Issue 26: 11 December 2023

SOAS SPIRIT

COMMUNITIES FIGHT THE THREAT OF GENTRIFICATION TO PROTECT THEIR MARKETS

THE COST-OF-SURVIVING CRISIS

THE MISSING THREAD: BLACK BRITISH FASHION ODYSSEY AT SOMERSET HOUSE

Furtive SOAS Bookshop Closure

Melina Tavakoli Moghaddam, BA Politics and International Relations

Joe Burridge, manager of the soon-to-be-closed SOAS bookshop is pretty clear about things - “I just want them to leave me alone.” SOAS management’s new obsession with the renovation and repurposing of spaces has claimed a new victim - the SOAS bookshop in the Brunei Gallery.

SOAS has provided us with the following statement: “We greatly appreciate the service that the bookshop has provided to SOAS over the years, and we know that it will be missed by staff and students when it moves off campus. Because of the growth in student numbers at SOAS, the demand for space on our campus has increased accordingly. This means we continue

to review how SOAS spaces are being used, and the changes we are making mean that we are no longer able to accommodate the bookshop. To ensure a smooth transition, we gave the owners of the bookshop a 1-year notice period, advising them that when their lease ends in August 2024, we will not be able to offer an extension. We hope members of our community will continue to benefit from its services in the remaining months and support the bookshop when it moves online.”

Intriguingly, SOAS has gone about the closure in a secretive manner - of the students surveyed only 15% knew the bookshop was being closed and when Mr

Burridge was informed that his lease would not be renewed he was not given a reason, without any scope for negotiation, with a paltry offer of a different role at SOAS.

The closure has created confusion amongst the student body particularly when you consider the reality of the space. There is undoubtedly a requirement for more space, COVID restrictions are a thing of the past yet SOAS students are still expected to tolerate online classes; but it is unreasonable to suggest that this demand will be met by repurposing the bookshop, which in

Contents News Opinion

SOAS SU: A Prison for Progress

Communities Fight the Threat of Gentrification to Protect their Markets

Labour Divided over War in Gaza

Catalan Independence Movement Rejuvenated After Spanish Elections

Dear Spirit readers,

SOAS Student’s Union Does Not Need Four Co-Presidents

The General Election: The Forbidden Dream of the UK

Gen Zzzleepless and the Need for Radical Change

External Political Figures at SOAS - A Cost-Benefit Analysis

Of Dragons and Eagles: A Short Analysis of the Xi-Biden Summit

The Best Albums of 2023

Death of the Socialite: Who are our “IT girls” now?

SOASian Mysteries: Societies to Discover

A Trip That We Will Never Forget

Resistance at SOAS: A reflection p23

As I write this, we are but two weeks from the end of term one. By the time you have a copy of Issue 26 in your hands, you’ll likely be rushing to meet a few deadlines. The good news is, you’re almost halfway through the academic year! Congratulations on making it this far!

Eight weeks into term and the SOAS Spirit team has certainly got into the swing of things. And by the looks of the articles we’ve received, the SOAS student cohort has too. Engagement with campus ongoings seems particularly high, with a variety of SOAS News, Feature and Opinion articles for you to browse through, on topics such as the securitisation of SOAS, reflections on the running of the SU, and the closure of the SOAS Bookshop. We also have the very exciting new addition of Jacob Winter’s column as our Editor-at-Large, where he explores the lives of our very own extreme commuters. Beyond SOAS-related news, Tumininu Peters discusses the upcoming general election in their eloquent yet ruthless opinion piece, whilst our National News Editor,

Letter from the Editor Your SOAS Spirit Team

Archie Thomas, takes a closer look at the issue of gentrification within London’s markets. Further afield, Ellie Sprinthall and Supalapinee Pakdeechanuan explore immigration discrimination in South Korea for our new Foreign Affairs section.

Some personal favourites. I can’t get enough of Su Waddy’s article, ‘The Best Albums of 2023’. Stunningly adept, Su writes about these albums as if they were her own. I must recommend that you listen to the albums as you read. Another valuable read is Leila Uddin’s article where she remarks on the brilliance of the exhibition ‘The Missing Thread’ which I’m desperate to go and see at Somerset House.

Of course, the writing is impressive, and we’re really excited to share the treasures of Issue 26 with you. But, needless to say, I must thank those back-of-house who never tire and have worked endlessly to put this issue together for you all. Particularly to Amy Kan who has made the paper look as beautiful as it does, along with her wonderful team, Anna Draperi, Sarah Cotte and Amber Hamed. Also to Sanna Hamid, who makes sure the paper is accessible online; a job that is so much harder and more tiresome than it may seem. To Barty Roberts for being our “Chief Distributor” and handing out papers all day and all night. And finally, to Amelia Casey-Rerhaye, for making such a huge contribution from so far away! Without the team, we wouldn’t have anything quite so special to produce for you, so we’re very lucky to have such a dedicated workforce.

Again, I’d like to remind you, our readers, how grateful we are for your interest. I’m sure that without you, the SU wouldn’t feel quite so strongly about keeping us around, so we really appreciate you showing up and reading your copy on campus. We hope that Issue 26 is a welcomed holiday treat! Happy reading!

Lulu Goad

Chen • International News Editor

Aiesha Akenzua • Opinions Editor

Anisah Mahamoud • Features Editor

Amran Abdiqadir-Mohamed • Culture Editor

Ayra Khan • Sport & Societies Editor

Sarah Cotte • Contributing Designer

Anna Draperi • Contributing Designer

Amber Hamed • Contributing Designer

Tamara El-Halawani • Sub-Editor

Sam Landis • Sub-Editor

Laura Steurer • Sub-Editor

Amelia Casey-Rerhaye • Sub-Editor

Mahin Patel • Digital Reporter

Hiba Ul-Hasan • Digital Reporter

Aditya Mishra • Digital Reporter

Ayra Khan • Digital Reporter

Clayton Barrington-Russell Managing Editor

Amy Kan Creative Director

Eman Baasti Senior Sub-Editor

Amelia Casey-Rerhaye Senior Foreign Affairs

Jacob Winter Editor-at-Large

Sanna Hamid Executive Digital Editor

News Editors: Barty Roberts, Archie Thomas, Leticia Chen

SOAS News

itself is a unique space and unlikely to be suitable for teaching.

As a branch of the Arthur Probsthain Oriental and African bookshop, the SOAS bookshop holds over 3,000 volumes of specialised content, which Mr Burridge has taken personal responsibility for importing, relating to courses only offered at this university. It is entirely different to the local Waterstones around the corner, instead, this bookshop possesses a uniqueness which the university is refusing to preserve.

According to Mr Burridge, there have been three failed attempts at closing the bookshop, all motivated by a demand to repurpose the space. Recent rumours around campus suggest that SOAS management intends to use the space for individual study areas. It is unlikely that such a small bookshop can be renovated to fit more than two tables.

Ironically, despite the fact that SOAS students make up the majority of the bookshop’s customers, the Students’ Union had not been informed of the closure. There is now a growing movement to prevent the closure, using the hashtag #SaveSOASBookshop.

Continued from page 1

Various posts on the SOAS alumni Facebook page have expressed anger and sadness about the closure, particularly one by Professor Scott Redford, the Nasser D. Khalili Professor of Islamic Art & Archaeology, reads: “The SOAS bookshop, its carefully curated contents, and its experienced, knowledgeable, and helpful manager Joe Burridge, is invaluable for the intellectual health of SOAS. What can possibly replace it? Why is this issue even under discussion?”

“SOAS management’s new obsession with the renovation and repurposing of spaces has claimed a new victim - the SOAS bookshop in the Brunei Gallery.”

SOAS SU: A Prison for Progress

Anonymous

For Islamophobia Awareness Month this year, the SU organised a series of events in support of SOAS’ Muslim students. On 22 November, a poetry reading and gallery were held at the JCR. Student Zahra Seedat read a poem to open the event, and the SU invited the charity MEND (Muslim Engagement and Development) to help create an infographic about islamophobia. The colourful poster advertising upcoming events displayed the logo of the controversial Prevent scheme, which the Student Union itself refused to comply with when it was first introduced nearly a decade ago, describing it as “Islamophobic”, “target[ing] Muslims and people of colour.”

The event was organised by the Students’ Union Co-President for Activities and Events, Maryam Choudhary. There were also political and podcasting workshops and a session on combating Islamophobia. Despite Choudhary expressing her willingness for the SU and the Islamic Society to collaborate, it is unclear whether the Student Union worked in conjunction with the SOAS Islamic Society to plan the events as there has recently been tension between the two groups.

Tensions may be related to critiques of the SU for their lack of statement regarding the ongoing Palestinian genocide, which intensified earlier this year following altercations between the settler government and Palestinians in early October. The Student Union failed to respond until 23 November.

Historically, the Student Union has encouraged students to join sit-ins, occupations, held a strict “No Cops on Campus” policy, and actively protected picket lines. Multiple instances of previous SU members being politically vocal and publicly critical of SOAS management exist. An anonymous second-year law student criticised this change as “marketising” and “corporatising” the Student Union. The ‘SU CEO’, a newly created role,

meant to represent the Student Union on the SOAS board of trustees, is said to control what is allowed to be circulated and what statements are allowed to be made by the Student Union.

“Diluting the power of the Students’ Union seems to be part of an overarching phenomena occurring at SOAS and what was originally left of the institution seems to be now dwindling and looks set to disappear.”

Jamal Akram also outlined his plans on how to enact change to create religious inclusivity and equity on campus - the creation of more prayer rooms, helping students who have a lecture during Jummah, and an entrepreneur mentorship scheme. He relayed that he wishes to be a conduit to enact the change students so desperately want, however, continued by saying that it is difficult being the middleman between management and students. Despite this, he has pledged for the Students’ Union to push management as much as possible and try to represent the student body as much as they can. This statement comes after a significant restructuring of the organisation of the Student Union, which previously held monthly General Meetings as well as strategic priorities referendums every three years where students could vote for the issues they thought were most important, neither of which are enacted today.

Furthermore, the current board of Trustees has been critiqued

for making the Student Union less democratic and has been accused of forcing SOAS to be more like other UoL Universities. As previous student Saul Jones said in a candidate interview for the 2016 SU elections, “if the specialisms of SOAS disappear, there is no reason for it to exist.” Pre-pandemic relations between the SU, student body, and Trustees have historically been tense, however current relations between the Student Union and the board of trustees seem to be unproblematic.

The Co-President for Democracy and Education, Reem Walid, added that the structure of the SU itself makes it a hard place to work as roles are only held for a year and members have to learn new governance, bureaucracy and processes. According to Walid they also inherit issues from the previous administration. To her, the students consider the SU a body that should cater only to student needs, when in reality duties are also split between focusing on the governance, processes, and the day-to-day running of committee meetings. An example she pointed out was the increased securitisation of SOAS, a project worked on by sabbatical officers last year. According to Walid, even though students feel like nothing is being done about these issues, processes are being conducted behind the scenes— although at a significantly reduced pace. Walid advised students who are unsatisfied with the running of SOAS to organise a response and bring it to the Student Union. In the future, the Co-President for Democracy and Education wishes to focus on increased engagement between students and the SU, as well as supporting campaigns.

Diluting the power of the Students’ Union seems to be part of an overarching phenomena occurring at SOAS, and what was originally left of the institution seems to be now dwindling and looks set to disappear. The future of the SU remains unclear.

Policing Protest at SOAS: A Report on Recent Security Conduct

Jacob Winter, BA Politics and International Relations

On Wednesday October 25th, The Socialist Workers Party held a small but significant demonstration against the occupation of Palestine, with the main premise being a mass student walkout. Despite a low turnout, SOAS security fenced off the entrance to the university and only allowed students to leave out of the back entrance in order to contain a predicted large-scale walkout. Not only were SOAS security present, but general University of London security from neighbouring Birkbeck remained stationed at the bollards near Paul Webley Wing.

The extreme policing of this demonstration, specifically the raising of barriers and funnelling of all students out the back entrance to avoid people joining the walkout, has raised concerns from students, specifically political organisations, on the right to continue protesting at SOAS.

Since October 7th, SOAS security has made a clear change of approach when it comes to the policing of protests at SOAS. Despite a security apparatus growing in size since the 2022 student occupation of the main building, recent concerns around security policing have been primarily raised following the October 9th Palestine demonstration.

The October 9th demonstration resulted in six suspensions, with all students still suspended almost two months later. The specific reasoning for the suspensions was over a violation of health and safety rules, but none of the suspended students

have been reinstated and allowed to return to class. Following this, a series of smaller Palestine events occurred on campus, such as the October 25th walkout. Despite the claim that the Palestine Society members were suspended for violating health and safety violations, blocking a main entrance to a building when a fire alarm was pulled, fencing off the front entrance for the October 25th walkout has seemed to some students as a hypocritical decision by SOAS security.

The Socialist Workers Party has had its events obstructed by SOAS security in the past. The university had previously been reliable for the organisation when it came to booking rooms for political meetings, such as public meetings on the lockdowns in China, but following the escalation of the situation in occupied Palestine, their meetings had been cancelled. One meeting on October 11th had external Socialist Workers Party members refused entry into the building due to the wearing of the Keffiyeh, a traditional headdress worn in the Middle East, but often used as a symbol of Palestinian nationalism.

On November 25th, walkouts at several universities, including KCL, UCL, LSE and SOAS, congregated at the SOAS Green to hear a range of speakers discuss the situation in Palestine. Notably absent were the barriers put up for the Socialist Workers Party walkout, and any major amount of security. Instead, officers of the Metropolitan Police were present at SOAS, and then later police vans lined every crossroads on the march’s path, with many officers awaiting the rally at its endpoint, at the Camden Council Offices near Mornington Crescent Station.

Roaming Reporter Beyond Zone 9: Students and Staff Struggle with Long Commutes

Jacob Winter, BA Politics and International Relations

SOAS is situated right in the heart of London, close to one of the busiest train stations in the city. Its students come from all over the country, but almost all live in London. Close to the university are Russell Square, Tottenham Court Road and Warren Street tube stations, connecting the university to much of the city via the underground; that’s not to say their commute is easy. Outside of the area of London, actively covered by the tube, commuting can involve changes, long journeys and cancellations, especially for those who take the overground. A growing number of students and staff are commuting from outside the city entirely, and it’s a day-to-day challenge that is not often discussed.

