonial ruler. The French Ambassador has been expelled, and the state has publicly accused France of training ‘terrorist groups’ in the country.

In the last ten years, the country has experienced three coup d’etats - including two in the past two years.

In August 2020, protests against corruption and government failures in dealing with the northern insurgency led to the overthrow of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta.

The coup, led by the army, received international condemnation and the country was suspended from the African Union and ECOWAS. Mali became increasingly isolated.

Bah N’daw was named interim President, but tensions broke out between the transitional government and the military, as the latter accused the former of abusing its power. Nine months later, the Malian Army, led by then-Vice President Assimi Goïta, deposed N’daw and announced new elections in 2022.

To the disappointment of the West, Mali proposed in the new year to ECOWAS that the transition period back to democracy should be extended by five years. This was deemed ‘unacceptable’ by the West African Economic Community, and sanctions were imposed on the struggling economy.

As climate change continues to devastate the Sahel region with drought, many academics see Mali’s political exile from the international community, coupled with a breakdown in relations with France, as a catalyst for the shift in its foreign policy.

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Opinion

21 MARCH 2022

http://soasspirit.co.uk/category/opinion/ Opinion editor: Leehoo Pansky

Opinion

Will Students Ever Feel Safe at University?

Students from the University of Exeter group Sit Down N Shut Up at a sit in hosted in March 2021 in response to the rise in sexual assault at the university. (Credit: Sit Down N Shut Up via Instagram)

Lulu Goad, BA Arabic Content warning: sexual harrasment and assualt On a particularly bitter February evening sat in Senate House, I logged into Zoom to join a webinar hosted by Our Streets Now to discuss their ‘Student Safety Report’ that had been created off the back of a collaborative survey with The Tab in 2021.

Our Streets Now and The Tab representatives were joined by members of initiatives such as Beyond Equality and Not On My Campus, all contributing to a conversation about the results of this survey which sought to establish students’ feelings of safety with regards to their concerns and experiences of public sexual harassment (PSH) and sexual assault in and around their higher education institutions.

The report hadn’t quite been released at the time so, a few weeks later, I found said report and looked through the harrowing statistics to refresh my memory for this article. Amongst other gruelling numbers it notes that 48% of participants did not trust their higher education system to handle a sexual assault claim appropriately and 86% of students of marginalsied genders reported that they wouldn’t feel comfortable sharing their experiences of PSH with their institution.

At the beginning of the Zoom, Our Streets Now mentioned their intention to discover what the students really felt and who they felt able to trust. It appears they got their answer.

But what was also interesting is that many of these answers were not anything new. Statistics from Rapecrisis suggest that in England and Wales, one in five adult women have experienced sexual assualt, and if we consider international students, the statistic is closer to one in three on a global basis.

The report agreed - the figures line up. One of the

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attendees, Clarissa Humphreys, Sexual Misconduct Prevention and Response Manager for Durham University, pointed out that the results of the report ‘were shocking, but not surprising.’ You could see those with their cameras on were nodding in agreement.

Whilst researching for this piece, I received an email from the Enough is Enough team at SOAS with a similar survey attached, presumably created in response to the release of the Our Streets Now report. I began to wonder what I’d say, what the whole student body might say, maybe even whether they’d say anything at all.

Because, as we’ve seen, the statistics are shocking and continue to shock due to their continued prevalence, yet years worth of accumulated data, all reinforcing the same issue, seems to have had a minimal effect at best on, in this case, the policy of institutions. These outcomes beg the question as to whether adding to these statistics will really make any particular difference.

Despite the despondent looks from the attendees, participants naturally began suggesting solutions to the problem of safety in higher education institutions. The likelihood of anything new coming up is unlikely but it’s worth listening, I thought to myself. And it was relatively useful.

Richie Benson, the Universities Project Lead at Beyond Equality, drilled in this idea of proactivity rather than reactivity. I remembered how well I thought SOAS Enough is Enough had done at providing consent workshops early on.

But to expect much more from higher education institutions is potentially naive since the budget for student support is extremely low, with only 17% of tuition fees going towards enhancing teaching, research infrastructure and the student experience, according to Nottingham Trent University.

So even though common law states that a universities’ duty of care to students includes the provision of pastoral support and taking steps required to protect the health, safety, and well-being of students, how much are they really willing to do considering the limited budget? There was a salient concluding point from Benson.

He commented on how in the past talking about PSH and sexual assault meant the audience clocked off, stopped listening, but how ‘now, when these words come up, people lean in.’

It’s on the minds of many, and the flourishing of sexual assault support or awareness initiatives, such as Everyone’s Invited, proves progress is being made whether it seems like it or not. So whilst the safety of many of the UK’s universities may continue to be endangered for years to come, inch by inch reports like this might eventually make a big difference.

Our Streets Now highlights that their report sets out very clear, achievable goals for higher education spaces, so perhaps this will be some of the advice that universities at long last decide to follow. Maybe finally we’ll see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I would very much encourage readers to add your response to the aforementioned Enough is Enough survey if you feel willing and able to. The more responses, the merrier.

This article discusses content that some readers may find distressing. We have included a list of recourses that may be helpful to our readers: the Student’s Union offer ​​specialist support contact information on the SU website: https://soasunion.org/support/ personal/ Outside of SOAS: Survivors Network telephone helpline (Open Mon 7-9 PM & Wed 12-2 PM) 01273 720 110; Rape Crisis UK telephone line (Open every day 12:00-2:30 PM and 7:00-9:30 PM including public holidays) 0808 802 9999, they also have a live chat function on their website (www.rapecrisis.org.uk); Survivors Network also have an online chat, text and call service (Open Mon – Sun, 12pm-8pm) accessible on their website (www.survivorsuk.org); Samaritans have a free telephone line open 24 hours every day of the year at 116 123.

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Opinion

21 MARCH 2022

The Unashamed Misogyny in ‘Alpha Male’ Podcasts on TikTok Anisah Islam, BA Global Liberal Arts A new type of content has emerged on the popular app TikTok; content that has been branded as being quite unusual and controversial by many. There has been a rampant spread of videos created by certain men who regard themselves as ‘alpha males,' voicing their distaste of women who have agency in their lives, in the guise of a podcast.

These men have repeatedly asserted in their videos that women are objects, used for their sexual gratification, and if they are anything but submissive then they are not worthy and, in their terms, ‘belong to the streets.’

This has raised the issue of toxic masculinity: men feel the need to conform to rigid gender norms. They have generated the strange assumption that all women were created solely to tend to the needs of their husbands and children.

Many of these men have also created a list of requirements that makes a ‘good woman’, but once inspected further there is a clear contradiction in each condition. A ‘good woman’ must have no sexual history but also has to be experienced in that realm, she must bring something to the table but not

have an opposing opinion, and she must have children but ensure her figure remains the same as before.

All these comments make it hard to believe that they are coming from men in the 21st Century.

Yet, it is apparent that these men have an inherent desire to treat women like how they were treated throughout history; lesser beings who are not capable of anything other than fulfilling their wishes. One particular podcast named ‘Fresh and Fit’ has made some debatable comments to women they invite onto the podcast including, ‘women don’t derive the same pleasure from career and earning money as men do since they are not built for it.’

These statements are then backed up with false evidence such as: ‘as women have gotten more rights, and privileges, and accesses from feminism, their happiness overall has been

going down.’ This clearly establishes that the one thing these men fear more than anything else is feminism.

Feminism has been altered by these men into something that women use as a weapon to bring men down. However, it is common knowledge that the basic concept of feminism is to advocate equal rights for women.

Feminism allows women to have the freedom of choice in every aspect of their lives. So, a woman can become a housewife and a mother - but it must be out of her own free will.

Not because a man on a podcast is telling her to.

These podcasts have justifiably received backlash from the rest of the community through the form of satire by both men and women, highlighting the truth behind these ‘alpha males,' which is the fact that they feel threatened by women.

This is an issue referred to as fragile masculinity, where men believe they are falling short of cultural standards of manhood and in this case, they resort to belittling women to regain their manliness.

These men cannot accept the fact that women are finally able to understand their worth and choose not to put up with anyone or anything that will prevent them from attaining their own individual happiness.

become the new protest ground for India’s Muslims whose physical assemblies always run the risk of being sabotaged

by Hindutva followers to create street violence, which means more Muslims in jails. On social media, though still not a safe space to voice opinions, the fear of physical assault — by both police and others — becomes non-existent.

And so, hashtags are the new slogans and tweets are the new placards. Social media has given the voice to those desperate for a voice.

‘Given how craven the traditional, mainstream media is in India, social media platforms, especially Twitter, become an essential platform for Muslims to reclaim the narrative that has been spun about the community, and tell our own stories in our voice,’ says Fatima Khan, senior journalist at The Quint.

Continuously harassed for her reportage, Khan was among the Muslim women put ‘on sale’ in the mock auction on both the apps. She says the arrests were possible only because of the pressure exerted by Muslims on social media.

Khan is of the view that both street protests and online campaigning can and do co-exist. ‘As we saw during the antiCAA movement (the nationwide protest by Muslims against the Modi government’s citizenship law that discriminates in granting citizenship from India’s neighbouring countries), Muslims were on the streets but also using social media to amplify their protests.’

Journalist Alishan Jafri is another prominent voice from the community who has been instrumental in forcing media spotlight on several cases of violence, hate speech, and crime against Muslims around the country. He says that Twitter and other platforms have helped Muslims to occupy spaces. ’Often liberals try to whitewash violence against Muslims. So, it becomes necessary for Muslims to take up space.’

He explained that in the past few years, many prominent Muslim handles on Twitter with a sizeable following have used hashtag campaigns to call for arrest of those who attack Muslims or have used genocidal language against them. And these campaigns have been successful too.

It was by the relentless pressure by Muslims that Hindu fundamentalist priest Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati, who routinely calls for Muslim genocide and exhorts Hindus to socially and economically boycott Muslims, was arrested — albeit for his derogatory comments against women.

