After US, UK University Expels Pro-Palestine Student Activist
After a year-long open-ended suspension and multiple disciplinary actions related to pro-Palestine activism, the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) has formally expelled a student mid-way through her degree, a move believed to be the first of its kind at a UK university.
Haya Adam, a second-year law and international relations student, has been suspended for a year over her role in pro-Palestine support. She has been among the most vocal student activists at SOAS, speaking out since before the onset of the Gaza genocide, organising at the Liberated Zone, and leading the SOAS Palestine Society.
Her expulsion is seen by campaigners as part of a crackdown across British Universities, where students are increasingly facing surveillance, suspensions, police referrals, and threats of expulsion.
Haya stated that the email from the university cited the reason for her expulsion as “she met the allegations of harassment, abusive behaviour, and operational obstruction.”
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She claimed to be expelled for standing up against the “live-streamed genocide.” Haya, who joined the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, in September 2023, said she believed “that I would receive an anti-colonial education while having a space to speak up against injustice.”
“But I soon came to realise that the so-called world university and its reputation are deeply flawed. Behind its decolonial façade, SOAS is revealed to be a tool of empire and imperialism,” she said.
The actions taken against her, which she describes as her “journey of repression,” began in June 2024, when she was disciplined for participating in an alleged “unauthorised protest.” This was followed by a nine-month suspension for questioning Vice Chancellor Adam Habib regarding the university’s alleged complicity in genocide.
Haya maintains that she was suspended merely for being in the vicinity of an incident involving the CEO of the Students’ Union, Irfan Zaman, in which she was not directly involved. She has now been expelled, reportedly over a video that she says constituted political commentary.
I thought they were marching for peace… but according to prominent SOAS activist Haya Adam it was for “Total liberation by any means necessary”. Maybe that’s why activists were planning the first national march whilst Oct 7 massacre was occurring… pic.twitter.com/nwoPzHEekA
— The Electronic Uprising (@uprising_1) February 13, 2025
Her expulsion, she alleges, followed a political commentary video, in which she criticised the Students’ Union, particularly representative Safia, whom she said “failed to uphold her political manifesto” and did not represent the student body, including Tara Mann.