Commuting into London for work is something that is done by many well-paid professionals in London’s financial

districts. In 2014, 790,000 of those who worked in London lived outside of the city, and the mansions in Surrey need financiers to live in them. London is surrounded by dormitory or commuter towns, like Reading and Maidenhead, where people who work in the city live. This isn’t a massive problem for a full-time employee with job security, but for a student or someone in academia, this poses an issue. Many lecturers are on short-term contracts, which don’t offer enough pay, nor job security, to relocate to London.

One lecturer, when asked if they would like the opportunity to move closer to London for work, said, “If I had the opportunity to have a permanent position, and therefore security and consistency, definitely.” All of the academics I spoke to were on short-term contracts. According to The Guardian in 2013, a third of all academic staff are on short-term contracts as universities casualise their workforce, and the Higher Education Statistics Agency claims that only 33% of university staff are even on fixed-term contracts. The rest are working on hourlypaid contracts or on “atypical” contracts, while the UCU claims that 3545 academic staff in the country are working on zero-hour contracts in 29 institutions across the country.

Some lecturers come to university from as far away as North Yorkshire, while others are significantly closer. One consistent theme when asked is the belief that, whether or not they would move to London for work, their long commutes directly harm their ability to interact with their students, “I think the long commute eats into my day leaving me less free time, but also it leaves me exhausted and not able to contribute to students’ experience as much as I would like to. This is especially the case when there are transport issues and I end up missing meetings etc.”

That being said, not all lecturers are desperate to live in London. One professor stated, “My reasons for a long commute are much more to do with the way academia works as a career in the early years, rather than anything specifically to do with SOAS itself.”

These repressive security measures have been confirmed by a document circulated amongst SOAS students, leaked from the security. The document specifically recommends provisions that the university should take to stop these protests and names students involved in recent demonstrations. Specific fears for the security and administration are the increase of graffiti in the JCR and the Student Union Bar and toilets, which is often directed towards university director Adam Habib. The document recommends expanded CCTV coverage and turnstiles at every entrance, restricting access to valid ID card-holders only.

These security and administration actions have also targeted staff, with Dr Lisa Tilley finding her posters for Palestinian solidarity being removed from her office doors. The SOAS HR team claimed that the posters were not acceptable due to ‘safeguarding.’

Many have pointed to the student occupation as being the source for much of the increased security presence on SOAS, especially after the University hired private bailiffs to evict occupying students. A Freedom of Information Request made to the University by the SOAS Spirit last year revealed security spending in 2022 after the occupation cost £661,632.23, and the presence of private security on campus has hardly decreased.

Another stated “I do think there are a lot of reasons lecturers don’t live in London, and I generally wouldn’t want to live in London proper even if I was on a permanent contract. It’s too busy, the cost of rent is too high, and I like the living standards of my town.”

For students, the long commute means missing classes, spending whole days at university if they have classes spread out and being generally detached from student life if their friends live a train journey away. Ali, a first-year student who lives in Windsor, claimed that even when aiming to arrive 30 minutes early, her train would often stop mid-journey between Slough and Paddington. On top of that, regular national rail journeys are expensive, and the prices are constantly rising. A desire for a more reliable and affordable rail network has been echoed by both the students and staff I spoke to.

Many students claim maintenance loans, however, this is a massive problem for Muslim students, as the interest added to those loans is not permitted in Islam. Muslim students make up 23% of the SOAS student cohort, the largest singular religious group at the university. Third-year student Sanna Hamid, said that “I chose to stay living at home because London is too expensive and I didn’t want to get into more student debt, especially seeing as interest is applied to student loans which goes against my religious beliefs. So I just wanted to minimise how much interest I deal with.”

With rising living costs and a rental market putting off students from even attending a London-based university, those who commute from outside of the city will continue to increase. These commuters, and their struggles, are a clear symptom of the economic crisis this country finds itself in, and London universities will not be able to survive when all of their students and staff commute from beyond Zone 9.

National News Communities Fight the Threat of Gentrification to Protect their Markets

Walking around London you will often find yourself upon a long-standing market, providing affordable and specialty foods and goods, a place to socialise, and a site of sustainable local business. Without fail, though, each is haunted by the spectre of gentrification. But, as sure as developers demand profit, locals find the strength to resist the loss of these valued spaces. I spoke to a number of campaigners involved in these struggles to find out about the benefits of these markets, the threats they face, and what people are doing to fight back.

Saif is the main coordinator of Friends of Queen’s Market, a group that has resisted successive threats to the East London market for 20 years.He explained that; “There is a community value that is not considered,” by developers and councils, “Markets are vital to community health and wellbeing and access to food.” They provide “access to fresh affordable food, clothes, cloths, and home goods.” In addition, he pointed out how important Queen’s Market is to refugee and migrant communities, “it’s a kind of gateway for them to start to look for a job or trade.”

“The councils are just going along with it and they don’t really understand… You really take away some people’s only access to community and to have social interaction.”

Similarly, Jake, a campaigner for Protect Shepherds Bush Market, pointed out how the market is the, “cheapest place locally you can buy fruit and veg,” and that this was due to having “such low rents.” It is this low rent that allows small traders and businesses to survive and serve their communities. Low rent, though, is not lucrative for the councils or private developers that own these markets. This is at the heart of all these community struggles against redevelopment. At the time of writing, developer Yoo Capital has submitted a planning application to redevelop Shepherds Bush Market (Hammersmith & Fulham council will have made a decision by 8 December) that campaigners fear will threaten the character and function of the site. “It’s not the fact that a market exists. There is a specific character and social function that will be completely lost if Yoo Capital are able to fulfil their plans.”

Whether in Upton Park, Shepherds Bush, or Brixton, redevelopment is seen by many locals as a threat. They have witnessed other markets suffer or cease to exist after redevelopment. Saif highlighted two in the same borough as Queen’s Market: Rathbone Market in Canning Town and East Ham Market. Having been reassured that they were great markets, East Ham Market has now been completely demolished and replaced by luxury flats and with Rathbone Market, “there is barely anything there, there’s about three stalls there now.”

Continuing, Saif pointed out that, “the South American community in Elephant and Castle [have] been absolutely

ripped apart. In the end, if you look at that yard… the renovated, new space just doesn’t work for that community… it was just tragic, they really fought it for ages and the councils are just going along with it and they don’t really understand… You really take away some people’s only access to community and to have social interaction.”

Every campaigner I spoke to described these threats in terms of gentrification, social cleansing and one labelled it ethnic cleansing. Danai, a campaigner for Fight The Tower, a group which successfully blocked the building of a 20-storey office tower that would have overshadowed Brixton Market said that the defeated redevelopment, “would have been the end of Brixton and I am not being dramatic at all… it would have been ethnic cleansing really because people cannot afford this tower’s offices or flats so they cannot survive… displaced and marginalised people are being pushed away and forced to move… We don’t want exclusively white people coming in and paying £17 for a toasty and we certainly don’t want ethnic cleansing. Brixton is the people. That is the history of it. You cannot suddenly dismantle everything, these people live with each other and for each other. They are real communities.”

Saif described, at length the consequences of gentrification which he fears and already sees in some areas of East London, “you will find there are parts that are extremely expensive now… they are very much loving the edginess of the East End,” which has developed over centuries and “is now to be capitalised on… Places that I find inspiration in as an artist and designer… As soon as there is a tipping point where gentrification just overdoes it and there are so many boutique brands, it just feels like walking through a pastiche idea of: What is England? or what is Europe? You just kind of go: What are we? What is this? This is just an idea or something, an idea of the past, rather than there being anything of a community here.”

Trust in local councils is palpably low among these campaigners, and the threat of redevelopment around London only seems to continue. In the face of this, communities are unwavering and utilising every method at their disposal: petitions, Zoom bombing, protests, social media campaigning, newsletters, leafleting, planning objections, engagement with locals, the press, and politicians; all in order to protect their vital and cherished markets.

Archie Thomas, BA Politics and International Relations

Traders and Patrons of Queen’s Market (Credit: Friends of Queen’s Market)

‘STOP THE BOATS’: A Verdict On UK-Rwanda Immigration Policy

As “stopping the boats” was one of Rishi Sunak’s top five pledges after he became Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak and his Conservative party pushed the flagship policy on immigration, highlighting the growing number of people arriving in Britain using boats.

By enshrining the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in UK law in 1998, English courts are now able to uphold the rights that the convention guarantees. “There are substantial grounds for believing that asylum seekers would face a real risk of ill-treatment because of refoulement to their country of origin if they were removed to Rwanda,” the judges wrote in the verdict.

““This was not the outcome we wanted, but we have spent the last few months planning for all eventualities and we remain completely committed to stopping the boats,” Sunak stated.”

The ruling confirmed that Rwanda entered the deal with the UK voluntarily. It provided guarantees to protect persons who were sent there. As a claimant in the case and the CEO of the refugee charity Care4Calais, Steve Smith called the ruling a victory for humanity.

The UK Supreme Court determined that the proposed migration of asylum-seekers from the UK to Rwanda under the Migration and Economic Development Partnership (MEDP) would violate both international and domestic law on November 15th.

Last April, the ‘Rwanda Plan’ was announced by, then Prime Minister, Boris Johnson to dissuade asylum seekers from journeying the 32km to the UK across the English Channel using ‘dangerous’ methods such as inflatable boats.

The plan called for deporting everyone who had entered Britain without proper documentation to Rwanda after January 1st, 2022. This is roughly 6,400 kilometres away and was done so that their claims could be evaluated there. The UK government showed the average cost of sending each asylum applicant there would be £169,000.

The scheme faced legal challenges after it was announced. The Supreme Court hearing took place from October 9th to October 11th 2023, with a ruling made on November 15th.

The President of the Supreme Court stated that all the judges agreed with the Court of Appeal’s finding that there existed a genuine possibility of applications being incorrectly processed in Rwanda, leading to the unjust repatriation of asylum seekers to their home country.

Britain has spent more than £3 billion annually handling asylum applications. A significant portion of this money goes towards housing immigrants while their claims are being handled.

Politicians and civil society organisations applauded the verdict last week, while Sunak has pledged to continue his efforts in handling refugees. The UK would not be able to carry out the proposal legally, but Rishi Sunak has since lamented the situation in a statement which said that the administration will think about what to do next.

“This was not the outcome we wanted, but we have spent the last few months planning for all eventualities and we remain completely committed to stopping the boats,” Sunak stated. The judgement brought up serious concerns regarding the scheme’s expenditures.

The Rwandan government received over £140 million in payment and declined to provide a more detailed breakdown of the programme’s and solicitor’s fees.

The ruling, according to the Supreme Court President, should not be seen as a political statement because it is solely grounded in UK law, considering the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and other relevant principles.

The contentious agreement between Britain and Rwanda to ship migrants and asylum seekers drew a lot of criticism in the UK. Opposition parties, activists, and the UN refugee agency all called for the cancellation of the multi-million-pound arrangement.

Suella Braverman, the former Home Secretary, supported the embattled Rwanda Plan. Braverman chastised Sunak for his handling of the case in a letter that was made public on the day of the decision. She called for the UK to leave the ECHR if the Rwanda plan was blocked.

Frank Habineza, President of the opposition Democratic Green Party of Rwanda, said the deal was not sustainable. Opposition leader Victoire Ingabire, a fierce critic of Kagame, also highlighted the economic pressures facing the country following the COVID-19 pandemic. “It is uncertain how Rwanda would support relocated migrants with their personal development and employment,” she said.

Although some have hailed the accord, Rwandans have mostly kept quiet about it.

Tom Mulisa, a constitutional law instructor at the University of Rwanda, told AFP: “It is a good thing that Rwanda has positioned itself in this way, as a way of contributing to solv[ing] the immigration crisis that is affecting the whole world.”

Shramana Majumdar, MA International Studies and Diplomacy

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda in May 2023 (Credit: Alice Hodgson / No 10 Downing Street)

Residents cannot return for weeks: Barton House Evacuation raises fears of another Tower Block Tragedy

On the evening of Tuesday 14th of November, 400 residents including 100 children were evacuated from Barton House. The council has said this was due to a “serious and immediate” structural issue with the building, and has encouraged residents to “stay with family and friends.” Those who have nowhere to go will be housed in a temporary shelter.

In a statement, Bristol City Council confirmed that the initial evacuation had been due to a recent building survey indicating that, “in the event of a fire, explosion or large impact, there is risk to the structure of the block,” and that they do not expect households to return to their flats “in the next two to three weeks.”

ACORN, a community union in Bristol, stated that it has been a great concern for them for some time now, as this follows a hard-fought campaign by residents. The community union had managed to secure nearly £100 million in fire safety measures on account of a string of fires in Bristol tower blocks which included a fatal fire at Twinnell House. ACORN notes that “the council’s failure to listen to safety concerns of residents and their failure to properly communicate with them,” has been a key part of their campaign.

Protests led by Barton House residents demanding an investigation have since erupted at City Hall, with Carla Denyer, co-leader of the Green Party and Bristol councillor, stating “I think there needs to be an investigation into why it has taken so long for this fault to be identified.”

The demands presented by Barton House residents include “reimbursement of November’s rent, a pause on rent payments, mental health support and support with childcare for all affected residents and a rehousing plan where residents who cannot stay in Barton House are rehoused locally, on the same rent or less.”

The pressure is on for Bristol City Council, but “the largest responsibility lands with Mayor Marvin Rees,” says ACORN. Mayor Marvin Rees had issued a statement about the sudden evacuation telling residents that “rest assured our top priority is to make sure everyone is looked after and updated as the situation unfolds,” and that the council is, “being very empathetic.” But resident and ACORN Bristol Branch Secretary Shaban Ali says it has been a “long hard-fought battle to ensure the safety of the building,” and that Barton House residents, “found out through WhatsApp groups and local journalists.” There has been anger and frustration over how the council

“‘It’s been 6 years since Grenfell, 14 months since the fatal fire at Twinell House,’ and the question for most is if the council have learnt lessons from both tragedies.”

has handled the evacuation and a growing concern regarding what happens next, with many residents saying they would not feel safe returning. The wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy has also been a fear for some residents, with ACORN Bristol Organiser Sam Kidel stating that “it’s been six years since Grenfell, 14 months since the fatal fire at Twinell House,” and the question for most is whether the council have learnt lessons from both tragedies. ACORN and the Bristol Tower’s United have been vocal about the building’s serious issues since 2022. The residents of Barton House are mostly made up of families who are unable to express their concerns about safety directly to the council, so community unions such as ACORN and Bristol Towers United have been helping them do this since the 14th of November.