In the Bulli Bai app case, it was Bombay-based Sidrah Patel who had filed a police complaint after her pictures were used on the app. She believes that the rot on social media is

deeper than these incidents and Muslims have started to raise their voice on issues that were earlier never looked at or wilfully ignored.

She says that Twitter helps Muslims call out the hateful debates and incendiary depiction of Muslims on legacy media platforms. ‘During the early days of the Covid pandemic, The Hindu, a major national newspaper, published a cartoon depicting the virus carrying a Kalashnikov and wearing an attire generally associated with Muslims. I and many others called that out and the news organisation had to delete the cartoon and apologise. This shows that Muslims can use social media to not just call out epistemic violence but also change the discourse. The platform has helped level the playing field.’

This is what Jafri means when he says that Indian Muslims have used Twitter not to be in an echo chamber but to break the echo chambers that many progressives and liberals live in where they have certain presumptions about Indian society in general and Muslims in particular. ‘We try to break the dominant narrative on social media. Now, Muslims do the talking themselves and we do not rely on others to speak on our behalf.’

But beyond being just an open space for Muslims to voice their grievances and force administrative action, Twitter and other social media platforms have also emerged as a space for them to break stories, amplify opinions and publish reportage that mainstream media ignores. Opinions and editorials in legacy media platforms seldom invite Muslim scholars and authors for their views, even when the issues concern the Muslim community, such as the recent hijab controversy in the southern state of Karnataka.

Social media helps break the dominant narrative on the hijab issue, just as it does in platforming Muslim voices that would remain unheard. ‘Now Muslims openly call out their invisibilization, the whitewashing of crimes which were played down and even satire, which often punched down on them,’ Jafri says.

Khan, however, adds that the world is not as polarised as it is perceived and there are many ‘who are just understanding and learning and unlearning their politics… For them, social media plays a crucial role in expanding their worldview.’

Voices from India’s marginalised Muslims add to their worldview and present them with an opportunity to shed their inherent biases and engage with an open mind. The challenge is that an ecosystem is also at work alongside this and it wants to drown out the Muslim voice.

"The one thing these men fear more than anything else is feminism."

Twitter as a Voice for Indian Muslims Mohammad Ibrar, MA South Asian Area Studies

Several prominent Indian Muslim women woke up on New Year’s Day to see themselves ‘on sale,’ with their names and pictures being circulated with derogatory comments. An app called ‘Bulli Bai,’ developed by young Hindu men on the open-source platform 'GitHub' was the second such instance of anonymous social media users ‘auctioning’ Muslim women with such brazen impunity.

The first time was on 4 July 2021, with many women having their pictures used as part of the ‘deal of the day’ on a similar app called Sulli Deals. However, no arrests were made by the Delhi Police which is controlled by the Home Ministry of the Narendra Modi government and in charge of the investigation.

While the Sulli Deals app remained up for several weeks, the Bulli Bai app was taken down within 24 hours, with the Mumbai Police getting into action and arresting several suspects — all students in their early 20s — from multiple locations across the country.

Many of those arrested were found to be part of the ‘Trad ecosystem’ on social media — a group of young men and women who had based their ideology off of both Hindutva or political Hinduism, and from the alt-right movement sweeping in the West. These groups ran multiple Twitter handles and Instagram meme pages where they often used genocidal language against India’s Muslim community.

Amid the pernicious gloom of Indian social media and the incessant trolling, threats, and abuses faced by Muslim men and women on a daily basis, there is a sliver of hope.

For young Indian Muslims, Twitter and other platforms have become ‘a potent medium,’ says writer Hussain Haidry, a prominent voice of the community on Twitter who routinely questions and protests against hate speech by the socalled ‘fringe’ elements and by mainstream Indian TV media known for its daily hateful shows directed against Muslims.

The potency of the medium is clear from the fact that it was the relentless social media campaigns by young Muslims that bore result in the Bulli Bai app case. Not only was the case widely covered by the mainstream media after the nearsilence in the Sulli Deals app case, but the arrests were quick and the usually silent political class came out acknowledging the bigotry and daily threat faced by Muslims, especially women.

As such, Twitter and other social media platforms have

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Opinion

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How the War Against Russia Gave Women Rights in the Ukrainian Military Olympia Belengri, BA International Relations and Development Studies

The war sparked by the Russian occupation of Crimea in 2014 reformed the structure of the Ukrainian army. Due to underfunding of the Ukrainian armed forces, military operations against Russian aggression were initially formed partially out of grass-roots volunteer battalions.

The shadow war against the Kremlin's power-grab, to which inadequate international attention had been given until recently, largely fell upon the hands of Ukrainian civil society to fight.

As conservative Russian groups have contested the existence of independent Ukraine since 1991, Ukrainians not only fight for their sovereignty but for the persistence of their identity and culture. Ideas of a non-existing Ukrainian culture are aggressively furthered by Vladimir Putin's imperial narrative of the relations between the countries, re-constructing historical relations in a tsar-like tone.

Putin not only condemns Ukrainian sovereignty but denies that the country ever had any own traditions as a state. The conflict with Russia is a fight for the persistence of Ukrainian society, dating back much further than 2014 in terms of defending the Ukrainian identity. This history undoubtedly shaped the structure of the war, but little media attention has been given to how it enabled reform within Ukrainian society.

This narrative obscures the agency of Ukrainian women in the war. As past and recent news focus on male combatants, I wonder, what about the women? Currently, women officially make up for around 10% of the armed forces – numbers excluding the reproductive and unpaid labour of women in the military sphere.

Due to the vast involvement of Ukrainian civil society in the mobilisation to battle Russian aggression, a political opportunity arose for Ukrainian women to tackle traditional military gender roles, leading to a broader questioning of the rights and portrayal of women in Ukraine’s national consciousness.

As in the case of many men who joined the Ukrainian

forces in recent years, numerous women found themselves at the front after 2014 with no aspirations of going into the military before. To clarify: writing about the agency of Ukrainian women in the military is in no way a celebration of armed conflict. It is, more than anything, a much-needed femalecentred perspective on the dynamics of the war and a small account of the reality in Ukraine.

To provide some background, the increase of women in Ukrainian military operations post-2014 brought the former highly discriminatory legal framework of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence to light.

"Allowing space for the personal in international politics opens the opportunity of seeing war for what it is – inevitably intertwined with the realities of the people fighting" Women were seen as too delicate to carry heavy loads, singling them out to perform traditional female roles as nurses or in the service of male soldiers. In some cases, the conditions led to women serving unofficially, teaming with volunteer battalions that sometimes held right-winged, white-nationalist reasons to fight.

The increased need for women in the military highlighted further inequalities in terms of ranking. As of 2017, the Ukrainian Armed Forces had over 20 000 women officially serving – around 8% of its total troop number – but only 0.1% of women in the military had been promoted to officer rank, whereby none had risen to become generals.

The social exclusion from the army fused feminist movements – later supported by the Ukrainian parliament – to act, as women found themselves risking their lives at the front in radically more precarious working conditions than their male counterparts.

Needless to say, the trend of increased female involvement in the military being followed by modest recognition of female achievement is nothing new – feminist IR scholars

Reflections on Inequality Chris Hoellriegl, MSc. Development Studies

It was bitter cold and anything but a good day when I accidentally dropped into a conversation with Sophia, a rough sleeper wrapped in blankets and sitting next to a crowded tube station on Oxford Street. We probably would have never met if my bike had not been stolen that Monday and I had decided to go home instead.

When walking through the busy street for the first time, I was so overwhelmed by the vibrant colours, loud music, and cultural diversity that I would not have seen her if she had not approached me and asked for a hot chocolate.

That was the beginning of wonderful conversation – not only because Sophia liked chocolate and talking about politics as much as I do, but also because her story really touched and motivated me to share our reflections on a place such as Oxford Street that embraces two extremes of society so casually: livelihood and wealth on one hand and numerous rough sleepers on the other. How is it that our society allows for such inequality to exist, and many passers-by to hardly care?

What is the reason for that? Shall we blame the ecopolitical system? The fact that some people simply work harder and/or are more scrupulous, or the fact that some are naturally more gifted? Probably everything.

However, an important but blatantly downplayed aspect is individual egoism that leads to an incorrectly possessive attitude towards money, skills, or wisdom, for instance.

By falsely claiming ownership of our talents, or defining

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ourselves by achievements through them as society's socialtopping philosophy commands, we tend to forget that at the end of the day all those gifts are merely borrowed.

One must acknowledge that everything we receive in life – even those things we can indirectly achieve through hard work and talents – can first and foremost never be fully owned by anyone, as nobody is fully sitting in the driving seat of life. Does anyone disagreeing not seem arrogant?

For instance, nobody decides what circumstances one is born into or what factors may affect one's abilities to achieve goals. Similarly, nobody can deny that every gift may be taken away fairly or unfairly as it was granted fairly or unfairly before – family through blows of fate, money through stock market crashes, or health through accidents, for example.

Considering that we do not truly own our gifts, it is inappropriate to use them, especially money, at one's own disposal. In line with this, Aristotle brought up the idea of seeing gifts as borrowed means to a higher purpose.

Though he did not directly link gifts to a form of social responsibility, one must do so, given how dependent on others´ gifts everyone within a society or on a global scale actually is. Have you considered the valuable, (in)direct impact of teachers, doctors, or social workers in your life? Of policemen, cleaning staff, or exploited workers caught in the dormitory labour regime?

How fatal it can be to underestimate the impact of another's gifts, or to falsely impose a hierarchical ranking. This became blatantly obvious during the Covid-19 pandemic

have produced numerous groundbreaking works on the issue for decades.

By underlining the need for female military services in the war with Russia, women in Ukraine could advance ideas of gender equality by protesting the discriminatory nature of the armed forces. Building on previous societal changes in Ukraine, illustrated by the Ukrainian revolution, grass-roots projects depicted the precarious reality for Ukrainian women in the military.

