St Hugh’s JCR statement condemning St Peter’s College and its Master’s invitation of Ken Loach and treatment of its Jewish students, and standing in solidarity with Jewish students at St Peter’s and in the wider community.
The St Hugh’s JCR is appalled at the decision of St Peter’s College and its Master, Professor Judith Buchanan, to host an event in conversation with filmmaker Ken Loach despite Jewish students at St Peter’s expressing their dismay and opposition to its happening in a meeting with Professor
Buchanan. St Hugh’s JCR condemns the decision of St Peter’s College and their response in ignoring and downplaying Jewish students’ entirely valid concerns.
The St Hugh’s JCR directs all to the statement of Oxford University Jewish Society regarding this matter. St Hugh’s JCR will always stand with victims of discrimination and protect the welfare of students in Oxford – there must be a zero-tolerance policy towards antisemitism at the University of
Oxford and in wider society.
The St Hugh’s JCR believes the regrettable response of St Peter’s College has encouraged the pile-on of antisemitic abuse on the Oxford Jewish Society’s (JSoc) social media pages, with students having to read and moderate these comments. St Peter’s College’s actions have facilitated a situation in
which students at the University are being threatened for condemning antisemitism. The dereliction of the college’s duty of care in this regard is appalling and must be formally and publicly accepted as
such by St Peter’s College.
The St Hugh’s JCR stands in full solidarity with the Jewish students of St Peter’s and the wider community.
St Hugh’s JCR Committee Statement regarding the current civil rights movement:
As part of our charity election, St Hugh’s JCR has voted for the Louisville Community Bail Fund and Black Visions Collective to receive £1834, split equally between them.
Given the inextricable connection between these charities and the Black Lives Matter movement, it seems appropriate to reaffirm this JCR’s opposition to racism alongside this donation.
The JCR was appalled by the murder of George Floyd and the donation to the Louisville Community Bail Fund reflects our dismay at the continuing injustices perpetrated by police against protestors. We recognise these events as the latest manifestation of systematic, institutionalised racism that exists not only in the USA, but here in the UK and indeed everywhere else.
Our college has a radical tradition of fighting for equal opportunities, and St Hugh’s JCR support the ongoing efforts to achieve equality for Black people, unequivocally rejecting racism and discrimination of all kinds. Furthermore, we regret the ignorance and apathy that these events have revealed in some quarters. We stand in solidarity with the Black members of our college and university communities.
With this in mind, the JCR committee urges all members of our JCR to take this opportunity to utilise the resources at our disposal in order to better ourselves and capitalise on this opportunity for positive action. It is important that we are not complacent in acknowledging our privilege as the majority of students at Oxford continue to be beneficiaries of racial inequality. To this end, we have attached resources which might serve as a starting point for anyone who wishes to tangibly contribute to the movement for change.
The JCR Committee,
St Hugh’s College, Oxford
The Petition for Justice:
https://cutt.ly/UyVvGzQ
The page to Donate to the Official George Floyd Memorial Fund:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd
Melanin resource for education, donation, and action:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pv4hQpc1q8mRaO4l9O0bUhNYgr6r4cIBoiRtXF-DOek/edit?fbclid=IwAR0LVIteVEPXoHcKZ3b3_2QohHZeGe515nLKxBYz9XP8IdOKPDlHPVpAZxA
Death and serious incidents in police custody report, an independent review undertaken by our Principal, Dame Elish Angiolini, which is relevant to the themes of systematic racial injustice:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/deaths-and-serious-incidents-in-police-custody
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