Labour Divided over War in Gaza

Hiba Ul-Hasan, BA History

On 15 November, Members of Parliament voted against a Scottish National Party (SNP) amendment to the King’s Speech, which called on the UK government to “join with the international community in urgently pressing all parties to agree to an immediate ceasefire,” in Gaza. The vote in the Commons was defeated by 293 to 125.

“Starmer…does not want to support a ceasefire because it will only ‘embolden’ Hamas”

The results sparked dissatisfaction and outrage among sections of the British people. On the eve of the vote, almost 15,000 people gathered outside Parliament, asking that their MPs support the call for a ceasefire. This protest followed a succession of notable marches in support of Palestine, some of which have drawn an estimated half-million people. The defeat of the motion has heightened the public’s disapproval of the UK government’s stance towards the war in Gaza.

According to The Guardian, the war is now affecting British politics, with Labour Party leader Keir Starmer facing the resignation of ten frontbenchers and 46 councillors. According to reports, Starmer threatened to sack any Labour frontbencher who supported the SNP ceasefire proposal. Despite this, 56 Labour MPs voted in favour of the ceasefire, while 140 abstained.

Instead of endorsing an immediate ceasefire, Starmer called for “humanitarian pauses,” despite acknowledging the significant number of casualties in Gaza over

the past month. He claims that he does not want to support a ceasefire because it will only “embolden” Hamas.

Concurrently, Israel’s Defence Forces launched a ground offensive against Hamas, infiltrating Al Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s main medical institution. As the death toll rises, the humanitarian situation worsens.

Concerns have also been voiced about the Labour Party’s standing in Scotland in the aftermath of the vote. Leader Keir Starmer attempted to strike a careful balance between party unity and his political views. His decision to oppose the SNP’s amendment reveals the tension of maintaining a united Labour front and a fear that support of the motion could have proven detrimental to the party’s cohesion. The move, however, may have unintended consequences, as it could induce a fall in support in Scotland.

Scottish Labour

Anas

Starmer’s stance in an interview on LBC News. Sarwar called Starmer’s support for Israel’s actions, particularly the cutting-off of crucial supplies to Gaza’s 2.3 million residents, “hurtful.” Despite Labour’s recent by-election victories in Rutherglen and Hamilton West, Sarwar’s comments highlight a deepening fracture within the Labour Party, particularly in Scotland.

The current situation poses a challenge to Starmer’s leadership as he attempts to reconcile party unity, especially given that many Labour MPs say they are under intense pressure from party members and constituents to adopt a stronger stance against the Israeli bombardment of Gaza.

leader

Sarwar expressed disappointment with

Hodan Sultan, BA History of Art and History

Londoners march for a ceasefire in Gaza (Credit: Tania Monica)

Relations Between the International Community and Palestine and Israel Aid Organisations Remain Tense

On October 7th, Hamas - a Palestinian organisation which is considered a terrorist group by the UK, Israel and other countries - led an unprecedented attack on a music festival, towns and other locations in Israel. Hamas killed around 1,200 people and took about 240 hostages, according to the Israeli government.

Following the attack, Israeli officials vowed to destroy Hamas. Since then, Israel has launched one of the most intense bombing campaigns of this century, killing over 14,000 Palestinians, including about 5,500 children*, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Blocked aid access

One of the greatest impacts of the bombing campaign has been on the delivery of humanitarian aid into the region. During the first two weeks of Israel’s bombing campaign, Gaza was placed into a state of siege which completely blocked any access for aid to enter.

Aid organisations working in Palestine and Israel have played a large role in calling for a humanitarian pause or a ceasefire, with some aid trucks being allowed into Gaza. The 1,479 aid trucks allowed entry during the period before the four-day truce represented just 14% of the monthly volume of humanitarian aid and commercial goods that were being delivered to Gaza before this latest conflict, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

This has led to a devastating situation in Gaza, as widespread hunger envelopes those who remain. The World Food Programme (WFP) reported that fuel shortages have resulted in bakeries being forced to close,

making food staples like bread almost impossible to buy. Food prices are also continuing to rise significantly.

Western donors cut funding

Further fuelling the tensions between the international communities and aid organisations operating in Palestine and Israel are some Western donors who withdrew financial support for human rights groups, Arab media and think tanks showed.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Hossam Baghat, the Executive Director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) said: “We don’t know how or if we can interact with some of these Western governments or partners ever again.”

Human Rights Watch (HRW) have since shown that Austria, Denmark, Germany and Sweden suspended their bilateral development aid programmes in Gaza and the West Bank just days after the attack on October 7th. This pause in funding amounts to £110 million and has affected UN agencies, the Palestinian Authority which governs the West Bank, and several civil society organisations.

On October 11th, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) suspended millions of dollars of funding to six Palestinian and five Israeli civil society organisations.

“In view of the new situation that has prevailed since the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October and the resumption of hostilities in the Middle East, the FDFA has decided to suspend its financial support to eleven local NGOs,” the Foreign Ministry has said.

The organisations are primarily involved in human rights and are recipients of support from the department’s Middle East cooperation programs, it added. There is likely to be increasing distrust and scepticism between aid organisations in Palestine and Israel and the wider international community.

The UK will provide an additional £30 million of humanitarian aid for civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, more than doubling the existing aid commitment for this year, of £27 million.

United Nations aid worker fatalities

Another notable concern for relations between aid organisations in Israel and Palestine and the wider community is aid worker deaths. Since the beginning of the siege, 104 aid workers from the UN’s Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) have been killed. More UN aid workers have been killed in Gaza since October 7th than in the organisation’s 78-year history.

It is unclear to what extent the impact of the fourday pause in fighting will have on the ability of aid to reach the entire Gaza region, especially in the North where conditions are reported to be dire. With winter coming, the situation in Gaza and relations between aid organisations and the international community are set to remain fragile unless a permanent ceasefire can be agreed.

*All statistics accurate at the time of writing

Yasmin Turner, MSc International Development

Aid distribution in Central African Republic (Credit: UNICEF | Pierre Holtz/Flickr)

Catalan Independence Movement Rejuvenated After Spanish Elections

After months of negotiating following an inconclusive snap election, Spain is facing massive protests over the controversial Catalan amnesty deal that led to the incumbent Prime Minister’s re-election.

The Catalan independence party, ‘Junts per Catalunya’, acted as the kingmakers in both the negotiations and the Spanish parliament. This marks a defining turn in the Catalan independence movement as Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez enters another term in office.

The centre-left socialist prime minister Sanchez, who led a coalition government between his Socialist party (the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party or PSOE) and the left-wing Podemos, called a snap election in July. Polls suggested his party would lose many seats and a surge in polls for the far-right party Vox

These elections instead resulted in a hung parliament in which neither the right-wing parties nor the incumbent coalition had enough seats for a majority in parliament. This left the Catalan independence party, Junts per Catalunya, as the kingmakers in any prime ministerial negotiations.

A tense period of negotiations followed. The centre-right Popular Party (Partido Popular in Spanish), or PP, negotiated first as the largest party in parliament but failed to reach a deal with Junts per Catalunya, who demanded amnesty for political figures involved in the Catalan independence referendum in 2017, including for the political leaders that the Spanish government arrested. These events led to the self-imposed exile of Junts per Catalunya’s leader and former President of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, in Belgium in 2017.

PP refused Junts’ conditions, with both right-wing parties, especially the ultranationalist Vox party, strongly against any form of amnesty deal or concessions to the Catalan independence movement.

Sanchez’s Socialist party was given the chance to negotiate, and though the party also opposed any referendum on Catalan independence, an amnesty deal was ultimately agreed upon and Junts voted in favour of Sanchez’s re-election as Prime Minister on 16 November, with an overall vote of 179 to 171.

This means that Sanchez’ second term will be under a minority coalition between the Socialists and Sumar, a left-wing electoral alliance including the Socialists’ former coalition partner Podemos

The amnesty deal and re-election of Sanchez as prime minister was followed by an explosive protest of around 170,000 people in Madrid who opposed the amnesty deal. Some of those who attended included hard-right American political commentator Tucker Carlson and the leaders of PP and Vox

Abascal, leader of the far-right Vox party, made an incendiary call for his supporters to have ‘‘No calm or tolerance in the face of the coup,” referring to the Spanish parliament’s democratic re-election of Sanchez as Prime Minister following the amnesty deal, and for “Total and permanent mobilisation.” For fifteen nights following the deal, both before and after this demonstration, protestors also gathered outside the headquarters of PSOE. These protestors included members of Vox as well as neo-nazi groups, and on multiple occasions, violence broke out between protestors and police.

“Abascal, leader of the far-right Vox party in Spain, made an incendiary call for his supporters to have ‘‘No calm or tolerance in the face of the coup””

Several former military officers and generals were also found to have made death threats against Socialist and Catalan independence politicians, discussing the shooting of Catalan civilians, their support for a military coup, and praising former fascist dictator of Spain Francisco Franco.Several of these officers also wrote a letter against the current government to the King of Spain. The chief of the Spanish armed forces dismissed these chats, leaked from a private Whatsapp group, as ‘‘not representative’’ of the Spanish military forces.

Sanchez defended the amnesty deal as necessary to ease tensions and ‘‘heal the wounds’’ between the Spanish government and Catalonia but made clear his opposition to Catalan independence, referring to Catalan independence leaders as ‘‘political leaders whose ideas I do not share and whose actions I reject.”

The current President of Catalonia, Pere Aragonès, responded positively to the amnesty deal but clarified that a legal independence referendum was a democratic imperative: “The core of the problem is that there is an overwhelming majority in Catalonia that wants a referendum to decide our future… until now, Spain has rejected this possibility. Now, there is an opportunity to have a dialogue and negotiation about this issue.”

Lilac Carr, BA Politics and International Relations

Catalonian Independence Referendum Aftermath in 2017 (Credit: Sasha Popovic/Flickr)

Xi-Biden Talks: “What will Happen to Taiwan’s Future?

On November 15th, Joe Biden and Xi Jinping met in San Francisco, California; the first meeting in a year between the two Presidents, as well as the first time in six years since Xi’s last visit to the United States.

All the proposed areas of cooperation were aimed at reducing tensions between the two superpowers, which have been at historic highs in recent years. On the agenda was the renewal of US-China military communication as well as cooperation in tackling the global production of synthetic drugs amidst the current opioid crisis in the US. However, Taiwan’s future was undoubtedly the most sensitive issue raised at the talks.

Xi restated his support for “peaceful reunification” with the Island and urged the US to reaffirm its commitment to the ‘One China Policy’ by ending the sale of arms to Taiwan. Although Biden rejected the Chinese President’s wishes regarding the arms trade, he confirmed the United State’s support for the ‘One China Policy’. He, however, stressed the need for peace in the Strait and reaffirmed the US’s pledge to defend Taiwan in the event of an invasion from China.

These statements are nothing new to the public - they are routinely reiterated at almost every meeting between the two Presidents. However, this time they come at a critical juncture in Cross-Strait relations, and the

and its most important ally have never been stronger, as was demonstrated in 2022 when former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, visited the Island. Apart from important diplomatic visits from both parties, a major US-Taiwan trade deal agreement was signed in June of this year - the first since 1979.

The increase in the strengthening of US-Taiwan relations can also be found in national politics. Current Vice President William Lai of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), who is leading the polls by a small margin, announced in recent days that his running mate was going to be former US envoy Hsiao Bi-Khim.

significance of such pledges has changed for Taiwanese people. The inconsistencies in both of these statements have become clearer. Xi’s reiteration of “peaceful unification” is hardly convincing given the buildup of military exercises and operations of intimidation in the run-up to the Island’s Presidential Election in January of next year. Simultaneously, public trust in Biden’s pledge to defend Taiwan against invasion is starting to dip. The main concern is cemented in the United State’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Yet with the promise of a $105 billion aid package from the US, $7.2 billion of which is expected to reach Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific region, relations between Taiwan

Up until the run-up to the Biden-Xi talks, Lai seemed to be the favoured candidate to win the election. However, a recent poll conducted by My Formosa Poll shows that his approval rating currently stands at 31.5%, while Ho Yu-ih from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) follows right behind at 30.1%.

This choice is extremely significant to the future of Taiwan for several reasons. The DPP is the only party running in the election with a clear anti-China political agenda, Lai is known for being one of the most pro-Taiwanese independence politicians within his Party, and having a former US envoy as vice president would strengthen diplomatic relations between Taiwan and the US.However, most importantly, the last point would send a clear message to Xi Jinping that Taiwan has no desire to develop stronger ties with China and that ultimately it has no desire for reunification.

#BanTravelToKorea: Growing Outrage Over Deportation of Thai Tourists from South Korea

Ellie Sprinthall and Supalapinee Pakdeechanuan, BA International Relations and

Thai people online are campaigning against travel to South Korea due to growing frustration regarding Thai nationals being refused entry to the East Asian country.

Under the hashtag #แบนเที่ยวเกาหลี (#BanTravelToKorea) on the social media platform X, Thai tourists have been sharing their experiences of unfair treatment and deportation by South Korean immigration officials.

One popular post, by user @nuri_kw, has garnered 22,000 retweets. The post describes an encounter with an immigration officer asking, since the user had previously visited South Korea, why they needed to visit again. They also allege that the translator was unhelpful and gave incorrect translations, and they were ultimately denied entry.

Another user, @nickkysone, alleges that an immigration officer asked if they knew how many trees were in front of their hotel. The user was ultimately denied entry.

Another post by user @ganblade describes an immigration officer denying entry to a Thai person because she did not know the names of all the subway stations she would use during her trip. The immigration officer also accused the woman of fabricating her financial documents, despite her presenting the officer with her online banking app.