Notably, the report ‘Invisible Battalion: Women’s Participation in ATO Military Operations’ (2015), created by the female-led project The Invisible Battalion, highlighted the underrepresentation of women in the military in media coverage and public discussion. To little surprise, the report also states that it led to an obscurement of the role of women in military infrastructure overall.

With extensive movements forming for equal rights in the military, legal and discursive change came. In 2018, a bill initially drafted by a cross-party women's group got passed, ‘ensuring equal rights and opportunities of women and men during military service in the armed forces.’

New research has since been conducted on the situation of women serving in the military. The Invisible Battalion Project produced two additional reports after 2015 on the psychological aftermath of the war for female veterans and wartime sexual harassment, both supported by UN Women.

The crucial insight to take from this is that the crisis not only forced civil society to take arms for the survival of Ukraine but also to fight for what kind of society Ukraine aspires to be.

In light of the brutal conditions facing Ukraine after the Russian invasion last week, we must be careful not to welcome a detached, victimising image of its society, nor judge the people’s need to fight for the privilege of independent existence.

Despite the ignorance of the West, Ukraine has been fighting this war for years, finding ways to persist, progress, and grow in crisis. Allowing space for the personal in international politics opens the opportunity of seeing war for what it is – inevitably intertwined with the realities of the people fighting.

when a shortage of masks suddenly showed how important distant workers in dormitory labour regimes can be for the health status of a developed nation.

Ironically, the ranking and payment of health care workers, for instance, seems similarly debatable until patients depend on them.

Does it not stand reason to link our possibilities in whatever form to social responsibility, considering how dependent we all are on each other? Does it thus not also seem logical that many gifts actually imply great responsibility and not status as society tends to convey?

Imagine what world we would be creating if we all humbly detached ourselves from our egoistic, falsely possessive attitude towards our borrowed gifts and tried to live up to the inherent responsibility. Imagine our ecopolitical system if we, as Marx claimed, made especially the temporary gift of money, a servant of society, not the problem by supporting a wealth tax, for instance.

Although many, including Jesus in the parable of the talents or Rumi, have beautifully argued so, history has repeatedly shown the potential of talents to corrupt hearts and minds. How many would probably not get theirs again if they were distributed once more based on our attitude towards them? Would you?

By the end of our conversation, Sophia and I agreed that we all are probably far from being perfect and able to live up to such standards. However, the thing is, we must never cease to try.

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Features

21 MARCH 2022 http://soasspirit.co.uk/category/features/ FEATURES EDITOR: Zaynab Mufti

'Peace of Art' by Aisha Fatima

Features

All these colourful forces might at first seem as if they are at war with each other but are truly working in harmony to create peace, reference taken from Laura Barbosa. (Credit: Aisha Fatima)

Hybrid learning: A revolutionary learning model?

Alex Lew and Ashika George, BA Art History and Archaeology

Since the new academic year has begun, many have not been able to return to classrooms and reunite with their classmates. I feel that the pandemic has emphasised the importance of social interactions which we have also taken for granted. I always heave a sigh of relief at the slightest return to life as we knew it.

Hybrid. Online. Offline. These methods aren't set in stone.

The spread of COVID-19 has caused some schools to take up full-time remote learning, while others started remote at the beginning of the pandemic, and are now gradually moving

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back to in-person learning.

Truth to be told, I detest hybrid learning. It is difficult for individuals who suffer from ADHD. In the beginning, I struggled to survive studying in hybrid mode. Little by little, with encouragement from family and a supportive community of friends I made from various SOAS societies, I was able to foster my resilience to ‘keep calm and carry on.’

There are still long-standing challenges in this pandemic.

Online learning proved to become repetitive and exhausting. That is a state no student should have to be in, especially with regards to their education. As much as the necessity of remote studies can be understandable, it shouldn’t seem farfetched for institutions to find healthy methods of learning while simultaneously keeping it online.

Some students have complained regarding the poor quality of and access to study materials, such as readings and powerpoints. I found the formatting of readings to be very difficult to work with as there were limited options to highlight and add notes. Powerpoints often had minimal information about the course lectures to aid in revision.

Revision and the exam period also served as a challenge to some students. The capitalisation of academic content proved to be a nuisance. Websites offering academic literature, which if accessible, would have been fantastic sources to reference in exams. Unfortunately, the paywalls that bar students from access are simply unfair and pose further questions on the classist approach to educational content.

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21 MARCH 2022

The Perfect Hummus Recipe

Hummus and flatbread, the perfect afternoon snack. (Credit: Jules, Stone Soup, Ceative Commons)

Amelia Casey-Rerhaye, BA Arabic For those of you students lucky enough to have a blender or food processor at your disposal, this one is for you. The key to the perfect hummus cannot be found in any old recipe. It is the essence, the patience and love, the frantic switching between spoonfuls of tahini, squeezes of lemon and glugs of olive oil that leave your kitchen in a state of complete disarray; this is what leads to hummus perfection. After a couple of attempts at this recipe, you’ll be whipping up this magical dip in ten minutes (perfect for last-minute dinner party offerings).

“After a couple of attempts at this recipe you’ll be whipping up this magical dip in ten minutes.”

Features

Get Puzzled with the SOAS Spirit Naaz Hussein, BA Politics Relations The answers are on page 23.

However, the journey must start here, with a basic recipe that I have used for years and has earned me much praise. As always, the measurements are suggested proportions, and can be adjusted to taste. However, I would recommend following the recipe accurately first, and then tasting and adding ingredients as you see fit. I usually find that it is the salt and lemon juice that I play with the most.

Another big factor is the quality of your olive oil. When I am at home I use a very nice bottle that my parents buy which adds a gorgeous silky and fragrant taste, but at uni, the Lidl Greek olive oil works wonderfully too and is much cheaper.

This recipe makes around two to three Tesco hummus pots worth.

Ingredients:

1 can of chickpeas (save the water in a bowl) 2 tbsp tahini (I use brown, but white works too) 2 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp (or as much as is needed) chickpea water 1 clove of garlic, roughly chopped Juice of half a lemon ½ tsp cumin Salt and black pepper to taste

Method:

The method for this is reasonably straightforward. Place all the ingredients, save for the chickpea water, into your blender and blend for about two minutes. Do this until it is reasonably smooth. Then slowly add in your chickpea water, blending in between additions.

If you feel you are using a bit too much chickpea water (say you are on your fifth tablespoon) you can add a little olive oil instead to ensure a balance of flavours.

Blend for a little longer than you think is appropriate to achieve the perfect consistency, and then taste to see if the flavour is to your liking. If you find it slightly lacking in depth, add a smidge of tahini. If you feel it is a little heavy or bitter, add a pinch of salt and a squeeze of lemon juice. Et voila, you are ready for endless amounts of pitta and hummus.

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Features

21 MARCH 2022

Patrons of the Picket: A Conversation with Sandy Nicoll and Kerem Nişancıoğlu

Sandy Nicoll (left) and Kerem Nişancıoğlu (right) on the picket outside Brunei Gallery. (Credit: Zo Wu)

Millie Weighton Glaister, BA Politics and International Relations

Poetically, my interview with Sandy Nicoll and Kerem Nişancıoğlu was almost entirely jeopardised by London unravelling at the hands of a tube strike. Luckily, after a couple of electric bikes and a lot of swerving through gridlocked traffic, I made it out to the joint UCU and UNISON picket at SOAS; drenched and tired from an unexpectedly athletic commute, but excited nonetheless to speak with a couple of the faces of SOAS’ unions.

Before I saw the picket, I heard it. Music was blasting from massive speakers outside the main building, providing a positive attitude I had almost abandoned at the sight of a miserable March day in London. Barrelling around the corner, I started sifting through a crowd of familiar faces - patrons of the picket, students and staff alike. I spotted Sandy and Kerem on the furthest picket, perched outside the entrance to the Paul Webley wing. It came as no surprise to me; they would have been there for hours before I arrived, and likely would remain hours after I’d retreated from the cold.

‘Ready for a chat?’ I chirped, approaching a grinning Sandy opposite a rather more hesitant Kerem. As we gathered under the imposing architecture of Senate House, we eased into some simple introductions, with Sandy taking the lead: ‘My name is Sandy Nicoll, I'm the Unison Branch Secretary at SOAS. I work as an administrator in the IT department, I have worked at SOAS since 1994 so that makes me... quite old.’ Laughing, Kerem took over, quipping that they had recently been mistaken for father and son: ‘My name is Kerem Nişancıoğlu. I'm a senior lecturer in international

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relations, in the politics department. I'm also the UCU branch chair at SOAS.’ In the context of the ongoing strikes, it has recently become obvious that many students at SOAS are encountering trade unions for the first time; we ventured into how they both became involved, and when that started. Sandy regaled the instance of returning from his first day of working at a supermarket aged 14: ‘the first question my mum asked me is what union I had joined.’ We shared a laugh as he continued, stating that at the time that was ‘deemed to be the normal thing,’ while now ‘there are generations that come through without the same awareness of what Unions are for and without the same consciousness about why taking that kind of collective action together is important.’

While Sandy seemed used to this kind of question, reassuring me that this was a story he’d told many times, Kerem was more reserved, taking his time to formulate a response, drawing on the indirect exposure to politics and trade unions he had growing up. Moving on to his ascent into his role as UCU branch chair, he claims it was unintentional, stating a large reason was that ‘no one else would do it.’ He laughed it off but it didn’t surprise me; from all my interactions on the picket, the role is no small feat. Even putting aside the direct antagonism of management, it’s a massive commitment and has incredibly high stakes - people’s futures for one.

Both Sandy and Kerem’s passion for being able to provide support to the people around them was as evident in their faces as in their words. Sandy remarked that the day the cleaners were officially brought in the house was one of the happiest days of his life. Kerem added that despite the ‘dispiriting and alienating’ realities of a heavily marketised institution, in his role he had been able to ‘connect with colleagues

in a way that sort of recovers a genuine human relationship, that isn’t reducible to producing money.’

