The Oxford Students' Palestine Society, together with other student groups and members of the public, organized a protest, both on the street outside the Union and within the debating chamber itself. It is our belief that Yisrael Beitenu, Danny Ayalon’s party, is a racist party which advocates apartheid policies. Ayalon himself refuses to recognize the West Bank and Jerusalem as Occupied Territory and is attempting to introduce legislation that would criminalize Palestinians who celebrate their national day of remembrance, Nakba Day. The fact that such a figure was invited to the Oxford Union unopposed is a disgrace. As such, we, the Oxford Students’ Palestine Society, felt it necessary to present our own challenge, and demonstrate the continuing resistance to apartheid, to occupation, to the crippling blockade on Gaza, to house demolitions and to settlement building. The protest was a massive success. Outside, over a hundred people joined together to chant slogans in support of Palestine, carrying banners condemning Israeli policy and waving the Palestinian flag. Inside, numerous individual students interrupted the talk, challenging Ayalon's assertions that the West Bank and East Jerusalem were not Occupied Territory, and that Israel had 'given up' a third of its country in its peace deal with Egypt.

Click here to read complete statement made by Oxford University Students to PNN, 12th February 2010