Korean

As reported in the Bangkok Post, many speculate that the deportation of travellers from Thailand can be attributed to the high numbers of illegal immigrants from Thailand in South Korea, as illegal immigrants often enter the country under tourism visas and overstay.

South Korea’s Ministry of Justice released an official statement on the 3rd of November responding to the controversy. In the statement, they explain there are approximately 157,000 illegal immigrants from Thailand in South Korea, three times higher than the amount eight years ago. They add that many illegal immigrants are often involved in drug and violent crimes in South Korea.

The statement also says that, despite Thai nationals having prior travel authorisation, immigration clearance will be granted based on the judgement of individual immigration officers. Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said the government will look into the issue, adding that he was previously unaware of the problem.

The issue comes amidst efforts by the Korean Tourism Organization (KTO) to increase tourism from Thailand to South Korea. According to the Bangkok Post, 250,000 Thai nationals have travelled to South Korea in the first eight months of this year, just 70% of pre-Covid levels.

From the 30th of September to the 1st of October, the KTO hosted ‘Into the Koreaverse’ events in Thailand to promote travel to the country. At the events, package tours and flights to South Korea were sold.

Despite these efforts, a growing number of Thai people on social media are calling to boycott travel to South Korea due to the strict screenings and deportations, instead opting for travel to other countries like Taiwan and Japan, which offer visa-free entry for Thai nationals.

As reported in The Korea Times, South Korea and Thailand have agreed to hold consular talks soon to respond to the complaints. They will reportedly also discuss the issue of illegal immigration.

Incheon International Airport (Credit: Tzuhsun Hsu/Wikipedia)

Carlotta Busetto, BA Chinese

US President Joe Biden greets Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Filoli Estate in Woodside, California, on 15th November 2023 (Credit: Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP, Pool)

Aiesha Akenzua

Resistance at SOAS: A Reflection

Sam Landis, BA Social Anthropology & International Relations

On Friday, November 24th, hundreds of students and workers from SOAS, UCL, KCL, and LSE gathered on the SOAS campus to demand their institutions call for an immediate ceasefire in Palestine and end their complicity in Israel’s occupation. The demonstration, held as SOAS students remain suspended following their involvement in an ‘All Out for Palestine’ rally in early October, was a powerful display of cross-campus unity and collective solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Now more than ever, taking space on university campuses — even as our institutions continue to forcefully suppress political expression and impose numerous barriers to free speech — is essential.

With ever-increasing levels of surveillance, securitisation and personal retaliation being deployed by universities to cultivate fear in the minds of students and limit their capacity to resist, we must remember that occupying space as a means to actualize student and staff demands is a strategy deeply embedded in the history of SOAS. Reflecting on this history, much of it incredibly recent, is paramount in making visible an often forgotten past of successful studentled movements that SOAS has tried so vehemently to erase.

One of the most widely publicized SOAS occupations occurred in June of 2009. Following the deportation of nine SOAS cleaners, including a woman six months pregnant, 60 students stormed the office of former SOAS Director Paul Webley where they remained for three days. The deportation came three years after the SOAS cleaning staff created the ‘Justice for Workers’ campaign in an effort to improve their working conditions and gain official employment status from SOAS, which meant they would no longer have to rely on precarious, temporary contracts from independent staffing agencies. Many believe the deportation was carried out with full knowledge and complicity of the university’s management, and was done as a means to lessen the momentum generated by student-staff organizing.

Students demanded that SOAS write the home secretary to request the cleaners be granted ‘exceptional leave’ to remain in the UK, investigate the immigration raid, begin discussions of directly employing SOAS cleaners, and take no disciplinary action against the occupiers. All of these demands were won, and over the next ten years, students and staff worked tirelessly and engaged in numerous strikes to bring all SOAS cleaners in-house, improve

sick and holiday pay, and better their pension schemes.

In 2010, SOAS students occupied the Brunei Gallery for three weeks to protest rising tuition fees. Although no demands were won through this direct action, the occupation was part of a widespread movement of collective mobilization throughout the UK surrounding university fee increases and allowed students to bring attention to their struggle and challenge the marketised education system. The blog from this occupation is still accessible online at soasoccupation2010.wordpress.com. A haiku written by one of the occupiers published on the blog reads:

Teach out walk out run

Our anger power hasn’t gone THIS HAS JUST BEGUN!

In 2017, members of the SOAS community again occupied the managerial corridor for two weeks after the university threatened to permanently close the student refectory, a move which would’ve seen many workers fired and a main source of food on campus shuttered. Students demanded the following: keep the refectory open, let all the catering staff keep their jobs, match the pay of catering staff to the same level as other outsourced staff, and begin the process of bringing SOAS cleaners in-house. All of their demands were achieved. In 2019, students occupied the library for three days to bring attention to the rampant pay cuts and understaffing faced by library workers. This sit-in followed in the footsteps of a 12-day occupation of the library in 1998, where students fought for and won full and free access to Senate House Library, which formerly used to cost £70 per academic year for the majority of SOAS students.

“With ever-increasing levels of surveillance, securitisation and personal retaliation being deployed by universities to cultivate fear in the minds of students and limit their capacity to resist, we must remember that occupying space as a means to actualize student and staff demands is a strategy deeply embedded in the history of SOAS”

Students and staff also held various mini-occupations of the SOAS Green throughout 2019 and 2020 while the University of London began plans to construct a building over it. After continuous resistance which delayed exploratory projects by UoL multiple times, the plans were eventually scrapped when COVID came along.

The most recent occupation at SOAS, which took place in March of 2022, marked a distinctive shift in how student resistance was handled by university management. Nearly one year prior, SOAS Director Adam Habib had been hired, quickly suspended following his use of a racial slur and

verbal harassment of a student, given a vote of no-confidence, and then reinstated. With widespread anger over Habib’s continued directorship, students built the #FireHabib campaign, which was still going strong by the Spring of 2022 and acted as a focal point of the March occupation. Students also called for the implementation and advocation of demands from various trade unions and societies, a commitment to decolonisation and de-marketization from SOAS, and for no disciplinary action to be taken against occupiers.

Throughout the occupation, Habib forbade students from accessing toilets, shut down the entire campus for days, painted half of the walls of our student union white as an intimidation tactic,and engaged in only one negotiation session which failed to acknowledge the occupation’s demands. After eight days, a team of over forty private bailiffs equipped with riot shields were called into campus in the middle of the night to evict the occupiers. The bailiffs climbed campus buildings with ladders, smashed windows, and dragged occupiers out by their hands and feet; three students sustained injuries during the eviction. None of the occupier’s demands were met.

In the wake of management’s extremely intense response to the 2022 occupation, SOAS spent £650,000 on external security in one year, drastically increased student surveillance and police presence on campus, and administered harsh threats and punishments to student protestors. This year’s indefinite suspension of student activists signals the entering of a new terrain of political suppression at SOAS, one which brings Habib’s nearly decade-long battle against student resistance to the forefront. As Vice Chancellor of Wits University in South Africa, Habib unabashedly muzzled opportunities for student-staff organizing and sanctioned police violence as a means to quell the nationwide #FeesMustFall protest movement of 2015. The tactics he deployed at Wits are finding their way to SOAS more every day.

As the demonstration on Friday the 24th of November illustrated, no matter how hard management tries to silence their students, we will continue to hold space and make our voices heard. While we move forward in our aims to reinstate suspended students, end SOAS’s complicity in Israeli apartheid, and resist violent tactics of political suppression, reflecting on the history of past student mobilizations can offer us not only solace and support but also a guidebook for the future.

Occupiers holding a rally from the SOAS managerial corridor in March of 2022. (Credit: Sam Landis)

(Credit: Sam Landis)

SOAS Student’s Union Does Not Need Four Co-Presidents

Barty Roberts, BA Politics and International Relations

Bloated, expensive and ineffective, the SOAS Student Union does not need four Co-Presidents for the 5,500 students it represents. Against the backdrop of rising bar and shop prices and rising society and sports team membership costs, the current four-president model costs £95,732 - four London living wage salaries for a 35-hour work week.

University College London has five paid sabbatical officers to take responsibility for more than 50,000 students. If they were to adopt SOAS’ ratio of president to students they would require 40 Co-Presidents. The SOAS system makes little sense financially, and it is yet unclear what each representative is in place to achieve; this is best demonstrated by the incumbent Co-Presidents’ manifestos. Sushant Singh (Welfare and Campaigns), Reem Walid (Democracy and Education) and Jamal Akram (Equality and Liberation) all make reference to making SOAS a “safe space” (or use similar terms) to express religious and political beliefs - but which Co-President’s responsibility actually is it to protect the beliefs of students on campus? The fact that these three have all committed to it shows they don’t know, so how are the student voters supposed to tell? Frankly, the interactions students have with the Students’ Union are not with the Co-Presidents.

They do very little for the day-to-day practice of the SU; it is the backroom staff with clear and defined roles who seem to do the brunt of the work. However, this is not the Co-Presidents’ fault; it is down to their vaguely defined roles. The obvious overlap between each job title is a clear detriment. Co-Presidents should have clearly defined briefs, running parallel to the briefs of their colleagues.

Intertwining is inefficient and prevents accountability, students deserve a way to hold those in elected offices to account.

If the system were to be reformed, we should halve the number of Co-Presidents. This would ensure accountability and clarify the roles of the Co-Presidents. It would be best to completely scrap the democracy and education brief, as the Student Rep network has the potential to achieve far more than a single figure can and work on a more productive, localised scale in terms of educational improvement as the reps are actually in the classrooms. Similarly, the Equality and Liberation brief should be merged with the Welfare and Campaigns brief to

“University College London has five paid sabbatical officers to take responsibility for more than 50,000 students. If they were to adopt SOAS’ ratio of president to students they would require 40 Co-Presidents”

become the Co-President for Student Support and Equality. The role of the Co-President for Student Support and Equality would encompass the current student welfare brief, whilst also expanding into supporting students with navigating student finance and accommodation. In fact, one of the most impressive sections of the recent manifestos was Jamal Akram’s appeal to students from low-income backgrounds. This should not be lost, but amplified, as the new role would increase the importance of students having someone to fight for proper financial support and housing. Ultimately, this role would be focused on ensuring students are best placed to achieve their

academic potential, as there would be someone in a position to aid in breaking down any barriers to achievement, creating equality of opportunity so that anyone at SOAS, regardless of ethnicity, gender identity, income, disability, or any other factor, can fulfil their potential whilst studying here.

The second Co-Presidential role would be quite similar to the current Activities and Events role, just with more responsibility. Effectively this role becomes Co-President for Union Affairs and will uphold the current responsibilities of supporting sports teams and societies as well as organising and coordinating events in the Union. This Co-President will also assume the Campaigns role, as most campaigns on campus are typically started by one of the many societies. In addition to responsibility for all the Student Union spaces like the Bar, Shop, JCR and the newly developed space that we’re yet to know the full purpose of. By scrapping two of the Co-Presidents, the Student Union would have a surplus of £47,866 that could be redistributed. This could be given to societies, be used to subsidise the bar and shop costs or even provide the two Co-Presidents with a small budget.

The Co-Presidents should also be required to hold weekly surgeries, as all of the current Co-Presidents have expressed a wish to regularly hear from students. Installing a framework that allows them to do so in a fixed slot that then becomes knowable for the students they represent can only be beneficial. I would also suggest for the sake of transparency that Co-Presidents have a public diary so that the student can know how they are spending their time representing us.

Fundamentally, our system needs to change. It does not work, and it costs far too much.

The General Election: The Forbidden Dream of the UK

Tumininu Peters, BA Politics and International Relations

Envision a performance in which the actors, inconsiderate of their audience’s irritation, utilise a variety of deceptive methods to prolong their time on stage.

Sounds familiar? Welcome to the world of modern British politics. During this extraordinary performance, a significant juncture develops that can destabilise Rishi Sunak and his Conservative government — the simple proposition of a general election. The implications of this predicament for their reigning power and the demonstration of their political acrobatics are far too difficult to fathom. Yet, a majority of British citizens long for this prospect, as it presents an opportunity to liberate their voices from the last four years of political turmoil. But with no signs of the election meant to be held by January 2025, what elements have contributed to a general election’s transition from a necessity to a painstakingly delayed and luxurious affair?

Under three ineffective leaders and three turbulent governments, the Conservative Party has been enmeshed in a series of unfavourable policy decisions and scandals, resulting in a deterioration of its current public image. However, they believe that each of their actions has contributed to the betterment of the country. To validate their limited set of accomplishments, they implemented a variety of policies, including the prohibition of fracking, which would not have necessitated a ban if it had not been for the negligence of the briefly serving Liz Truss; as well as the economically inevitable claim of halving inflation and the government’s repeated commitment to maintaining the triple-lock pensions. It is critical that we, as a nation, truthfully evaluate the Conservative Party’s tangible achievements. Yet, the only thing that comes to mind is their 13-year track record of preventing Labour from assuming power. However, given their lower living standards,

sluggish economic growth, and widespread scandals, one might question their success in even keeping Labour out in the first place. Despite this, no election is currently scheduled, leaving Britons with no immediate opportunity for change, as the party persists in its pursuit of political power while failing to acknowledge its current failures. Instead, legislative measures, such as the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act of 2022, have been enacted to establish an equitable and all-encompassing electoral procedure, allowing the continuation of their unfavourable governance while imposing the consequences of their rash decisions on the public.

“The raucous applause that greeted Johnson's victory in 2019 now appears subdued and lacklustre."

Incompetence has highlighted the Conservative Party’s inability to fulfil its responsibilities while maintaining fiscal standards, resulting in a decline in public confidence, including within the party itself. A recent parliament petition saw almost 280,000 individuals express their desire for an immediate general election.

The raucous applause that greeted Johnson’s victory in 2019 now appears subdued and lacklustre. Even the scathing resignation letter penned by Suella Braverman that garnered significant media attention just a few weeks ago, shed light on the obvious lack of respect among those working under Sunak’s premiership and only emphasised his lack of “real intention of fulfilling [his] pledge to the British people,” which has only caused increasing dissatisfaction among members of his own political party. Given these circumstances, one might wonder what conditions must be met for our long-awaited dream to come true. The survival of the democratic process is dependent on the honesty

and integrity of its leaders. Have we not expressed our dissatisfaction with the current government deeply enough?