Having observed the power of a picket line over my time at SOAS, and having all those feelings intensified by my conversations with Sandy and Kerem, I was truly feeling the essence of what union action is about. Disappointingly, I know that doesn’t always translate to the rest of the SOAS community. So I passed that question over to them: how can we bridge the gap between staff and students in union and striking solidarity? They both arrived at the lack of and therefore the necessity for an educational program for students. Not simply in learning how to display solidarity with current union members, but actually in the use of unions in our futures. Sandy’s fear for current and future students was palpable; the realities of the world we are graduating into is not easy to reckon with. However, that just further increases the urgent need for young people to be armed with the power of collective action.

My final question was probably more for my benefit, rather than for the sake of the article. As an already jaded 20-something year old, I sheepishly asked if they still genuinely had faith in being able to change the institution. Their answers grounded me. Wins are possible; they have and will continue to happen. But rightfully, they both highlighted the scope of the necessary changes and how that speaks to the wider political landscape. The tools honed through collective action don’t have to be limited to the idea of what the institution is now or how it was in the past; there is room for an entire reimagination of what could serve every potential member of the community, and it is up to us to demand that.

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Features

Who Dares Question the EU? Amelia Casey-Rerhaye, BA Arabic

Since 2020, EU nations have used illegal operations to push back 40,000 asylum seekers in the Mediterranean. An investigation by the Guardian linked these actions to the deaths of over 2,000 refugees.

I would like to introduce you to Front-LEX, an organisation dedicated to holding the EU and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) to account for their reported involvement in illegal pushbacks of asylum seekers on EU external borders.

On a warm May evening, I met a group of academics at a terrace - in the small village of Fiesole - overlooking the timeless city of Florence. They were headed by Omer Shatz, the director of the legal department of the organisation Front-LEX. Front-LEX is a group that is single-handedly challenging the infamous Frontex and individual MEPs for their abuse of refugees in the Mediterranean Sea. Immediately, I was captivated by the group as they explained the goals of their endeavours. Every guest at that table understood the enormity of what Shatz was doing. The only thought running through my mind was that these are the men and women on the right side of history.

Almost a year on, we’re on the precipice of a tribunal brought by Front-LEX at the European Court of Justice, accusing Frontex of human rights violations in the Aegean Sea Region (per Article 265 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union), on behalf of two asylum seekers. The refugees sought out asylum in Lesbos before being ‘violently rounded up, assaulted, robbed, abducted, detained,

forcibly transferred back to seas, collectively expelled, and ultimately abandoned on rafts with no means of navigation, food or water.’

A second case has already been accepted by the courts, accusing the EU and Frontex of being responsible for the deaths of over 2,000 Libyan refugees in the central Mediterranean.

The process began back in 2020, with a Communication sent to the Executive Director of Frontex, Fabrice Leggeri, demanding the suspension or termination of all ‘operations in the Aegean in view of serious and persistent human rights violations’ (Front-LEX, 2020). With the deadline for a response set at 2 months, Front-LEX sat back and waited for a reply that never came.

Front-LEX is focusing on the injustice and lack of accountability that runs rampant in Frontex. In the official announcement of the tribunal on the Front-LEX website Shatz quotes: ‘To date, the Court has never reviewed the conduct of Frontex nor provided for its countless victims. We trust the Court to hear the victims, to see what everyone sees, to hold the EU border agency to account, and restore the Rule of Law over EL lands and Seas.’

Frontex has been condemned by multiple other human rights groups, as well as a report produced by a cross-party group of eight MEPs.This all points out the full impunity granted to Leggeri, and the imbalance of checks imposed on the leader. With an unprecedented 63 workers in his private cabinet office, an investigation completed by the Guardian revealed that according to MEPs, the recruitment of two more Executive Directors was delayed by Leggeri, despite the demands of EU regulations. A curious contrast between work

21 MARCH 2022

efficacy and number of workers, made more curious by the number of testimonies and reports of abuse and lack of internal regulation that have gone unresponded to by Frontex.

Recently, the European Commission set an aim to give Frontex more workers and equipment, including increasing operational armed staff to 10,000 by 2027 - an ‘army’ as Shatz described them in a Roundtable interview. Frontex is a direct result of the EU’s border policies, Jane Kilpatrick, a researcher for Statewatch also present during the interview, explained. The organisation was never created with ‘good intentions’ but was always a product of the EU member state’s desires to shut out migrants and ‘protect the border.’ But with over 2,000 refugee deaths in the Mediterranean over the Pandemic period alone, inevitably we question who indeed requires this ‘protection,’ and from what?

‘It is not a question of either-or,’ I recall Shatz saying to me; ‘the options are not between crimes against humanity or an uncontrolled influx of hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers.’ This dangerous binary is what Front-LEX hopes to disintegrate with its legal actions.

Front-LEX is adamant about protecting those who are in need; ‘through legal actions and public trials, we will seek to terminate EU migration policy, provide a remedy for its victims, and hold the culprits to account.’ The EU has long viewed refugees as an ‘external threat’ that must be fought against. In light of the recent events In Ukraine, it is important to question where this rhetoric was when Ukrainian refugees needed aid? The double standards concerning refugees have become too stark to be overlooked.

The Winning Entry of the ‘Enough is Enough: Sexual Abuse and Violence Awareness Week’ Poetry Competition Anonymous Content warning: sexual violence Twelve I

II I was twelve.

He kissed me, not on the cheek I told him he scared me I told him everything would be alright I was worried he was upset, like she had been

The first time it happened, I had walked with his crying wife, she wasn’t sure she would ever be a mother.

I reassured her she could play dress up with me for as long as she liked.

She laughed, but I remember meaning it That’s what love feels like at twelve I suppose She was so kind, and she was hurting I wanted her to take me for all the reassurance I could offer

He did it again, and again

The next morning, I rushed through breakfast, I was late for the bus He had come by looking to pick up our shared lawnmower I was home alone, he asked me for a kiss

Last month he stood in my kitchen and ate a cookie I had made He said it was the best one he’s ever had.

Memories of that moment remain suspended around me like fractured glass I gave him a peck on the cheek

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I was twelve.

I was thirteen.

He said I made him feel good He laughed when I felt too shaken to lock the door III

Standing beside him, she asks me if she was still invited to my wedding one day She wants to dance to a song we loved when I was twelve She’s finally a mother ‘to two wonderful boys,’ she tells me She asks me why we drifted apart

I haven’t felt at home in my own body in a decade but he’s on a beach in Hawaii He is a father now He says he worries about his ten-year old’s safety at school What about me?

This poem includes content that some readers may find distressing. We have included a list of recourses that may be helpful to our readers: the Student’s Union offer ​​specialist support contact information on the SU website: https://soasunion.org/support/ personal/ Outside of SOAS: Survivors Network telephone helpline (Open Mon 7-9 PM & Wed 12-2 PM) 01273 720 110; Rape Crisis UK telephone line (Open every day 12:00-2:30 PM and 7:00-9:30 PM including public holidays) 0808 802 9999, they also have a live chat function on their website (www.rapecrisis.org.uk); Survivors Network also have an online chat, text and call service (Open Mon – Sun, 12pm-8pm) accessible on their website (www.survivorsuk.org); Samaritans have a free telephone line open 24 hours every day of the year at 116 123.

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21 MARCH 2022 http://soasspirit.co.uk/category/culture/ Culture Editor: Mat Hick

Culture

Culture

A Joyous Celebration of Black Duality: Life Between Islands at the Tate Britain

Njideka Akunyili Crosby, ‘Remain, Thriving’.' (Credit: Tate Britain)

Toby Oliver-Clarke, BA History Life Between Islands is an exhibition of grieving and gratitude: a space where protest and pacifism collide. Despite being several years in the making, the exhibition feels strikingly current, its works, some of which date back more than half a century, hold just as much importance now as they did at the time of their creation. Covering the work of over forty Caribbean-British artists, the exhibition is arranged in an order that could lazily be labeled chronological. Whilst superficially the exhibition does move from the past to the present, full engagement requires one to disregard the usual laws of time. However noble the following aims might be, the purpose of the exhibit isn't to tell a story of black suffrage, or uncover lost static narratives of so called ‘Black history,’ but rather, the exhibit aims to create ‘living histories,’ provocations that blur the lines between then and now in the hope that we may create a better future.

This contortion of time is no more apparent than with Lubaina Himids 1987 portrait of Haitian revolutionary Toussaint Louverture. Louverture, who led the 18th century revolt of the Haitan people against colonial France, is plastered with newspaper articles covering the racist treatment of Black Britons throughout the eighties. Instantly, Himids message is strikingly clear, despite the self-congratulatory way in which race relations in modern Britain are discussed, the systemic oppression which Louverture rebelled against has not only

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endured, but has become an invisible shackle on the ankle of Black Britons, shackles which Himid implores us to shake off.

A room labeled ‘pressure’ bears witness to the violence, oppression and defiant joy that came to define the lived experience of Black Britons throughout the 1970s and 80s.

The space is adorned with conscious contradictions. We see a rerun of Isaac Julien's ‘Paradise Omeros,’ the now infamous film recounts the racist and often violent nature in which the Notting Hill Carnival was policed and surveilled. Directly across we see Denzil Forresters ‘Jah Shaka’ that depicts the underground black music scene that boomed during the troubled years of the 70s and 80s. The image is one of joyful rebellion, a celebration of the enduring nature of Black love and resistance. The contradictory nature of the space perfectly conveys the duality of black life throughout the late 20th Century, a reminder that only under the highest of ‘pressures’ may diamonds form.

