Ex-student who fought against Islamic State banned from UCL (Update: UCLU reverse decision)

UPDATE: 16/11/2015: Following a high profile campaign by UCLU Kurdish Society, the Student Union has reversed their decision to ban Macer Gifford from speaking on campus. In a statement released today, UCLU said: “On Friday 13th November, UCL finally received a response from the police, stating that they felt it would be safe and legally […]

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Brothers Behind Bars event at SOAS

An event at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) last night saw speakers defend convicted terrorists including Munir Farooqi and Anis Sardar. Called ‘Brothers Behind Bars’, the event was organised by the SOAS Muslim Students Association and sought to focus on “the Plight of Muslim Prisoners in the ‘War on Terror’”. The panel […]

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LSE Student Union excuses commemoration of terrorists

Yesterday, Student Rights reported on a vigil held by Leeds University Palestine Solidarity Group which had commemorated terrorists responsible for murderous attacks on Israeli civilians. It has since emerged that a similar event also occurred at the London School of Economics (LSE) last week. An exhibition, organised by the LSE Student Union (LSE SU) Palestine […]

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Report: Maryam Namazie Speaks at Warwick University

On Wednesday evening, Student Rights travelled to Warwick University to hear human rights campaigner Maryam Namazie address students. The event, entitled ‘Apostasy, Blasphemy and Free Expression in the age of ISIS’, discussed how the rise of extreme Islamist movements has suppressed human rights in the Middle East, and also focused on attempts to silence criticism […]

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Petition to ban Germaine Greer highlights lack of debate on campus

The petition calling for Germaine Greer to be banned from campus at Cardiff University is yet another attempt by some students to bar feminist campaigners they find offensive from speaking. Earlier this month, student unions chose to prevent Julie Bindel from appearing at the University of Manchester and attempted to stop Maryam Namazie from attending […]

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SOAS speakers claim undermined by event history

Last week, following a government press release which ‘named and shamed’ several universities for hosting extreme speakers, one of the institutions identified hit back at these claims. Laura Gibbs, registrar of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), argued in a statement that the college had “not hosted any extremist speakers in the last […]

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Student Rights welcomes Counter-Extremism Strategy

Earlier this week, the Home Secretary outlined a number of new measures to counter extremism which aim to “systematically confront and challenge extremist ideology”. Student Rights broadly welcomes the new Counter-Extremism Strategy, which identifies extremist activity on UK campuses as a serious problem which must be tackled without damaging freedom of expression. The strategy reaffirms […]

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