Nonetheless, it is critical to emphasise that the consequences discussed cannot be attributed solely to political leaders. Despite widespread exposure of Boris Johnson’s numerous scandals as a Member of Parliament, his involvement in fabrications at The Times, and the derogatory language he employed during his tenure at the Daily Telegraph, the overwhelming victory of the 2019 election can be attributed to the majority of voters who perceived him as the most suitable candidate to lead the country. Surely, his lack of integrity and proclivity to exploit language for his own convenience would have been evident. Yet there was a paramount shock when he failed to adhere to his own manifesto’s goals, weaponising ignorance as a covert channel for his ruthlessness over his three-year premiership and his remarkable ability to deceive through the Partygate scandal.

Still, in sympathy with the public vote of confidence, the extent of Johnson’s recklessness and deception was unforeseeable. As for our current unelected prime minister, his continuing inefficiency has only been a slap in the public’s face, who did not even have the opportunity to vote him in. Thus, when our forbidden dream of a general election comes to fruition, it must be remembered by Britons that the last four years have been utter hell, and we can no longer underestimate the enormous ramifications the next leader can have on the direction of this country.

The coming times are unpredictable, but the British public has the right to an immediate general election. This rotten government has only worsened the country’s situation in their 13-year reign and they are no longer fit to govern the country. I fear that if they continue to do so, the consequences will be disastrous.

EDITOR: Anisah Mahamoud

The Cost-of-Surviving Crisis

Genevieve Hack, BA Development Economics

The agonising effects of the cost-of-living crisis have been felt across the entirety of the population. COVID-19 lockdowns and the ongoing war in Ukraine have been the two main drivers of inflationary pressures, however, this is not to deny responsibility for the part which the UK government also had to play. The situation is bleak, and even more so for groups that are disproportionately vulnerable to financial instability. Rising energy costs have left older generations sitting alone in cold homes, while young people are struggling to enter unstable job markets.

Two years have passed since the term ‘cost-of-living’ first became a frequent topic of conversation among the general public. According to the Bank of England, inflation reached a peak of 11% in 2022, which plunged the UK into a deep recession that we still endure the effects of. The rising cost of energy and food bills, coinciding with stagnating wages and lack of affordable housing, has set the UK population on a downward trajectory towards the state of collapse. Younger and older generations remain especially exposed to the long-term effects of the cost-of-living crisis.

UK Youth, a charity focused on the empowerment of young people, has expressed growing concerns regarding the

repercussions of the cost of living crisis on young people. The research conducted by Censuswide reveals that 76% of young people are concerned that the crisis will affect their ability to secure a stable job. A shocking 20% reported that their access to regular meals has been negatively impacted. Youth-centred organisations have faced greater demand for services, as well as increased operating costs, yet government funding has decreased as a result of cuts in public spending. At the hands of UK government policy that neglected the importance of public services, reduced access to youth-support services has left many adolescents in extremely precarious situations.

High levels of inflation have had a direct impact on the health of older generations, as they struggle to heat their homes and face increasing costs of healthcare. The rising cost of living has seen 22% of older people reducing or stopping their consumption of medications or specialist foods, according to a survey conducted by Age UK. We are witnessing a rapid decline in the quality of life of older people as increased prices are increasingly associated with an increased death toll. NHS services are under pressure now more than ever to provide for more older people who remain trapped in unsafe environments and unpredictable financial circumstances.

Despite the dismal situation we find ourselves in amidst the ongoing economic crisis, the future outlook remains dire. The BBC reported that the typical annual household

energy bill is set to rise by an approximated 5% from January and the Office for Budget Responsibility revealed that new measures in the Autumn budget will result in a £19bn reduction in spending on public services after accounting for inflation. The failure of the Autumn budget to address the pressing issues of rising death tolls, job insecurity and direct risks to health, to name a few, is indicative of the Conservative Party’s ignorance of the realities of the non-elite.

The unrelenting cost-of-living crisis has plunged the UK population into a state of emergency. Public services have been pushed to the brink due to underfunding, increased demand for services, and rising costs. The looming winter months pose a daunting reality, and government action is urgently required to implement greater access to vital services on which so many people - young and old - depend.

Gen Zzzleepless and the Need for Radical Change

Anon Yu Henriksen, BA International Relations and Korean

As the weather is getting colder, the days shorter, and the workload heavier, many students are facing a reoccurring life issue: sleep problems.

Fear not, you are probably not the only one who has involuntarily gone a night without shutting your eyes, and you are definitely not the only one who struggles with falling asleep. According to the NHS, 64% of people aged 17 to 23 years had a problem with sleep three or more times in the prevailing week.

Further numbers from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine show that 93% of Gen Z have lost sleep specifically because of social media. It might not come as a surprise that the inexhaustible, ever-available, and highly entertaining universe we carry in our pockets keeps us awake. Terms like ‘doom scrolling’ and ‘sleep procrastination’ have become everyday terms. Perhaps Marx’s famous dictum could provide some answers to why this has happened. It is no longer ‘religion’, but rather social media, that is the ‘opium of the people’. In fact, how can we not seek opium while living in a world coloured by widespread general anxiety, a highpressure professional sphere, environmental collapse, economic instability, and violent settler colonialism? The world is dominated by havoc and uncertainty, as well as by multinational companies acting as the opium dealer. They present a solution that, similar to both opium and religion, numbs the pain and creates addiction.

Not only is the state of the world making us addicted to social media. For many, it is also a personal issue; after a long day of constantly trying to fulfil others’ needs, it is liberating to resort to the opium of scrolling. The fact that many only find time for themselves at night, is illustrative

of our culture where we constantly perform. It is of course not a problem that we wish to have some alone time. What is problematic is that this happens through tools that are intended to addict us at the expense of our sleep.

The problem with social media is not only that we use it to distract ourselves from our personal and societal anxieties. Social media is not a neutral space, but products made by profit-driven companies. When googling ‘how to fix sleep issues’, one is met with a wall of individual solutions. Yet, it is not our individual fault that multinational companies and the current societal structure force us onto platforms that are specifically designed to keep us online, and therefore, also awake. Sleep deprivation is positive when seen from Silicon Valley. Whereas adults throughout our lives have typically forced us to sleep, they are now finding intricate ways to restrict our sleep, all in the name of profit.

“This is not an issue of the single individual, but rather one of Silicon Valley ”

It is not a coincidence that we are captured by social media for hours on end at bedtime; the digital world is open 24/7. However, two different digital worlds exist - one of the day and one of the night. During the day we are kept busy by answering texts, reading emails, and sending our entire For You pages to our friends.At night, however, one is completely left to oneself. Social media at night is one of the only low-stress environments that has survived neoliberalism. At night, you

may finally consume content, completely undisturbed.

This focus on Gen Z is not meant as a disregard for other generations and their sleep issues. Sleep deprivation is probably as old as human existence. Greek, Roman, and Hindu mythology all have divinities of sleep. However, there is a point to be made about our current society and its hostility to sleep. To grow up in the attention economy, must be unhealthier than watching it develop during adult life, as the older generations have. While your grandmother might fall asleep after peacefully reading a book, as she always has done, our nightly routine includes instead a conglomeration of Henry Cavill thirst traps, recorded war crimes, and Lana Del Rey edits. It does not take a sleep specialist to understand who will have the best night of sleep.

The next time your parents shame you for staying up all night to thoughtlessly scroll, remember that this is not an issue of the single individual, but rather one of Silicon Valley. Responsibility should not be put onto the sleepdeprived person, but rather onto those defending the status quo of the neoliberal society. The current lifestyle of many Gen Z-ers should prove that we firmly need radical change.

Gen Z: The End of the Workplace Hierarchy as We Know It?

Callum John Cafferty, BA Japanese

Last summer, we witnessed the birth of the term ‘quiet quitting’ which trended alongside the term ‘job hopping’. As a result, we saw Gen Z being held responsible for these trends, with accusations of ‘anti-capitalism’, ‘laziness’ and ‘selfishness’ being levied from members of Gen X and the Boomer generation. However, these may simply be the swansong of a generation who fear they are soon to have their ways of work replaced. As Gen Z continues its transition from university to the workplace, it seems they will be making an entrance with a bang and aim to flip workplace hierarchies on their head.

The cries and woes expressed by the older generation echo those of eras gone by, complaining of a listless and unmotivated youth. Plato bemoaned a younger generation who were “high-minded because they have not yet been humbled by life, nor have they experienced the force of circumstances,” in 300 BCE. In 1300, the monk Kenkō wrote of “yearn[ing] for the past,’’ and of the “deplorable corruption,” of the Japanese language. Irish educator Thomas Sheridan was dismayed by how, “the free access which many young people have to romances, novels, and plays has poisoned the mind and corrupted the morals of many a promising youth,” in 1780. So of course, it

cannot simply be that Gen Z is the only ‘snowflake generation’.

However, amidst the generational complaining a pattern is clear: Gen Z is the nail that sticks out and refuses to be hammered down. The reasoning of pure laziness attributed by many is simply not true. In fact, it has been demonstrated in studies that Gen Z are more motivated than previous generations. And yet it remains that quiet quitting is more prevalent among Gen Z than others. But why? A number of reasons exist, but chiefly quiet quitting is the statement of a generation who desires a life beyond a work that fails to appreciate them.

Gen Z seemingly cannot be motivated to work above their pay grade simply by telling them to. Is the deploring of this as ‘lazy’ not just more evidence that companies are all too comfortable letting hard work go uncompensated? Perhaps the demands of Gen Z are a sign that a shift in workplace hierarchies and values is nigh. With more members of Gen Z finishing university and entering the workplace, it seems that broadly they are more willing to speak their minds and less willing to just roll over and take unfair and unrewarding workplace conditions than their forebears. With the New York Post proposing that millennial managers are “scared” of their Gen Z counterparts, will the hierarchies of the workplace become flipped on their heads?

External Political Figures at SOAS - A Cost-Benefit Analysis

Tania Monica Zucconi Ruiz, MSc Violence, Conflict and Development

SOAS has always garnered a lot of public attention since its inception in 1916. Initially a colonial institution, SOAS’ status as a school of Oriental and African studies - offering subjects that many institutions had never delved into - meant it had always been at both the interest and ire of the political community. In 2023, though SOAS’ ethos has changed, we still attract external attention. SOAS is still the target of political and cultural figures, which brings both benefits and risks to both the institution and its students.

At the end of October Turning Point UK (TPUK) became the latest political group to descend on the SOAS Campus. TPUK is a right-wing conservative activist and political organisation that claims to want to “challenge the left-leaning bias in our institutions” and “expose the far left (to) end the tyranny of woke ideology”. The far-right pressure group claims to share a ‘common-sense’ message and stand against Marxism and radical socialism, highlighting their endorsement from right-wing figures such as Jacob-Rees Mogg and Nigel Farage. TPUK attends campuses and speeches and attempts to hold interviews, often attempting to upset or misconstrue messages displayed; one student at SOAS was, in fact, lied to regarding the nature of the video, demonstrating a lack of transparency, and potential fear of backlash, from the group. Though the group claims to be inclusive and welcoming, its social media is peppered with confrontational videos claiming to “humiliate”, “smash”, and “trigger” those they talk to during interviews. As such, what can be expected from the arrival of political figures to campus? Though the arrival of political figures and groups on campus can be both positive and negative,

this article will discuss the costs and benefits of political activism on campus. One thing seems certain; the intentions behind the arrival of political figures colour their impact.

The presence of political figures can allow for first-hand exposure to different viewpoints and new ideas and elicit further understanding of varying topics facing society in the current day. Students are given the opportunity to further understand topics, debate them, and foster open minds towards ideologies that may differ from what they are already familiar with. Additionally, the presence of political figures on campus can educate students in activism, allowing them to realise their interests and to discover and understand different social causes that they are passionate about. Some figures, such as Jeremy Corbyn who has visited SOAS multiple times, may use their presence on campus for advocacy in causes such as workers’ rights, allowing for further education of students on important issues and boosting social causes with their presence.

“What can be expected from the arrival of political figures to campus? ”

Conversely, this same advocacy can have negative effects; political figures may use their platform to misconstrue the understanding of causes or to sway students through the use of fake news. The arrival of controversial political members can also create disorder and result in conflicts amongst students with differing views and within the wider institution,

“As Gen Z continues its transition from university to the workplace it seems they will be making an entrance with a bang and aim to flip workplace hierarchies on their head”

With the UK birth rate falling to its lowest in decades, young people are set to become a scarcity. When the demand of young people exceeds the supply, it is no longer the responsibility of Gen Z to go without asking questions or speaking up as their Boomer parents and grandparents once felt they were compelled to. If workplace conditions are inadequate? Quit - either quietly or overtly. Such is the way Gen Z will begin to reverse the role of the unpaid intern or the long-suffering office junior. The impetus is now falling upon companies to change and improve themselves.

The trialling in the UK of notions such as the four-day workweek, WFH, and hybrid working show that we are already beginning to see a shift in how workers are expecting to be treated and how the scales of ‘work-life balance’ may finally tip towards ‘life’ for once. Millennials may have ‘killed’ the diamond wedding ring, casual dining and cereal (apparently), but Gen Z stands poised to land the death blow of toxic work conditions and exploitative hierarchies, possibly once and for all.

potentially resulting in the intimidation of students in a place that is supposed to be a safe space to discuss diverse opinions. Using the example of TPUK, whose visits to UK institutions are usually filmed and posted online to social media, visits may not be there to spread genuine information and raise awareness but rather to humiliate and attack students, perpetuating stereotypes and enforcing already tense divisions between students and generations with differing views. Finally, this builds into the idea that political figures may use their platforms as impromptu rallies and attend campuses for their own political ambitions instead of genuine attempts to foster unity and understanding for the young people they are speaking to, which can be a big issue.

The arrival of political figures on campus can be positive; allowing for the propagation of new ideas, spreading awareness of social justice movements and offering the possibility to openly discuss diverse views. Depending on the figure, and their intentions, however, figures can be a threat to safety and the ability to openly discuss differing viewpoints, which is a function of higher-level education. Due to this, it is important to be mindful of which figures gain a platform for views, and the way that this is done, to ensure the safety and comfort of all students and visitors at a university.