The final room is aptly named ‘Past, Present and Future’ filled with works completed in the last few years. The space speaks to the contortion of time that runs throughout the whole exhibit. Most striking is Njidecka Akunyilis ‘Remain, Thriving,’ originally commissioned for Brixton Underground Station; the painting depicts a meeting of the grandchildren of the ‘Windrush generation.’ The scene is reminiscent of the ‘front rooms’ that many children of Afro-Caribbean descent have come to associate with their forbearers, the walls adorned with images of black revolutionaries including Olive Morris and Kwesi Johnson, serve as a reminder that we stand

on the shoulders of those who struggled before us. Whilst outwardly the scene is a celebration of possibility, the painting also contains a haunting reminder. In the background, a television relays a 2018 news broadcast covering the discriminatory treatment of the Windrush generation, British Citizens of Carribean origin who were invited to come to the United Kingdom following the second World War. All at once we see the ‘Past, Present and Future’ of the black experience collide, whilst the younger generation represents the limitless future of Caribbean communities, we also see the unjust policies of the past collide painfully with our present.

‘It's about time’ is a trope which is used amongst art critics with increasing regularity, usually used when referring to the work of artists of colour. The phrase often seems to be a way for those in the know to signal their virtue, whilst also allowing them to retrospectively seem ahead of their time. ‘Life Between Islands’ gives the phrase an entirely new meaning, with its blending of the past, present and future, the exhibit gives us both the space to conceptualize the pain of the past, whilst also providing the audience with a rallying point from which we may influence our present and the futures that lay ahead of us. Truly a triumph of Black resistance and creativity, one could easily argue that ‘Life Between Islands’ will come to be known as the most impactful exhibit of its generation. If you only see one exhibit this year, make sure it's this one, after all, ‘it's about time.’

‘Life Between Islands’ is at The Tate Britain till April 3rd.

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21 MARCH 2022

Tributes paid to a cultural champion: Jamal Edwards Clayton Barrington Russell, BA Arabic and International Relations

On 20 February this year, the UK sadly lost one of its greatest cultural contributors of the 21st Century. Jamal Edwards MBE was perhaps the most influential pioneer in establishing the UK’s urban music and grime scene, creating SBTV as a platform to showcase up-and-coming artists such as Stormzy, Emeli Sandé and Ed Sheeran. Although he was not an artist himself, music fans across the world will miss Edward’s enthusiasm, energy and deep desire to transform people’s lives. His legacy remains rock-solid and embedded in British culture – a cornerstone of the ever-changing music industry.

Born in Luton, Edwards moved to London with his family as a child, where he gained a small following on YouTube by videoing and uploading his friend’s rapping. Starting up in 2006 with just a handycam, Jamal began to find local rappers in a bid to exhibit their talent and kick-start their career. As the channel gained a bigger following, this was transformed into SBTV, now an acclaimed platform used by new, promising musical talent, eager to make their breakthrough. Over the years, such gifted artists have included Stormzy, Dave, and Headie One, whilst other already well-established grime artists helped make their mark on the platform like the

legendary Newham MC, D Double E. In the space of less than 10 years, Edwards had single-handedly revolutionised the ways in which opportunities can be given to young artists, often from underprivileged backgrounds. In 2016, SBTV expanded and gave some of the first UK interviews with big names in the American rap scene, such as Drake, Schoolboy Q, and Nicki Minaj. The channel will continue to support and give a stage for talented rappers and singers to prove themselves, cementing Jamal’s incredible legacy in British music history.

Tributes have been pouring in from across the industry, in memorial to a man who has given a future to so many.

In a recent concert at London’s O2 Arena, rapper Dave paid tribute to Edwards, explaining to fans, ‘Jamal Edwards is the reason I’m standing in front of you guys here today.’ The sheer amount of people who have been touched by Jamal’s work is staggering. Outside of the UK’s grime scene, Edwards got involved with the likes of Ed Sheeran, who recently named him his ‘life brother’ in a touching Instagram post dedicated to his late close friend. Now one of the biggest artists in the entire world, Sheeran has previously stated that he, just like many others, owes his career to Mr Edwards.

Edwards’ passion to change the world led him to broaden his focus and become involved in other ventures outside the music industry. In 2017 he worked with The Guardian to

create a documentary destigmatising the issue of male suicide in the UK, before later that year shedding light on the mental health problems of artists in the music industry, explaining that he ‘wanted to raise awareness.’ Along with this, Edwards had also become an accomplished author - publishing his own book in 2013 titled Self-Belief: The Vision: How to Be a Success on Your Own Terms.

The BBC reports that Edwards passed away at his mother’s house, with a close friend claiming he suffered a sudden heart attack. Tributes have poured in from across the world, including from HRH Prince of Wales, who awarded Edwards with an MBE in 2014 for services to music.

Hutchings, guitarist Mansur Brown, and band Kokoroko, are all drawing on their heritage to construct an exciting new British musical identity. The music produced by these artists popularises a British sound that compliments British cosmopolitanism. A SOAS music student with their grounding in ethnomusicological concepts and theories would be in prime position to analyse, report on and contribute towards a movement like this.

SOAS has been a hub for musicians that have not been educated in the classical musical tradition. Many haven't taken A-Level music and are not acquainted with western musical concepts. In SOAS, students learn about music through a deep understanding of the cultural context and the people that play in the tradition. This is invaluable in achieving authenticity in the music industry. As a former student of the Jazz course at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, the teaching style has been and continues to be refreshing. The course does not promote an elitist attitude and all are welcome to try what they want, as long as it fits into the remit of the course. I have been given the connections and resources to start up my own band, playing Afro-beat, with people who interest me, both musically and generally.

SOAS music students are involved with a number of fantastic institutions that nurture young talent. Organisations like Tomorrow’s Warriors, Grand Union Orchestra (GUO), and National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NYJO) have all educated young people in the performance, history and appreciation of music from all around the world. The SOAS music department is a vital part of this educational network which diversifies and supports important sections of the British music industry and community.

Despite the end of the BMus and BA Global Music undergraduate courses, the MA Music will continue. The masters course will offer musicians and others the chance to discover music in the SOAS way. Anyone studying the BA Creative Arts degree will also find a pathway in music studies as well.

This said, the undergraduate music degrees have been a stepping stone for people who may not want to pursue academia past an undergraduate level but still want a career in music.

The BMus and BA Global Music programmes have been a site for critical thinking where students can reflect, promote and practice global music. They will be a sad loss to the field of music studies in Britain.

“A luminary of British entrepreneurship and with a selfless dedication for manifesting others’ success, Jamal Edwards MBE will be dearly missed…”

A luminary of British entrepreneurship and a selfless dedication for manifesting others’ success, Jamal Edwards MBE will be dearly missed, and fans of all genres of music are

Bye-bye Bmus: The End of Undergrad Music Jo-Gerard Re’Em, BMus The SOAS Bachelor of Music (BMus) undergraduate degree is in its final months and the last two students of the BA Global Music degree graduate next year. The programmes are being discontinued and their modules swallowed up by the broader BA Creative Arts degree. This is part of a cull of nonremunerative modules and courses.

The cull is a response to SOAS’s financial problems and coincides with wider art education funding cuts from the former Conservative education secretary, Gavin Williamson.

Lucy Duran, Head of Admissions for the BMus course, said that the cuts to the music department were ‘a big disappointment’ but she could see that the course had to go, given the circumstances.

SOAS’s crippling financial issues led to reduced admissions and made the continuation of the course unfeasible. It could not have come at a worse time. A global musical movement is happening on our front doorstep and who better to contribute to it than SOAS BMus music students.

The Guardian calls the movement ‘The British Jazz Explosion.’ A cadre of young British musicians have been catapulted to stardom, drawing to themselves a socially diverse following. Nubya Garcia, saxophonist, is stunning listeners with her lyrically melodic improvisation, with her music embracing her heritage from both sides of the Atlantic. She expresses her Caribbean influences through Soca, Calypso, and Reggae mixed with genres closer to home like Jungle, Garage, and Break-Beat. Although some of these genres are part of a chain of the same lineage (Jungle is the child of Hiphop, Breakbeat, and Reggae), she skillfully blends them using her education in the Jazz tradition.

Other artists are experimenting with a mixture of British genres: Afro-Beat, South African Jazz, and other traditions. Musicians like saxophonist and clarinettist Shabaka

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“A sad loss to the field of music studies in Britain.”

A case in point is Tess Hirst. She is a singer, a podcaster, and a SOAS graduate. Although she studied MA Music, the same set of core skills are taught in the BMus course. She has released an album and reported on the London Jazz scene with her one-off podcast for the Peabody award-winning radio programme, podcast, and online magazine, Afropop Worldwide.

Another notable ex-SOAS music student is Poppy Ajudha.

She studied music at an undergraduate level. Her smooth Soul-Jazz infusion and the undoubtably London inflections of her voice makes for an enjoyable listen. She has collaborated with the well-known artist Tom Misch. She is also politically active, saying to the Evening Standard, ‘If it challenges societal norms then I’m up for it.’ No doubt this tendency towards advocacy was nurtured at SOAS. During my time at SOAS I have met countless interesting musicians that have changed my outlook towards what it means to be a performer. They are versed in the traditions that they grew up in and in traditions that are not widely practised in this country. This nurtures an environment of constant knowledge exchange and growth.

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Culture

21 MARCH 2022

A Night in INFERNO:

A Photographic Article on INFERNO’s 7th Year Anniversary Red Rave

Zo Wu, BA Global Development and Arabic A dark warehouse illuminated by a sea of red textiles and clouds of smoke, reflecting sharp coloured LEDs that changed on the escading techno beats. As soon as you step foot onto the spacious dance floor, you are instantly met with a mirage of colourful energy reflecting off fellow dancers and elevating beats. With the dark and dim atmosphere of the venue, the energies of people are quite the opposite. INFERNO is a space where everyone can express themselves, whether it be through extravagant, tentacle-like costumes or full body paint. There are no limits in the creativity of expressionism. The culture of the event is based on acceptance, with no space for judgement. At first it was daunting but you soon come to realise that the atmosphere is almost sacred; everyone abides by the same logic of thought. It creates a space that is void from the stigma and prejudice of everyday society and has become a safe haven for many like myself.

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Before moving to London, I was rather nervous to find my own community of likeminded people. INFERNO was the first LGBTQ+ event that my friends and I had attended.