(Credit: Turning Point UK)

Of Dragons and Eagles: A Short Analysis of the Xi-Biden Summit

Joel Bennett, Bsc Politics, Philosophy and Economics

In a fraught geopolitical landscape, cooperation and dialogue often prove to be the vanguards of peace itself; in this regard, it can be said that the world breathed a collective sigh of relief on the 15th of November, following the meeting of presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden. The summit, spearheaded by the American, hoped to tackle issues ranging from cross-military communication, drug control and climate change. It seemed initially to be rather successful. Communication between the US Military and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) had been restored, commercial ties reaffirmed and climate goals reiterated, despite this, less than 24 hours could pass without incident. At a press conference on the 16th, Biden publicly doubled down on his description of Xi as a ‘dictator’, much to the chagrin of Secretary of State Antony Blinken, visibility cringing at the remark. It seemed an utterly nonsensical diplomatic and economic faux pas; the two nations, unrivalled in both magnitude and scale of productive output by historical metrics, are emerging jointly from recession. Chinese factories have begun to roar back into full-scale production and disposable income flows back into the pockets of Americans, it seems only natural that the workshop and market of the world would once again collaborate in a co-beneficial working relationship, yet Biden’s antagonistic assertions do nothing to facilitate this. Much popular discourse has labelled the incident as just another case of ‘old-man Biden’s’ ineptitude or continuation of a confused American foreign policy, but perhaps it would be best to understand the unexpected abjuration through the twofold lens of far-right domestic pressure and legitimisation of geopolitical concerns in the US.

While there is a clear mutual benefit to be gained from the extension of friendly US-China relations, it is very dangerous for a US president, let alone Biden, to draw closer to China in a political sense. The domestic right has painted the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the antithesis to their conception of ‘America’, in this worldview they face an unprecedented clash of freedom and autocracy, capitalism and communism and of ‘civilisation’ vs ‘the swarthy hordes’; if this sounds familiar, yes, it is the same narrative pushed during the Cold War. This was the rhetoric utilised by Trump, providing the ideological foundations for a trade war, erosion of diplomatic ties and potential nuclear conflict; he promised “fire and fury” to close Chinese neighbour North Korea. Biden, ironically the archetypal neoliberal politician, has been labelled as a ‘Socialist’ or ‘Communist’ for his perceived willingness to even entertain the normalisation of USChina relations and support of the Inflation Reduction Act, state-led financial stimuli into the sputtering economy, which helped to maintain capitalist production, not destroy it, as the far right and associated libertarian groups would assert. For these reasons, an incentive for the diplomatic drawback begins to materialise; if Biden is seen as drawing too close to China it would seem to substantiate the claims of these groups, potentially pulling centrist and moderate-right democrats and the ten per cent undecided to the Trump vote. This is particularly poignant in the context of the 2024 election, in which opinion polls project a near deadlock at 45

per cent per candidate, only broken by undecided and swing voters. While never an egalitarian, the Trump campaign has become ever more overtly anti-democratic since its defeat in 2020, openly embracing theories of vote rigging and institutional conspiracy to defraud ‘the American people’ (a.k.a Trump voters). Much of this sentiment has coalesced into what is known as ‘Project 2025’, a plan endorsed by over 75 conservative groups and led by the extremist Heritage Foundation, proposing a total reorganisation of government through the installation of Trumpist allies at all levels of administration and legislation as well as the subsequent transformation of society. The quasi-dictatorship will erase all mentions of non-heteronormative sexuality, gender identity and ‘woke’ ideology, sanctioned and supported by the repressive power of the largest military on planet Earth. This is strikingly similar to the ‘Gleichschaltung’ of the Nazi Party, the process of establishing totalitarian rule over Germany through an institutional takeover with support from armed thugs. Most worrisome, it is popular among some disgruntled voters. Biden is thus extremely careful

“The domestic right has painted the PRC as the antithesis to their conception of ‘America’, they face an unprecedented of freedom and autocracy, capitalism and communism and a clash of ‘civilisation’ vs ‘the swarthy hordes’, if this sounds familiar, yes, it is the same narrative pushed during the cold war”

to prevent potential voter transplants to the right, making the incorporation - in some manner - of the ‘America First’ foreign policy dogma essential to 2024 campaign plans, rationalising the diplomatic movement away from China.

Backpedalling away from closer ties also allows Biden to legitimate geopolitical interests in both the RussianUkrainian ‘long war’ and the conflict in Gaza to which America and China are strategically opposed. China has maintained and expanded already extensive trade links with Russia throughout the war, while America is the largest international contributor to the Ukrainian fight - China has called for an unconditional ceasefire in Gaza and the US has plied the Israelis with billions in fighting cash. Support for Ukraine and Israel remains particularly high amongst the more conservative older and middle-aged voters, the key target groups for Biden in 2024; from a strategic point of view, the more liberal younger generation, more sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, would never even consider a Trump vote, thus rendering them strategically unimportant. Maintaining China as an adversary, not a partner, allows Biden to legitimise support for vote-winning rhetoric regarding Israel and Ukraine.

The Xi-Biden summit, its limited success and damaging aftermath, demonstrates the buckling centre of US politics; conflict rages between the orthodox approach to friendly US-China relations, and the concerningly belligerent tone taken by the radical right on foreign policy and society as a whole in America. This issue demonstrates the real success of the right in the so-called culture war, even associating with entities and international partners nominally left-of-centre is political suicide despite rational economic and diplomatic goals. Future US-China relations look uncertain if current trends are to be heeded.

Biden and Xi in San Francisco (Credit: Rawpixel)

http://soasspirit.co.uk/category/culture/

Culture Editor: Amran Abdiqadir-Mohamed

Culture

Navigating the Waves of Change: Unveiling the Reality of the SAG-AFTRA Strike

Anisah

Mahamoud

BA International Relations

In film and television, a period of seismic change occurred from July 14th to November 9th, as members of the Screen Actors Guild‐American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) went on strike. Contrary to popular belief that everyone in the industry is affluent, this strike shed light on the struggles faced by actors and other industry professionals. As we dissect the events, outcomes, and broader implications, it becomes apparent that the entertainment landscape is evolving, raising questions about the role of streaming services and our consumption habits.

“The echoes of this strike will resonate, reminding us all that behind the glitz and glamour, individuals are striving for a fair and sustainable industry.”

At the heart of the SAG-AFTRA strike was the pursuit of fair compensation and improved working conditions. Contrary to the notion that everyone in the film and TV industry is rolling in wealth, many actors and crew members faced challenges such as inadequate wages, unreasonable working hours, and a lack of healthcare benefits. The strike aimed to rectify these

issues and establish a more equitable playing field. Protests and premiere walkouts marked the fervour of the strike, emphasising the urgency and gravity of the situation. The industry, accustomed to glitzy premieres and smoothly executed productions, found itself at a standstill as members of SAGAFTRA took to the streets to demand change. These events not only showcased the unity within the industry but also underscored the genuine need for transformation. The strike had tangible consequences, with several shows being postponed or even cancelled due to the disruption in production schedules. This served as a wake-up call to the industry, highlighting the interdependence of its various components and the delicate balance that must be maintained for seamless content creation.

One of the underlying factors fueling the discontent within SAG-AFTRA was the growing influence of streaming services in the industry. As these platforms continue to reshape the entertainment landscape, questions arise about their impact on traditional models of compensation and production. The strike prompted a broader conversation about how streaming services are changing the dynamics of the industry, raising issues of job security and fair compensation in this new era. Consumers, too, must reflect on their role in this evolving landscape. The SAG-AFTRA strike serves as a reminder that the content we consume is created by individuals facing real-world challenges. As viewers, we have the power to support fair labour practices by being mindful of the platforms we choose and the content we prioritise. Understanding the human cost behind our entertainment choices encourages a

more conscious and responsible approach to consumption. The SAG-AFTRA strike was more than a temporary disruption; it was a rallying cry for change in an industry facing transformation on multiple fronts. By demystifying the notion that everyone in film and television is financially secure, the strike has brought attention to the systemic issues that persist. As we move forward, embracing a more conscientious approach to content consumption and supporting fair labour practices becomes imperative. The echoes of this strike will resonate, reminding us all that behind the glitz and glamour, individuals are striving for a fair and sustainable industry.

SAG-AFTRA strike on Broadway (Credit: edenpictures/Flickr)

(Credit: @sagaftra/Instagram)

The Best Albums of 2023

Su Waddy, BA Politics and International Relations

2023 has gifted us with an incredible year in music, continuing to diversify across genres. Among a lineup of blockbusters from established big names that we already know and love, this year has also introduced us to an exciting cohort of promising talents. The industry has seen a new vibrancy to nostalgia as well as a re-inviting of nostalgia to the contemporary. To mirror the commotion and the repose of a great year in music, I’ll be sharing some of my favourite remarkable listens that will certainly yield a good time.

7. the record, Boygenius

Boygenius, as a three-piece band holding incredible songwriters in the current game (Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, Julien Baker), has hardly run unnoticed this year. Their charm lies within the diversity of their individual music, and ‘the record’ is a near-perfect concoction of all their sounds. It is nothing short of their wit and confessional lyricism that gives this ‘record’ the extra edge to the average indie-rock sound. A favourite track on this is ‘Letter to an Old Poet’, as it continues a narrative from a previous track on their first EP together, encapsulating the cyclical.

6. Like..?, Ice Spice

(Credit: Wikipedia)

Reflecting upon this year inarguably requires a reminder of American rapper Ice Spice’s immense speed in gaining traction both as an artist and as an internet personality. From the viral track, ‘Munch (Feelin’ U)’, to collaborating with massive names in the industry, like Nicki Minaj and Taylor Swift, Spice is the perfect new embodiment of how social media, more specifically TikTok, has shifted the music industry. I personally am not the best versed in the rap genre, but it has been nothing short of impressive that she has managed to create the ‘Ice Spice’ sound and found her footing in the game in so little time.

5. Shadow Kingdom, Bob Dylan

Comprising 13 fresh renditions of songs from the initial phase of Dylan’s career, and even featuring a novel instrumental piece titled ‘Sierra’s Theme’, this album is a great appraisal of the classic ‘sounding fresh again’. The universal acclaim of Dylan’s song crafting was revisited and remembered. It is, in the simplest, a treasure accessorised by an unrestricted, flowing instrumental blend, and a great way to say ‘still got it, never lost it’. Everybody has listened to a Dylan song at some point in life realistically; he has almost an endless number of songs. He truly is the father of ‘familiarity’ in music.

4. Volcano, Jungle

British electronic band Jungle explores an entirely new plane of genres with this record and goes as far as capturing one of the most progressive styles in music we have seen in a while.

The energy on this album is titular – wild and explosive – whilst also not shying away from its soul and disco influences. What an amazing way to entice the musical palette!

Upon hearing their track ‘Dominoes’, for the first time, I was immediately hooked. You could argue it is both easy and difficult on the ears, which is the perfect new direction for music – to create fusions from what we know, and what could be.

“Goth rock could possibly never be the same again. The fuzz in the synth bass, the campy horror shrieks, and the drawn-out guitars did not fail to demand attention.”

3. Praise A Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume, Yves Tumor

Yves Tumor is definitely one of the most promising artists emerging in recent years, altering and aggravating the boundaries of contemporary art and culture. Expanding upon the atmospheric tone of The Asymptotical World EP, the mysterious artist delves into the challenges of a deeply consuming relationship. Goth rock could possibly never be the same again. The fuzz in the synth bass, the campy horror shrieks, and the drawn-out guitars did not fail to demand attention. ‘Heaven Surrounds Us like a Hood’ and ‘In Spite of War’ are amongst my go-to listens.

2. I Inside the Old Year Dying, PJ Harvey

PJ Harvey has been kicking it since the 90s and remains one of my favourite songwriters of today. Earlier this year, she released her new album which she describes as “a resting space, a solace, a comfort, a balm—which feels timely for the times we’re in.” There is an intense poetic air to the lyricism featuring references to biblical imagery and Shakespeare. The folk instruments sound hallucinatory, entirely bewitching. Somewhat reminiscent of Elvis Presley’s ‘Love Me Tender’, Harvey’s track ‘August’ has to be my top pick on the album. She never disappoints.

1. Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd, Lana del Rey

Ranking this album, where it is, is possibly the most shared opinion in music this year. Lana Del Rey is known to be one of the biggest influences in the alternative music scene, popularly loved for her world-building and her cinematic nostalgic sound. However, here she deviates from the style of her previous works, as this album is arguably her most conversational, and honest. It includes influences of hip hop, gospel, and folk, accompanied by the production of Del Rey herself, Mike Hermosa, and Jack Antonoff, amongst others. Despite the attention to detail sonically, it is perhaps her best in terms of emotionality and truth. A timeless look into her as a person and an artist with tracks like ‘Fingertips’ and ‘Grandfather please stand on the shoulders of my father while he’s deep-sea fishing’, the stripped-back instrumentation and dangerously personal lyrics reflect the rawness and transparency of this record.

(Credit: Wikipedia)

(Credit: Wikipedia)

(Credit: Wikipedia)

The Missing Thread: Black British Fashion Odyssey at Somerset House

Leila Uddin, BSc Politics, Philosophy and Economics

(Credit: Leila Uddin)

Take part in unravelling the narratives, celebrating resilience and innovation, challenging historical limitations, and defining a new era in the realm of fashion and art. Experience a transformative journey at Somerset House, where the intersection of fashion and art converges to illuminate the distinct contributions of Black British artists and designers. Curated by the Black Oriented Legacy Development Agency (BOLD), ‘The Missing Thread’ exhibition is not merely a spotlight held on the historical misrepresentation within the fashion industry when it comes to the work of Black creators; it’s a profound exploration of brazen identity and limitless creativity. Threads of self-expression intertwine with the rich cultural tapestry of Black British heritage to explore how much Black style and artistry has seeped into British culture.

The viewer is taken on an expedition through different media formats divided into four main sections, beginning with ‘Home’, which deals with the sensation of community and the relationship between Black and British identity. It then spirals into ‘Tailoring’, which includes apparel, accessories and the concept of projecting

a certain image. All of that is integrated into ‘Performance’, as well as incorporating the significance of how one is perceived, with a focus on the individual’s identity and the collective’s cultural influence. The final segment, ‘Nightlife’, examines how fashion and club culture intersect through vibrant visuals and stories of freedom and expression. Style and design are shown to have been passed down through the generations, with each generation alternately interpreting that as common as thread has been over time, it continues to flourish into something new and endlessly creative.

“Our artistic direction for the project has also been shaped by the poignant and sometimes painful conversations that we have had during the course of our research,” says BOLD Indeed, as is the case outside of the creative sphere, it has long been the narrative that Black voices and contributions are deliberately pushed to the fringes or overlooked. As you enter the exhibit, a wall of black and white newspaper clippings sing the untold triumphs of Black musicians, artists, activists and designers – even the first Black newscaster for the BBC, Moira Stuart. The appraisal of Black achievements over the years highlighted at Somerset House, which aims to foster linkages between fresh ideas and their roots on an intellectual and cultural level, is certainly refreshing.

““Our artistic direction for the project has also been shaped by the poignant and sometimes painful conversations that we have had during the course of our research.””

Whether it is a coincidence that ‘The Missing Thread’ opened right off the back of London Fashion Week is up to the viewer – the exhibition stands as a candid critique of the barriers that still permeate the fashion industry to this day when it comes to creators of colour aiming to make their mark. ‘The Missing Thread’ is a vibrant testament to how far the world has come, whilst also taking the time to celebrate those designers and artists of the past who may not have received their flowers upon debut.

The different rooms are a spectacle in themselves – the nightlife section, in particular, immerses viewers in neon colours that contrast with black and white images in a room divided by stereos, speakers, jukebox sets and fragments of abandoned radios. A listening centre plays Nicholas Daley’s playlist, cultivating the ambience within the manicure salon; the walls embellished with magazine covers and

photographic art add even more detail to the club culture motif. ‘The Missing Thread’ notably honours the creative genius of the late Joe Casely-Hayford, who was among the most significant Black fashion designers in Britain, by showcasing the designer’s archive in an exhibition format for the first time in the country – a well-earned and long overdue illustration of his creative achievements. Finally, an array of unique commissions from modern Black designers, including Nicholas Daley, Bianca Saunders, and Saul Nash, honour the generational legacy of Black creative brilliance in British fashion to round off the show of excellence and creativity.

‘The Missing Thread’ is undoubtedly worth a visit – from the 1970s to the present day, the viewer is taken on an interactive, stimulating journey through the rise of Black expression and our understanding of Black creatives’ contribution to fashion. Morgan Stanley’s exhibit at Somerset House chronicles the unwavering spirit of successive generations who carved languages, styles, and movements that continue to resonate in the brilliance of contemporary Black British designers.

The Morgan Stanley Exhibition, ‘The Missing Thread: Untold Stories of Black British Fashion’ opened at Somerset House on 21 September 2023 and closes on 7 January 2024 - 25s and under can visit for £5.

(Credit: Leila Uddin)

Death of the Socialite: Who are our “IT girls” now?

Kristi Greenwood, BA Japanese

Designer brands, champagne parties and glamorous messy mistakes. Our infatuation with socialites, or ‘IT girls’, has always been down to the escapism they provide us. But do the elite socialites still possess the same chokehold on the media as they once did? With the rise of influencers, who are our modern-day socialites? Has Instagram dropped old-money kids to the bottom of the guest list?

Historically, socialites originated in the UK – not surprising as they truly encompass the upper class, reaping the benefits of capitalism. A socialite is a person of extreme wealth and aristocratic background who chooses not to participate in traditional employment. However, they were highly valued for their presence at social gatherings, always fashionable and dashingly charismatic. If a socialite was there, that was the place to be.

The 90s and early 2000s socialites changed the scene. They were described as young attractive women with sexual appeal and as partygoers with elite and royal connections. These girls were also known as ‘IT girls’, the term coined with what one could claim were the original IT girls of the time: Tara Palmer-Tomkinson and Normandie Keith on the front cover of Tatler in 1996. Their impact was immense, and the term ‘IT girl’ still has waves today. I mean look at the rising stardom of Aliyah’s interlude with her song IT Girl. We all aspire to be this idea of “her”.

UK IT girls of the time were Tamara Beckwith, Lady Victoria and Lady Isabella, just to name a few. All with royal connections, model looks, and wild child labels. However, Tara was a public favourite. Her father was a wealthy landowner with high-society and royal connections, and her stunning looks were gifted to her by her supermodel mother. The Sunday Times even featured a column detailing her lifestyle of opulent messy parties. The

lines of paparazzi queuing for her arrival at these parties were perhaps equal to the lines of cocaine inside of them.

Tara spoke candidly of her struggles, including addiction, and I think this is what bridged the social class gap, adding to her public appeal. She was beautiful, bubbly, and extremely wealthy but… she had flaws

Where are socialites now?

Socialites don’t seem to have the same hold on society as our former IT girls once did; they’ve been rebranded with the rise of social media. Anyone can be an influencer and it’s become ever more accessible for people to attract attention without relying on those onceelite connections with the press. To become famous, it always used to help if Daddy owned the papers.

Yet this doesn’t have to be the case anymore. A prime modern-day IT girl fitting this example is Molly Mae. She received her launching stardom on the fifth season of Love Island as runner-up. The only criteria to be on Love Island is to be young and attractive; no one cares about your tax bracket.

Molly Mae now has an accumulated 7.8 million followers on Instagram and owns a successful selfcare brand. Her impact on trends and her ability to sell any products she advertises shows the incredible influence she has over the public, as an IT girl should. Who would have thought a state school girl from Hertfordshire, with no real “talents,” would be this successful?

The trending ‘clean girl’ aesthetic is partly to blame for the loss of our messy IT girls. Along with the flawless appearance of ‘no makeup’ skin, pilates, and gym routines, there’s a whole demeanour and lifestyle on top of that. A softer, humbler life. The emerging ‘quiet luxury’ trend we are seeing with the elite. Think of Sofia Richie’s wedding and the storm that stirred up, even culminating with a feature piece in British

Eating Your Heart Out in Bloomsbury

Kabir Mehta, BA Politics and International Relations

Familiarising yourself with the areas around SOAS is an excellent way to feel more comfortable at university while also finding a suitable escape from the stressful environment that can build up around your studies. I found that walking around campus is the best way to find the hidden gems that feed Bloomsbury. This part of London has always been an academic hub with university campuses, publishing houses and massive student populations, and does not immediately come to mind as a go-to neighbourhood for a food enthusiast. Rest assured, there are quite a few under-appreciated spots that make Bloomsbury unique.

Pitted Olive - This small Turkish restaurant is the perfect lunch grab for under £12. It is located on Leigh Street, a 7-10 minute walk from campus. They serve everything from fresh Golzeme to Mezze and Borek in generous quantities! Personally, I would recommend the Lamb and Cheese Golzeme with Mezze; it is hands-down the freshest Mezze I have had in London. There are halal and vegan options available. This restaurant undeniably forms an integral part of the local community businesses that live in Bloomsbury beyond the larger food chains.

49 Cafe - The cafe is located on Marchmont Street and is perfect for quick takeaways between classes. The establishment is open from 7 am to 4 pm, making it the ideal spot for a quick breakfast takeaway. They do very practical breakfast deals, which include coffee and bagels. For lunch, they do three specials of

the day that are around £7. Their menu is a mix of Spanish and Italian food. Whether the cafe is serving up Jerk Chicken Paella or Arabbiatta Pasta, the line isn’t short. Additionally, they make fresh salads, wraps and sandwiches, amongst others, for a slightly higher price than their daily specials.

Project 68 - Project 68 is a small independent coffee shop on Tavistock Place, around ten minutes from campus. The feel of the cafe is very cosy and earthy. The minimalist wooden interiors give the cafe a timeless and calming feel. What is unique about this cafe is that the coffee is sourced from SEND Coffee, the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities organisation that helps people with disabilities gain employment in the coffee industry as baristas. Alongside excellent coffee, they also serve hot chocolate in varying cocoa percentages. It’s the perfect coffee spot near SOAS when you need a change of scenery while working or socialising. Vegan milk alternatives and pastry options are also available.

Hibba - This small cafe/restaurant is located just off Tottenham Court Road and is approximately eight minutes away from campus. Limited seating is made up for by its ideal location, beside the Whitfield Gardens, equipped with public seating and a mural worth perusal. Hibba serves Lebanese and Palestinian food, including everything from lentil soups to excellent falafel wraps. They are generous with their quantities, and the wait is always under five minutes, making it ideal for a quick meal. Prices start at £6.95 for a basic wrap and go up to £15 for a main dish. They are halal-certified and have plenty of vegan options. The establishment is family-owned

Vogue. She was praised for the way she rebranded herself and almost climbed the social hierarchy. She swapped out Instagram boutique wear for a more casual, but expensive, look. From TV personality girlfriend to millionaire’s wife. They are perfect in every sense and so are their lives, almost fairytalelike. Our love for her wedding still shows how obsessed we are with old money and the rich elite, just in a more ‘classy’ way. We no longer glamourise partying as much as we once did...

However, I know we all still crave messy drama. The fact that Gossip Girl still attracts millions of views each year despite its ending in 2012 reflects our obsession with the chaotic lives we imagine socialites having. Perhaps one day messy girls will return to the scene – I know I hope they do.

“When you dig deeper, the locality is filled with cuisines from every corner of the world.”

and has smaller outlets in Holborn and Walthamstow.

Eatopia - This small restaurant arguably serves some of Bloomsbury’s best value-for-money Korean food. Located on Great Russell Street, it’s a stone’s throw away from Tottenham Court Road Station and the SOAS campus. The Kimchi soup and Mandu are perfect light eats. They offer an additional 10% off all main dishes, making the Bibimbap and Ttetobokki very appealing. I would recommend going here for an abundance of vegan options!

Honourable Mentions

Fortitude Bakehouse for some delicious pastries, Changs Noodles for an excellent £10 lunch deal with generous quantities of Kung Pao chicken and rice, and ICCO for some quick and reasonable pizza.

These are just a few of the permanent establishments in Bloomsbury. The farmers market on Thursday, and the Tuesday food market outside Birkbeck College, as well as the stalls on Goodge Place and Tottenham Court Road, offer a very diverse selection of freshly prepared food options within 10 minutes of campus. There may be very few popular restaurants in Bloomsbury, but when you dig deeper, the locality is filled with cuisines from every corner of the world, making the food scene just as worldly as the people inhabiting it.

Tara Palmer-Tomkinson picture with Princess Kate Middleton (Credit: Dave M.Benett/Getty Images)

Despite Israeli Pinkwashing, Queer Palestinians Exist and Demand Freedom

Lilac Carr, BA Politics and International Relations

If you look in the comments section of any social media post from a queer public figure or organisation who has spoken out against Israel’s occupation and invasion of the Gaza Strip, you will likely see countless responses suggesting that, as a queer person, they should not be standing in solidarity with Palestine. Comments range from “They would kill you in Gaza,” to claims that they should support the state of Israel due to its supposed progressive stance on LGBTQ+ issues.

These views have been echoed by Israel itself as well as by several political commentators. An example of this is Israeli columnist and technology advisor, Hillel Fuld, stating “I welcome the LGBTQ community to go to Gaza. Let them bring their flags… let them fight for human rights there and see what happens.” In the Telegraph, journalist Brendan O’Neill writes that the group Queers for Palestine “must have a death wish.”

““If I had known that bombs raining down on us would take you from me, I would have gladly told the world how I adored you more than anything.””

Rhetoric attempting to weaponise queer identity against Palestinians is not new. Predating the events of October 7th, the Israeli state has engaged in pinkwashing campaigns to sanitise its image as a queer-friendly and progressive haven in the Middle East, despite its extensive state violence against straight and queer Palestinians alike.

The Tel Aviv Tourism Board spends tens of millions of dollars on promoting Israel as a gay-friendly tourist destination. Numerous queer acts have been sent as Israeli representatives to Eurovision. In 2019, when Israel hosted Eurovision in Tel

Aviv (a concert built on top of stolen and demolished Palestinian homes), it used the event to project an ‘inclusive’ and ‘liberal’ image of Israel to an international audience.

Most jarringly, during Israel’s ongoing invasion of Gaza, on November 13th 2023 the official Israel Twitter account posted an image of an IDF soldier waving a Pride flag in an area of Gaza that had been reduced to rubble by Israeli bombings. The caption read: “The first ever pride flag raised in Gaza,” implying that the soldier raising the flag is calling for “peace and freedom.”

All of this ignores the very simple fact that queer Palestinians exist and are deeply harmed by inaccurate and offensive imagery that attempts to present Israel as a progressive bastion of queer rights in the Middle East and assert that queer rights and Palestinian liberation are incompatible. It relies on racist and harmful stereotypes about Palestinians, Arab people and Muslims as being uniquely “backwards” or homophobic. In doing so, Israel wrongly conflates these groups with the actions of specific governments and organisations which do not necessarily represent them. This perception ignores the constant settler-colonial violence that the Israeli state inflicts on queer Palestinians and which queer Palestinians are uniquely harmed by. And it completely erases the lives of queer Palestinians, who will be free and equal only when Palestinians and queer people together achieve liberation.

The intersection of queer and Palestinian identity is encapsulated in the online platform Queering the Map, where queer people across the world post messages of solidarity and unity with each other. Several have been posted in Gaza since the recent bombing by Israel began. One anonymous Palestinian writes, “I wish I could watch the sunset over Gaza sea with you. For one night I wish this occupation was no longer and that we could be free for once on our own land.” Another quote reads, “If I had known that bombs raining down on us would take you from me, I would have gladly told the world how I adored you more than anything.”

The intersection between queer and Palestinian liberation is also showcased clearly in the Palestinian liberation movement

itself. The organisation Queers in Palestine (@queersinpalestine) writes, “In the same way we have been othered as queers, we are now facing patriarchal colonial tactics that seek to further alienate us as queer Palestinians… Israel has been weaponizing queer bodies to counter any support for Palestine and any critique of its settler-colonial project.”