Not knowing what to expect, we were initially quite hesitant. However, we soon came to realise that there was a strong sense of community that was full of warmth, love and acceptance. It was with this warmth that the founder of INFERNO, Lewis G. Burton, allowed me to photograph their 7th year anniversary red rave. It was an unforgettable night filled with talented DJs and performance art, all in celebration of another year of this spectacular event and community. In the spirit of community, the next event INFERNO is holding on 25 March is a fundraiser for INFERNO team member, Sweatmother, who is having visa issues. Tickets are out now so check out @inferno_london for more information. <3 Although techno may not be to everyone’s liking, there are many other Queer events in the London LGBTQ+ community.

All photography in this article is by Zo Wu.

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Culture

21 MARCH 2022

'Amy: Beyond The Stage' Doesn't Venture Too Far Beyond Anything

The road sign to Camden Square where Winehouse would pass away is on display in the exhibition. (Credit: Frances Howe)

Frances Howe, LLB I don’t remember any significant moment growing up where I became conscious of who Amy Winehouse was. Born in 1999 myself, Winehouse’s albums are a component part of the sonic wallpaper that made up the sound of my childhood.

The first sleepover party I ever went to when I was seven years old was celebrity themed and the hostess (also seven though turning eight) went dressed as Amy Winehouse.

Decked out with the beehive and temporary tattoos, fishnets, heels and candy cigarettes (which were also included in our gift bags and promptly confiscated by my dad when he came to pick me up), I remember already knowing who Winehouse was; the costume didn’t need explaining. And so I can’t possibly give you a pivotal moment of my discovery of Amy Winehouse nor her music.

I moved to North London from Australia when I was eighteen. I got a job in a pub in Primrose Hill and after work we would go out in Camden where several bars offer late night solace to the few of us just ending our work days at midnight. On either side of Chalk Farm Road, in every pub, bar or club in Camden (I have tested this theory for three years and it still stands true), in every ladies toilet stall is an ode to Amy Winehouse. My interest in Winehouse’s music and career grew from this point culminating in dragging my then boyfriend to Winehouse’s home in Camden Square with no other reason than just to see it for myself.

‘Amy: Beyond the Stage’ opened at the Design Museum in Kensington on 26 November 2021. The exhibition is dedicated to Winehouse’s career with a particular focus on her wardrobe, and promises to give visitors a rare glimpse into Winehouse’s life and career through the display of personal items that have never been exhibited before. This is an ambitious promise for a life already so well documented.

As soon as you enter the exhibition, Amy’s voice beckons from the next room. High on a big screen is a loop of Winehouse’s performances throughout her career. But without wanting to jump the gun, I took my time reading the first placard. At the bottom a notice to visitors shares the

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exhibition’s desire to celebrate Winehouse’s career without ignoring her struggles with mental health, substance abuse and disordered eating.

This protrusion of the end of Amy’s life at the start of the exhibition is intentional, for even as I move around the walls following Amy’s life and career chronologically, the road sign to Camden Square where Winehouse would pass away, stands centred in the room. Memorabilia of guitars, song lyrics, of an invitation to audition at the Brit School and of Amy’s personal CD collection among other things are accompanied by signage in the form of ripped out notebook pages that mimic Winehouse’s notebooks which sit on display for the first time.

“This protrusion of the end of Amy’s life at the start of the exhibition is intentional.”

The exhibition grows out of Winehouse’s childhood and into the release of Frank (2003) and then to Back to Black (2006). If we choose to, we can listen to the music that influenced her own, or to Mark Rohnson speaking from a BBC documentary clip on the production in Back to Black. Whilst this room is a nice homage to Winehouse, the exhibition at times feels like a regurgitation of clips accessible to anyone online already.

A homage to Camden sits in this second room and consists of no more than a few photos of Winehouse on Parkway, in Rokit Vintage and in her first flat in the borough. Aside from an image of a mural outside of the Hawley Arms, the pub scene is left unmentioned. Whilst this may be understood to be an attempt at avoiding delving into Winehouse’s complicated relationship with substance abuse, Camden nightlife played more than a mere cameo in her life.

In doing so, the exhibition leaves aside a whole world of people and places that were pivotal for Winehouse. Instead, the exhibition paints Camden as suburban and safe instead of

being the spoiled, nocturnal and all-inviting underworld that it can be. Whilst the exhibition is a celebration of the life and career of Amy Winehouse, it leaves visitors feeling as though some chapters have been partially redacted. The title of the exhibition ‘Amy: Beyond the Stage’ may be a sort of false promise as most of the exhibition really is dedicated to her music and fashion on the stage.

The final room of three is dominated by a layered stage featuring Amy’s clothing, a nice follow up to the few dresses that dot around the start of the exhibition. The exhibition doesn’t shy away from addressing Winehouse’s relationship with body image yet it also refreshingly celebrates the work that others, like stylist Naomi Parry, put into creating Winehouse’s iconic imagery. Finally, the exhibition ends with a kind of retelling of an Amy Winehouse performance. It juxtaposes the footage that exists of her actual final performances, which, having been viewed by over eight million people on YouTube, are riddled with commentary on her substance abuse, the effects of which plague her final moments on stage. The combined efforts of Chiara Stephenson and Studio Moross work to reimagine a performance of Tears Dry on Their Own for contemporary audiences. The effect is beautiful, forcing visitors to leave the exhibition with a final impression that Winehouse was first and foremost an incredible musician. The exhibition isn’t long but perhaps that’s the unfortunate consequence of celebrating a life and career that wasn’t either.

The ‘Amy: Beyond the Stage’ exhibition probably falls slightly short of delivering on the promise that it gives a once in a lifetime insight into the musician’s life. Whilst getting to see her own notebooks and Fender Strat (which has never been exhibited before), the exhibition doesn’t provide any novel insight into the life of Amy Winehouse. Regardless, it achieves its goal of celebrating Winehouse’s career and does so sensitively, focusing the narrative on her work as an artist and not on her personal life. It doesn’t reinvent the story of Amy Winehouse but yet is a valuable celebration of her life nonetheless. I would recommend the exhibition to many but for Amy Winehouse fans, a pint at the Hawley Arms or the Good Mixer may be just as insightful.

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Culture

721DECEMBER 2020 MARCH 2022

Euphoria: A Hyperbolic Diary of Teenage Experiences

Zenday plays Rue Bennett on the HBO show. (Credit: Eddy Chen/HBO)

Anisah Mahamoud, BA International Relations Caution: The following review contains plot spoilers The first season of this improbable cult hit became legendary for how casually it hypersexualized adolescent life within the confines of a fantasy but ultimately explicit visual language. Season one received positive reviews, and Zendaya, who plays Rue Bennett on the show, earned an Emmy for her work last season. With the first season, the bar was set astronomically high, which I'm sure is why season two has received such varied reviews. New characters are introduced in the second season, such as Dominic Fike's drug user Eliott, who becomes an accomplice in Rue's relapse and new arcs develop such as the surprising companionship between Fezco and Lexi which is a pleasure to watch bloom amongst all the chaos.

There were many contrasting moments of reality and absurdity throughout the series. Nate's aggressive father yelling at his family with his penis hanging out – is one of

these moments. It's audacity like this that makes it difficult to dismiss Euphoria as a hyper-sexualised depiction of adolescent agony. In this series, everyone is a nightmare and their own worst enemy, and their deep-seated psychological flaws might feel more based for the camera than consideration for the screenplay or the plot at times.

In the fifth episode, Rue, portrayed by the fantastic Zendaya in a career-defining role, knocks the house down in a loud, spiteful, and almost too painfully terrible episode.

Until this moment, Rue's relapse has been a victim of the show's artificial poetry, but in the fifth episode, the prickly antique clothed in gloss, tears apart its insides and the consequence is almost too distressing and heartbreaking. Yet this unbearable sequence comments on the reality faced by those dealing with addiction and the excruciating dialogue that occurs between them and their loved ones.

Clearly, this episode transforms Euphoria and strips away from the branding of it being a show that glamorises addiction and paints an uncomfortable image for the audience to digest.

Episode 7, a commentary on the series itself baked into the narrative in the guise of a school play written by Rue's friend Lexi (Maude Apetow) is the show's most exhilarating

high-wire performance yet. Levinson's screenplay is characteristically bold in its structural energy, flitting from one crossing character and connection to the next while reflecting them all in the play, which we see from a number of views in the audience, on stage, and behind the scenes. But it's Levinson's team's ability to blur the boundary between truth and theatricality by linking the ‘fictional’ and ‘actual’ worlds with amazingly intricate camera manoeuvres and sets that truly makes the episode spectacular.

For the time being, Levinson has patched together a conclusion that brings profound heartbreak, outrageous melodrama, and maddening turmoil together under one roof.

The conclusion tries everything it can to bring its diverse elements together, weaving storylines together to establish formal consistency and support. The police storm into Fez's entry after Nate closes the door on his father. Rue's eulogy for her father begins with the words, ‘I was in the hall when you died,’ as Fez remains transfixed in his doorway as Ashtray is shot. It is safe to say that Euphoria has always been visually gorgeous, but in the process of embellishing its visual peaks, it has frequently plunged to narrative lows in order to keep its disordered chain of thought flowing.

‘Burn it All Down’: Sons of Kemet at the Roundhouse Mat Hick - MA Music

Sons of Kemets’ Roundhouse debut marked their largest headline show to date, touring their critically acclaimed album Black to the Future. The group consists of saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings, tuba player Theon Cross, and drummers Tom Skinner and Eddie Hick. Though nominally a quartet, all the musicians push the comfortable boundaries of genre, demonstrating innovative ways of playing instruments and expanding the ways in which music can open up space for negotiating identity and opposing structural inequality globally.

Opening for the group were DJ’s Alex Rita and Erol from Touching Bass, and London-based rapper Lex Amor, both setting the scene for Sons of Kemet’s return to the city. Poet, Joshua Idehen, introduces the ‘Ground Rules’ for the night that include respecting each other's space, having fun, and a half-joking reminder that this was a counter-hegemonic space directly challenging racist institutions like the Tory Government and the police. Idehen then instructed the crowd to rapture, applause and stomp the band onto the stage, working the crowd into a frenzy for the band to appear.

From the outset Sons of Kemet brought a palpable energy that filled the Roundhouse; opening with ‘In Memory of Samir Awad’ a tribute to a 17-year-old Palestinian boy murdered by Isreali police, it was clear that we were there to engage with the anti-fascist and anti-racist discourses that underpinned Hutching’s compositions.

Sons of Kemet’s set is without break, using dazzling solos to transition between tracks from the band’s latest album Black to the Future that included ‘Hustle,’ ‘For the Culture,’

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and ‘Pick Up Your Burning Cross’ that were still powerful despite missing contribution from Kojey Radical, Lianne La Havas, D Double E, Moor Mother, and Angel Bat Dawid.

The introduction to ‘Energy’ and transition into ‘Rituals’ was a solo performed by Tuba player Theon Cross, in which he demonstrated his mastery of the instrument and utterly distinctive style of playing. In a gig led by two instrumentalists demonstrating their immense virtuosity it could have been easy to overlook the drummers. Instead, they created the intricate and recognisable grooves throughout that kept the crowd moving together.

The only feature throughout the set was the return of Joshua Idehen, who led on a crowd pleasing performance of ‘My Queen is Ada Eastman’ with adjusted lyrics of ‘Boris Johnson, can’t do shit… All you Tory’s, go jump off a cliff ’ before exclaiming ‘I’m Still Here’ – powerful against a backdrop of continued institutional racism, the Tory Government’s ‘Nationality and Borders Bill’ and Policing Bill removing citizenship rights, increasing police arrest powers, and a mishandled pandemic. In contrast, Hutchings spoke only to introduce the members of the band, opting instead to let the ‘music speak for itself.’ Before the encore he addressed the audience, imploring us to ‘keep the same energy you felt from the music and from dancing with others: keep it high when you head out there.’ What was sure was that the energy was frantic, malleable, and politically mobilising, in large part due to the feature of an underpinning idea behind Hutching’s compositions: Afrofuturism.

Afrofuturism features throughout Sons of Kemet’s growing discography creating alternative Black futurities that challenge linear conceptualisations of time and position the past, present, and future as interchangeable and mutually

signifying. As such, time and space dissolve within the music to create an ambivalent space for the negotiation of Black identity. Black to the Future might be a direct reference to the article of the same name written by Mark Dery in 1994, where he discusses the emergent field of Afrofuturism with Samuel R. Delany, Greg Tate, and Tricia Rose.

Idehen’s feature highlights the way the ambivalences of time facilitated by Afrofuturism creates a space for interrogating the way historical legacies of colonisation inform structural racism in contemporary Britain, and how it was being opposed. In a performance of the opening track, Idehen speaks over the atonal moans of Hutchings and Cross, moving within the ambivalences of time and space opened up by Afrofuturism to explore how his identity has been shaped by histories of racism and opposition. ‘We are rolling your monuments down the street like tobacco’ reverses metaphors of forced migration to set in motion seemingly immovable statues and the static histories of racism and colonisation they monumentalise – notably Edward Couldson – to dissolve temporal parameters and critique the legacies of slavery that are visible on our streets today. The ‘like tobacco’ part signifies the material conditions of slavery, reducing the slaver’s statue to the very commodities that slaves were exchanged for in emergent industrial capitalist markets. The set finishes with ‘Afrofuturism’ from their 2015 album Lest We Forget What We Came Here To Do, sonically restating what is being spoken through the music.

With their Roundhouse debut Sons of Kemet presented Jazz at its most pivotal, expanding the parameters of genre and the complex interactivity of time and space in the negotiation of Black identity in contemporary Britain.

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Sports & Societies

21 MARCH 2022

Sports & Societies

https://soasspirit.co.uk/category/societiesandsport/ Sport & Societies Editor: Mahek Arora

Beer Prices Making You Furious? Maybe You Should be Sober-Curious

The 'Sober Girls Society' in Action. (Credit: Sober Girls Society)

Lulu Goad, BA Arabic The pandemic turbulence has rattled on, reaching new highs at the end of 2021, with global statistics showing downward trends, in almost everything one would expect and hope to be heading in the opposite direction. One significant shift, that seems to have gone somewhat unaddressed, was in levels of alcohol consumption. Public Health England has reported that there has been a ‘58.6% increase in the proportion of respondents drinking at increasing risk and higher risk levels’ and the Journal of the American Medical Association wrote similarly that ‘women’s heavy drinking rose by 41 percent during the pandemic.’

As a result of reports like this, new support movements have been developed globally, with numbers like the latter inspiring some to found initiatives in support of women and their journey with sobriety in particular. It was the press around these groups that eventually brought me to the work of Millie Gooch, author, journalist, and activist who founded the upcoming initiative ‘Sober Girl Society.’ At the beginning of January an article from The Cut landed on my desk(top) about the upcoming ‘AA’ alternative initiative, ‘Tempest,’ founded by Holly Whitaker in 2012.

Reading it, I was unconvinced by her efforts to support people with their sobriety. Yes, Whitaker’s thought that ‘there was no such thing as “normal” drinking’ was interesting, but it wasn’t groundbreaking nor was the contemporary move to mindfulness as the solution. But as a university student, reading her comment on how she felt about being sober around

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her friends intrigued me. She felt she had become the friend who in a social setting had broken the social contract.

"The expectation that a social occasion required an alcoholic drink in one hand and perhaps a cigarette in the other has become the norm."

It made me reflect on alcohol consumption in a university setting and how the expectation that a social occasion required an alcoholic drink in one hand and perhaps a cigarette in the other had become the norm. In an effort to find out more about these newly created alcohol free initiatives, I did a little research and came upon the ‘Sober Girl Society.’

Having founded the UK based initiative in 2018, Gooch began building a community of sober and sober-curious women, providing tips and resources, and creating a space for connection. Networking events are a huge part of their work, focussing on the benefits that it can bring to those feeling alone or excluded. In this case it gives women the chance to meet other women who are also making an effort to stay alcohol free; An opportunity that Gooch says she wished was available to her at the beginning of her journey, having felt isolated not knowing anyone making the same move.

With the desire to find out more, and have an excuse to go somewhere new in London, I signed up for an in-person

‘mixer’ hosted by the initiative for what they described as ‘booze-free fun.’ Unintentionally, although I tell people it was calculated, I arrived at The Ministry, Borough, fortyfive minutes late for the event so by the time I’d arrived it was in full ‘booze-free’ swing; I instantly felt less apprehensive about making small-talk without a beer in hand. Two hours later and I left wondering why I’d been worried at all.

It wasn’t a large affair, maybe thirty people all sipping on a mocktail from SquareRoot, gathered in groups based on their star signs.

Whilst the obvious topics of conversation were sobriety and why you’d come to the event, the discussions very quickly moved to hinge dates, with one person even seeking my advice on whether they should get bangs. It seemed a barrier had come down, in the same way that one might lose their inhibitions a few drinks in, but this time we were all completely sober. Everyone was totally at ease, perhaps safe in the knowledge that we’d all avoided the next day's hangxiety. Or maybe I was just feeling quite smug with my four new instagram followers and two new knitting patterns to try. I was sold, maybe not on what Whitaker was selling but certainly on sobriety, or trying it out at least, especially knowing that there were simple but rewarding forms of support from groups like ‘Sober Girl Society.’ Having once thought a night out without alcohol was boring, my mind had changed.

Nearing the end of the evening, one guest suggested a ‘Sober Girl Society’ club night, with Gooch replying, ‘never say never.’ Maybe I’ll see you there.

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Sports & Societies

21 MARCH 2022

The Curtain Reopens for the SOAS Drama and Musical Society

Members of the SOAS Drama & Musical during one of their Saturday rehearsals. (Credit: Lucy Jordan)

Hala Haidar, BA Global Development On 25 March, the SOAS Drama and Musical Society will be putting on their Cabaret show in the Djam Lecture Theatre — an evening full of performances from various musicals such as ‘Cell Block Tango’ from the highly acclaimed show Chicago, The Jet Song from West Side Story, Greased Lightning from Grease, and much more!

The SOAS Drama and Musical Society was brought back to life this year by Angus Nelson and Lucy Jordan after it dissolved at the beginning of the pandemic. Angus describes how he and Lucy met ‘through sheer coincidence’ at the first late licence of the year. He contends, ‘As I walked by, I was pulled over to the table to be introduced to Lucy, as we had both been saying that we wished there was a drama society at SOAS. It was only my 5th day at SOAS and I had no idea how anything at the uni worked, however, I had 5 years of working in the acting industry when I arrived - and Lucy was in her fourth year, and had been a part of the previous drama society before it was disbanded due to Covid-19.’

Lucy states that it was a chaotic time in her life; she had just physically returned to SOAS and London for her fourth year, after spending her second year studying abroad and her third year at her home in Turkey due to Covid-19. Upon her return, most of her friends had already graduated, she was looking for a place to stay, and as a fourth-year student, she did not have time to run the society herself. Lucy shares, ‘If there was one moment that defined my uni experience it was meeting Angus that night.’

That same night, at 2:30 AM, they had decided to form the

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society with them acting as the two Presidents. The following day, they met up in the Starbucks at King’s Cross, filled out all required forms, and began to publicise the society. Lucy acknowledges the challenging position they were in, however, as they had missed the Freshers’ Fair, meaning that they couldn’t reach everyone interested despite advertising their society on social media and through the Students’ Union.

Looking back, she says, ‘I think that was one of the biggest difficulties—reaching out to people, getting them to join the society, getting them to audition.’

"Lucy shares, ‘If there was one moment that defined my uni experience it was meeting Angus that night.’"