Solidarity with oppressed communities and the right to life, peace, and basic freedom must not be conditional. Hollow representations of Israel as queer-friendly do not minimise or justify colonialism or genocide, even if they were accurate. As queer Jewish activist Matt Bernstein (@mattxiv) puts it, in response to Israel’s tweet of the IDF soldier displaying a Pride flag in Gaza, “You cannot destroy homes in the name of love. You cannot bomb families in the name of equality.”

IDF soldier holding a Pride flag in Gaza (Credit: @leekern13/X)

SOASian Mysteries: Societies to Discover.

Tania Monica Zucconi Ruiz, MSc Violence, Conflict and Development

SOAS is home to numerous diverse societies, specialising in interests ranging from poker to Indonesian martial arts. As such, it can be easy to discover which societies to join throughout the year. To help you maximise your friendships and hobbies at university, here are three societies you may not have heard of, but which may be amazing to join. Whether you want to start ‘thinking bee’, set your sights on higher pastures, or want to learn new and exciting instruments, these societies will offer you everything you have been looking for.

If you want to feel the buzz and ‘bee yourself’…. Join the Beekeeping Society:

Society type: Nature

Want to know the secret life of bees? The Beekeeping Society can help! The SOAS Beekeeping Society has recently acquired new leadership and is warming up to give you knowledge about bees and beekeeping, as well as offering other events such as picnics to try nature’s delights such as fresh honey! They aim to promote the practice of beekeeping, including a beehive that everyone can interact with.

How can I get involved?

Beekeeping Society meets on Tuesday afternoons and welcomes everyone to learn more about sustainability and beekeeping. If you’re looking to get involved in a friendly, environmentally

sound society, then the committee will be perfect for you.

Climb to higher places with the Climbing and Mountaineering Society: Society type: Sport

Have you ever wondered how to build the skills needed to successfully climb or boulder a climbing wall? How to practise climbing a mountain? The SOAS Climbing and Mountaineering Society is your answer. This society has been running for several years, has consistent opportunities to climb and learn, and is beginner-friendly! If you are interested in joining, the society will soon be holding meetings for new committee members, making this a great society to join.

How can I get involved?

The society meets every week to climb at The Castle on Mondays at 4:30 pm. Climbing opportunities are also available on other weekdays.

Chinese Music Ensemble (Silk and Bamboo Society): Society type: Culture, Music

Interested in traditional Chinese instruments and expanding your musical horizons? In the Chinese music ensemble society, you can gain coveted experience in playing amazing instruments such as the Pipa and the Guzheng It is also beginner-friendly, meaning you don’t need to be an experienced musician to expand on your passion!

How can I get involved?

Weekly rehearsals are available in room G52 on Fridays from 4-6 pm. There are also different workshops available at diverse times, including workshops from instrumental professionals.

What opportunities are available?

This society offers the opportunity to perform in events both inside and outside SOAS; including SOAS graduations and at different festivals. They have even performed at various events held during the Chinese New Year.

With thanks to Thomas Marco Franco from the Climbing Society, Cherry Butler-Bowdon from the Beekeeping Society, and Ash Hardaker from the Silk and Bamboo Society for their contributions.

“Whether you want to start ‘thinking bee’, set your sights on higher pastures, or want to learn new and exciting instruments, these societies will offer you everything you have been looking for.”

The Phenomenon of the Swift Society

Sofia Baruffaldi, BA International Relations

Founded at the beginning of 2023, the Swift Society - aka SwiftSoc - has been turning heads recently with its popular events. So how did it start and what prompted its foundation? The underlying idea that pushed Amal Abubakar, the President of the society, to create SwiftSoc was the need for a community where people who shared a common interest could build friendships, get together, and have fun. The choice of the pop icon - Taylor Swift - and the absence of a pop music society at SOAS made SwiftSoc a refreshing addition to the myriad societies offered by the SU.

The events hosted in the second half of the last academic year were mainly concerned with music. For instance, the first society event was a karaoke night, attended by a whopping forty students. This year, Amal has stated that the society is slightly shifting its focus towards community building; part of a larger aim to build an even more solid fraternity which offers a platform for people who struggle to make friends to get to know other students. This can be seen through their most recent events. For example, the year began with the ‘build your friendship bracelets’ event which brought 70 students together to spend their afternoon vibing to great music, getting to know each other and making cute jewellery.

Although the society is quite popular, it still offers more intimate events to accommodate students who dislike crowds. For instance, the two November study sessions in the Senate House Library allowed members to find study buddies, share snacks, and enjoy reading week, whilst still being productive.

“At this point, it is clear that SwiftSoc never misses a beat when it comes to planning great events and with their amazing plans for the next month, it’s prime time for newcomers to get involved.”

Furthermore, SwiftSoc has provided many opportunities to get tickets, both to the Eras Movie and to the Eras Tour, by connecting people through their WhatsApp group chat. All the activities and opportunities that SwiftSoc can provide are impressive, especially considering the short life the society has had.

Lastly, the society usually announces the events every month but its President, Amal, has provided a glimpse into its future plans. In December, SwiftSoc aims to organise a pottery painting event to allow its members to de-stress from the pressures of the end of term, and will also provide an opportunity to make a cute Christmas present for their loved ones. Furthermore, on the 13th, the society will host a ticketed quiz night in collaboration with the Taylor Swift Societies of UCL, KCL, and Imperial, with an expected attendance of roughly 100 people. At this point, it is clear that SwiftSoc never misses a beat when it comes to planning great events, and it’s always open for more students to join.

Bracelet making session (Credit: Amal Abukabar)

A Trip That We Will Never Forget

Sebastien Edwin Fromageot, BA Global Development

It has been just over two weeks since the first-ever University of London running camp went underway, and we had an absolute blast! A big thank you to the students who attended. It truly was a special way to spend our reading week.

This trail running camp - organised by two SOAS students - consisted of 12 students from UCL and SOAS visiting the Aroumd Village in the Ait Mizane Valley of the Atlas Mountains, Morocco. We were kindly hosted by Youssef, Jamal and Mohammed, local competitive runners, who are regular participants of 100-kilometre races throughout the Atlas. They were our running guides, but quickly became friends as they led us through beautiful trails, weaving up the mountain passes to valley ridges for stunning views.

“The people, places and cultures that made the trip what it was. To more running exchange opportunities across the MENA region!”

The trip began in Marrakech, where all participants of the camp had the chance to socialise in a traditional riad - a classic Moroccan home. We spent the day exploring the Moroccan Souks and ended the night with a group dinner. The next day, we headed to the Atlas Mountains, where we would spend most of our trip. In only an hour and a half drive, we had left the bustling city and were relieved to have reached the tranquil Aroumd Village, sitting at an impressive 2000 metres above sea level at the foot of Mount Toubkal, the highest peak of North Africa.

Happy to be in the peace of the mountains, we set off the next day for our first run. The running involved mule trails, 4x4 tracks, and ancient footpaths, with every morning run being between 10-15 km, but considering the altitude, technical trails, and steep paths, it sure felt a lot longer!

Everyone quickly settled into the rhythm of the camp. Breakfast consisted of coffee, tea, fruit, boiled eggs, bread, jams, and the much-desired local peanut butter known as ‘emlu’ with local honey, argan oil, and peanuts crushed into a glorious paste. This kick-started the days nicely, with everyone fuelled for the morning runs.

Once ready, we would get into our warm-up-led by Oscar, a SOAS alumni. These either involved a mixture of typical running warm-up drills or consisted of us helping move bricks from the delivery trucks to locals’ homes.

We set off together, following the local guides, and built a strong team spirit. We also had the flexibility to split into different groups, each led by one of our three guides, depending on fitness levels. This allowed for adaptation to our runners’ preferred tempo and distance, meaning everyone got to push themselves according to their goals without the pressure of overdoing it. Back at the hostel, those who wanted to could take the time to have a shower before enjoying a lunch of refreshing salads and different local dishes. Fruit and mint tea followed, at which point everyone relaxed, chatted, or went to the terrace to read in the sun. Afternoons were fun, interactive, and varied in activities,

including assisting in the earthquake recovery or playing football with locals. One of the most energising and memorable moments - which everyone decided to join in withwas swimming in the nearby reservoir, filled with fresh cold spring water straight from the mountain springs. Not only was this great fun, but it also aided in our recovery from the long runs. There was also time for personal leisure - be it studying, reading, or napping - followed by dinner, which was met with anticipation as warm, steaming tajines came out of the kitchen, accompanied by couscous, bread, and vegetables. Everyone was possibly at their most content and relaxed after dinner, with warm and fresh chamomile tea in their hands. The day would end with runners-specific recovery yoga sessions, led by myself before we slowly got ready to sleep.

On the last day in the village, we woke up at 4 am and were ready to summit the mountain which had been towering over us throughout the week - Mount Toubkal. Standing at a whopping 4167 metres in elevation, it was no easy climb, with the final ascent reaching a 40% gradient. The next day, we said goodbye to our guides, Mohammed and Jamal.

Feeling the aches of the summit the previous day, we headed to the Agafay desert to explore and soak in the beautiful views. It was a pleasant change of scenery and a fitting end to the trip. We sat around the campfire until the early morning, chatting about the memories we had made and napping under the stars in our sleeping bags. In the morning, we headed to Marrakesh and said our farewells, exchanging Strava and contact details, and planned to meet in London upon our return.

Overall, it was a trip that we will never forget - the people, places and cultures that made it what it was. Most importantly, we want to say a massive thank you to everyone involved and, above all, to the Aroumd Village for their hospitality. We look forward to returning in the Easter 2024 holidays for the

second edition of the camp and for more running exchange opportunities across the MENA region, such as the one in Aqaba (Jordan), scheduled for the February reading week.

You can learn more about our running camps through our Instagram page @uol.run.exchange

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Disabled students are at breaking point

Stella Dixon, MPhil Social Anthropology, President of SOAS Disabled Students’ Society

I was originally going to write this article about Disability History Month – but more than the history of disabled struggles for rights and equality, I think the SOAS community needs to hear about the experiences of disabled students at our university.

Picture this: you’re a new student at SOAS and, like one in five of the student body, you’re disabled – which includes any physical and mental condition with a substantial and long-term impact on your life. Let’s say you have ADHD and use a wheelchair.

During Fresher’s Week you’re told to email Student Advice and Wellbeing to set up the adjustments you need for lectures and tutorials. Sounds straightforward enough. Because of your ADHD you keep forgetting, but you finally manage to send the email in week two. Oh, and the Fresher’s Fair happened, but you couldn’t see most of the stalls because they were on the Green and the ramp was too steep. Great, there goes your chance of making any friends.

Out of nowhere, it’s week five and your deadlines are coming up. But you have an extension... right? You realise your email never got a reply. You email again. “Your email has been sent to the back of the queue...”

Now you’re panicking. You don’t have extensions. None of your lectures are accessible, so you haven’t learned anything anyway, and you find the newly refurbished campus overwhelming. There’s nowhere quiet to gather your thoughts. Your library loans don’t auto-renew so now you have fines racking up; money you don’t have because

(Credit: @soasdisabledstudents/Instagram)

you had to pay extra for an accessible room and you keep having to buy ready meals when you forget to eat.

Your deadlines are now at midnight and your assignments still aren’t written. You’ve heard about ‘mitigating circumstances’ from a friend but the SOAS website has no information. You frantically ask around while trying to finish your assignments. Someone finally gets back to you just after midnight. You submit your mitigating circumstances application and relax a bit – at least you have another week before the late deductions start. You submit your assignments eight days after the deadline. Onwards and upwards, you’ll take the 2% hit.

You hear nothing until week eight when you get an email saying your mitigating circumstances application was rejected because it had been submitted after the deadline. Your assignments are graded zero. You sink into your bed and don’t come out for two days.

Eventually, you appeal. It takes six months to hear back. Not one single person from the SOAS administration has actually spoken to you.

This is not fiction. This is the reality for hundreds of disabled students at SOAS, a story that replays again and again in my inbox as president of the Disabled Students’ Society.

We are not a small minority falling through a few gaps in safety nets, we are a crowd of almost 800 people* being

forced to dodge chasms - all while doing the already stressful job of existing as a disabled person in the UK, with the NHS and social support in crisis. And we need your solidarity.

The SOAS Disabled Students’ Society aims to provide a space at SOAS where disabled students can be themselves, socialise, share skills, celebrate and organise. We aim to be a space where our disabled minds and bodies can be celebrated and loved how they are, without pressure to change. We pool our skills to provide support to each other and aim to use our collective voice for change.

“We are not a small minority falling through a few gaps in safety nets, we are a crowd of almost 800 people being forced to dodge chasms.”

We are run by volunteers who are disabled ourselves. This month we’re carrying the torch for Disability History Month, running seven events between four committee members –one of whom is recovering from surgery. Our events include banner making, a ‘scary hour’ where we support each other with our life admin, and putting together a podcast episode featuring disabled voices at SOAS. Meanwhile, the University organised just one event and didn’t provide any of the help they promised with graphics and advertising. As usual for SOAS – where we have had to fight for everything from accessible library desks to murals in the SU – it was down to disabled students with limited capacity to put in the hard work.

Disabled students are burned out and exhausted but we will not give up. Next term, we will campaign to improve Mitigating Circumstances, an inhumane process that is failing us all. We have already begun collecting testimonies and thanks to this, we were able to take tangible stories to the SU and University, resulting in a win for students with ‘fluctuating conditions’ on their SIPs who can now get Mitigating Circumstances with no further evidence. But we can go further and we will.

How can you support us?

What do we want to achieve this month?

It starts with visibility. Realise that disabled people are among you, visible or not, and our fight for justice intersects with all the causes you see at SOAS. When you only view some bodies and minds as valuable, you cannot meaningfully tackle injustice.

Then we need you to act. Amplify disabled voices. Come to our events. Learn about disability justice and apply its principles in your movements. Embrace radical rest and care for each other. But most of all, work with us to build a SOAS community with accessibility and acceptance at its heart.

And if you think you might be disabled, or you aren’t sure, you’re not alone and we’re here for you.

Information: Our Instagram is @soasdisabledstudents and our WhatsApp group can be accessed through the links provided on our Instagram page. Alternatively, you can reach us by email at disabledsocsoas@gmail.com. * based on Dec 2020 figures provided by the University.

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