Despite the challenges they faced as a new society, within the following two weeks, they had chosen to put on West Side Story and found a committee to help run the show. The committee included: ‘Adrian Altaffer volunteering to help with pretty much every area of the show, Sam Hardy as our musical Director, Lizzy Cox as our choreographer, and Katie Varoga as our stage manager,’ who managed to hold auditions, and finally cast the show. Soon enough, rehearsals had begun and everything was underway.

Unfortunately, they would soon run into various obstacles such as SOAS timetabling, which made it impossible

for them to get a venue booked for the final performances, along with many other issues. Lucy contends, ‘Then we went to Christmas Break, and meanwhile, Covid-19 was getting worse and worse and there was still the venue issue, the licensing issue, we had barely any budget for costumes and props,’ and therefore, they had to make the difficult decision to cancel the show. Angus remarks, ‘The Students’ Union and Jesse Dodoo had been trying everything they could to get us a venue for the show, and it was through no fault of theirs that we had to cancel in the end, but this was of course bitterly disappointing.’

However, that was not the end. Adrian Altaffer had suggested a Cabaret show a few weeks earlier, so determined to still put something on, preparation for the Cabaret began in January. According to the Presidents, the society members were enthusiastic about adapting to this change, and despite all the issues they faced as a new society, have put in the work and cannot wait to showcase what they have been working on for the past few months.

The Cabaret will take place in the evening of 25 March, finishing in time for the cast and audience to go enjoy themselves at the late licence afterwards. Angus states, ‘I can’t wait to finally raise the curtain on the society once and for all.’ Furthermore, he notes that ‘everyone has been making a contribution to the society and it’s too many people to list, but their names will all be in the programme for the Cabaret.’

More information about the Cabaret show will be shared on the society’s Instagram (@SOASDramaSoc). Lucy says, ‘Anyone who wants to see some feel-good and sexy show tunes, just come along!’

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Sports & Societies

21 MARCH 2022

Men’s Football Team Seek International Title in French Tournament

The team poses for a photo after a day of going undefeated in the group stages. (Credit: June Derz)

Kyle Gehman, BA Development Studies While some students used February’s reading week to their academic advantage, the SOAS men’s football team was busy going on a fairytale run in the Les Parisiennes sports tournament in Paris which ended in a tense final against the hosts Sciences Po. The group stages kicked off on a blustery morning on Friday, 18 February in circumstances well accustomed to the team in their previous months of playing. Firstly, French public transport strikes forced an early warm up of jogging to the train station from the hostel to catch one of the few trains running, whose platform was located only after a few well-intended, but poorly-received attempts of questioning information officials in what can only be described as a ‘French-like’ language. Secondly, to avoid forfeiting the match for lateness, a second, more fast-paced jog, was conducted from the station to the pitches which left many players reeling after the previous night’s shenanigans.

‘The first day was quite difficult,’ defender Katsumi Shimmura said. ‘Transportation was a complete mess and we barely had time to have breakfast. The only thing I could eat was an orange that I had on the train.’

Once on the pitch though, it was business as usual. The first match against Amsterdam University College 1, we saw the Dutch take first blood with a smart finish to make it 1-0.

However, on the ensuing kick off, midfielder Kyle Gehman took a long range shot from the halfway line that knuckled in front of the goalkeeper before nestling in the bottom corner to tie it up just before halftime. The second half saw both teams pressing for a winner until forward Bertie King brought down the ball, spun his defender and coolly slotted the ball for what proved to be the winner.

‘It felt great to get the winner against Amsterdam UC,’ King said. ‘Having played every league game this season nursing a hangover, I’m glad I could use my experience for

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good, for once, and help the team win an important group match to kick off the tournament.’

To pass the time before the next fixture, the squad cheered on the SOAS volleyball teams and the women’s football team and joined in on some of the other activities held by the tournament organisers; namely zumba dancing and consumption of sandwiches containing baguettes that bred suspicions of being surplus from World War II. The second game saw SOAS face up against the team they would eventually play in the final: Sciences Po 1. Already shocking pitch conditions were worsened with a short, but aggressive downpour of rain. For a team used to playing on London pitches such as the self-described Hackney Marshes, this proved to not be a problem. Partway into the first-half, the game saw its only goal when the ball found the feet of forward Manny Arber who smartly shot the ball low into the corner as the French opposition bemoaned the referee for a call not made in the build up play. Solid defensive work and a handful of saves from stand-in goalkeeper Israfeel Kusi-Addo saw the game close with a 1-0 win.

‘We struggled to retain possession for large parts of the game which makes it hard to compete,’ said Arber. ‘But we showed good resilience to not concede and take the chance when it came. Overall it was a very competent display because no team is going to control every game.’

The final group game against Télécom Paris saw the boys continue what they had started with a comfortable 3-0 win.

There were two goals from Gehman and one from forward Omar Ghosaini. By reaching top of the group, an automatic place in the semi-finals against Sciences Po 2 was confirmed for the following day. The day didn’t end there though as the team spent the remaining hours exploring local bars and restaurants and collecting grumpy interactions from French waiters who had probably accurately guessed that the SOASians had spent the day running circles around their countrymen.

With bellies full of delicious croissants, the team kicked off the semi-final with a vocal crowd of the home team’s supporters and a few equally dedicated fans in the away team section. The testy affair went into halftime goal-less, but with the English side creating a majority of the chances. These chances were finally converted when Arber bore down on the Sciences Po goal before squaring the ball to midfielder Ali Muttawa who tapped the ball in. A second goal was provided

by Ghosaini after turning his defender and finding the back of the net with his shot. With the game ending 2-0, SOAS booked their way to the final for a rematch against Sciences Po 1.

‘It was a great team build up, a lovely assist, and it’s always great scoring with the boys,’ commented Muttawa on his goal. ‘We knew we were the best team on the pitch and now our eyes were on the final.’

After a last-minute game delay, the final match began.

The first half saw few, meaningful chances created for either team as nerves of being in the final appeared to unsettle both teams. SOAS’ nerves were put to the test as they quickly realised that both the referee couldn’t speak English and that Sciences Po was unwilling to translate. The second half got off to a bad start when a perfectly placed volley from Sciences Po’s captain found the top corner and a mix up at the back led to a second goal for the French side. After this, the tempo of the match increased and SOAS quickly grew into the game creating several chances. One of which was converted by Ghosaini to make it 2-1. A few more chances and a penalty shout waved away by the referee after Muttawa was toppled over by an opposition challenge was all that was left though, and the game finished as a 2-1 win for Sciences Po. Although disappointed, the team didn’t walk away empty handed as they returned to London with copious amounts of wine in their bellies, smells of three-day unwashed football socks in their noses, and newfound love and appreciation for each other in their hearts.

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Sports & Societies

21 MARCH 2022

The SOAS Women’s Football Team Are Amazing and I Get to Be Apart of It

SOAS won 7-1 against UCL in February 2022. (credit: June Derz)

Carmel Mould, BA History & World Philosophies How could a beginner like me go from never playing football, to being a part of the undefeated SOAS Women’s Football Club (WFC) this season? One word: opportunity.

As a child, I loved the game and sometimes scraped in with the boys during break times – what female footballer’s story is different? By the time I tried to train in my primary school football club, with coaches who excluded all their care and attention from girls, I was done with being left out.

I quit, and have looked back in regret knowing that I wasn’t confident enough at 10-years-old to stay fast in an exclusive environment.

14 years later, I find myself enrolling for university and thinking about signing up for societies. I laugh at myself as I consider joining the women’s football taster session. Who, me? Someone who can’t run to save her life and has zero skills?

But I thought, if not now, when? I’ve never been gifted the chance to play football, even for a couple of hours. How could I miss this opportunity? So I went and, well, the rest is history.

When you walk into one of our football training sessions, you will meet an assortment of tough young women, with smiles on their faces and fires in their bellies. You wouldn’t be able to tell at a glance that these people are highly skilled, but it doesn’t take long to watch in awe at many of our players who have played since they were young for various teams, and played well.

If you mention that you attend SOAS to a random British university student, most won’t know what you’re talking about. But trust me, in the women’s football world of universities in London, we’re known.

I was shocked when I found out that our team won with players down in our first couple of matches, until we kept winning game after game, with an increasing goal difference

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each time. This is when I realised that not only are individual players in our team talented, but our team is actually good!

There have been so many great experiences throughout the year: The peaceful rhythm of two-hour training sessions on Wednesdays and matches on Sundays. Grabbing drinks and/or food with the girls after a game or for socials. Catching professional football matches. Some of the squad got to play in a tournament in Paris, and I'm reposting the game results on my Instagram stories so all my friends know I am a part of this winning squad.

Maybe it’s a different experience as a younger person or someone who’s played a lot of football before. For someone like me who couldn’t have that in my circumstances growing up, who has been in the work industry for the past several years whilst working full time, and knowing the financial investment needed to join a team outside of university – this opportunity to engage in the game is a big blessing.

Sometimes all we need is an opportunity, and with passion and hard work, we can take it and run with it. But this team showed me that a good bunch of friends to play with are equally key. They are the ones who made this season so memorable.

Now you may be thinking that if our team can still win with a player like me who is a complete beginner, surely the league can’t be that great? But no, my teammates are definitely doing a hard carry on this one, and how do you know how talented I might be?

Jokes aside, Women’s football is one of the world’s fastestgrowing sports, and the dedication and quality of the game will continue to improve over the years. I’m just glad to be a part of it and to represent SOAS in the process.

The fact that this WFC exists symbolises much more than only having fun playing football. It provides opportunities for access into a much-beloved game that many girls are robbed from experiencing. It’s a chance to get involved, to find connection with others who agree this fun should not be solely dominated by the males of the population, and to say we very

well deserve a place to shine.

This is why I have to give mad props to the people who make this happen, our club president, June Derz, and club captain, Eva Van Der Vliet. Their dedication, consistency and sense of humour have made this WFC the best to be in. Our training sessions are also made fun and challenging thanks to our coaches from Bloomsbury Football Academy.

We have one match left of this season and we’re fighting for the league title. Come Support us, check out our social media for information on the match.

Puzzle Answers Solution to the puzzle on page 12.

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