Soas expels Palestine Society president Haya Adam after months of suspension
Pro-Palestine student activist Haya Adam has been expelled by the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (Soas) after a disciplinary panel determined that she had breached the university’s code of conduct.
Adam, 21, is the president of the Soas Palestine Society, and has been one of the most visible participants in a 15-month-long student encampment protesting the institution’s alleged complicity in Israel’s war on Gaza.
The panel decision on Wednesday found that Adam breached the university’s code of conduct over her appearance in a video posted on 16 January to the student encampment’s Instagram page.
In the video, which remains on Instagram, Adam criticises a Soas student union co-president, stating that her tenure had “only served institutional oppression”, and calling her a “careerist”.
The university disciplinary panel ruled that the Instagram video constituted harassment, despite the student union officer in question herself refusing to call the post harassment in a recorded panel discussion.
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Soas was previously criticised for excluding supporters of Palestine in 2024 when student activists Abel Harvie-Clark and Alexander Cachinero Gorman were allegedly barred from their paid roles in Soas' student union over disciplinaries related to their activism.
Prior to her expulsion, Adam had faced months of suspension over disciplinary charges relating to her pro-Palestine activism on campus.
'Soas have used me as an example to intimidate the rest of the student body'
- Haya Adam
A second-year law and international relations student, Adam had attempted to continue her studies online, but could not attend lectures and had limited access to university resources.
“Soas have used me as an example to intimidate the rest of the student body. But students will continue to rise up regardless, as there is a genocide going on,” Adam told Middle East Eye.
“To politically criticise an elected official is well within our rights to freedom of speech,” Adam added.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous that criticising someone in a position of authority would result in an expulsion. That’s a dictatorship at Soas - not democracy.”
Legal case
The Soas encampment is one of hundreds of student demonstrations worldwide protesting university complicity in Israel’s war on Gaza, in which over 61,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023.
Human rights groups, international law experts and a growing number of countries have labelled the Israeli campaign a genocide.
Soas, which specialises in the humanities and social sciences, does not hold research partnerships with arms companies participating in Israel’s war on Gaza to a similar extent as many other universities.
However, protesters have criticised the university’s research links with the UK Ministry of Defence and Israeli universities, as well as its financial ties to banks accused of financing Israel’s genocide in Gaza, such as Barclays.
The University of London, which owns the university precinct, took the student protesters to court in October 2024, obtaining a High Court injunction that prohibited demonstrations on the premises without the prior written approval of university management, creating legal consequences for non-compliance.
Similar injunctions were filed by various UK universities, including the University of Cambridge and the University of Bristol.
Adam was one of three named defendants in the university’s court submission.
Ejected from campus, the group now protests on a nearby pavement, where their demonstration has become the world’s longest-running pro-Palestine student encampment.
'A grave mistake'
Founded in 1916 to train British colonial administrators, Soas has in recent years gained an academic reputation as a hub of radical postcolonial thought.
Since 2012, the university has housed the Centre for Palestine Studies, an academic department dedicated to studying Palestine.
Adam says that she was initially surprised by the firm response to pro-Palestine activism she received at the university.
“I was under the impression that I’d have an anti-colonial education at Soas, and would have a place where I could speak out against injustices.
“I thought Soas would encourage their students to take action against these crimes against humanity - instead, they’ve chosen to punish their students.”
Dr Grietje Baars, a Reader in Law and Social Change and an associate member of the Centre for Palestine Studies at Soas, told MEE that she believes the expulsion decision is a “grave mistake on the part of the university”.
But Baars added that she thought “it won’t have the effect the university is hoping it will have”.
“Our students are not afraid,” Baars said.
“They know that the genocide in Gaza and the situations in Sudan and the Congo are of the utmost importance and urgency and are intimately tied up with their chance of a liveable future: they’re not going to be intimidated into silence.”
“I commend the students for their courage and perseverance,” she added.
In solidarity with Haya Adam from @soaslibzone, I promised I would 🔥 my Masters certificate from @SOAS if she was expelled.
— Dr Asim Qureshi 🏞️➡️🌊🇵🇸🕊️ (@AsimCP) August 7, 2025
They have chosen to unfairly punish her, so I don’t want to be associated with a uni that markets decoloniality while punishing those who practice it. pic.twitter.com/XcVYh40FcR
Adam told MEE that she plans to appeal the university’s decision and will continue to participate in protests at Soas.
“I will never stop what I’m doing, and the university will never silence or intimidate me because we’re doing all of this for our Palestinian brothers and sisters,” Adam said.
“There is an intensifying genocide that has been going on continuously, so it’s our responsibility and moral duty to speak up.”
Approached for comment, a Soas spokesperson said:
“While we do not comment on individual disciplinary cases to respect student privacy, the past 19 months have seen hundreds of peaceful events, vigils, and protests take place on our campus that reflect a vibrant culture of free expression at SOAS.
“In a small number of cases involving serious misconduct - such as vandalism, exam disruption, and threats to staff - we have taken appropriate action to uphold the safety and integrity of our university.
“We remain devastated by the loss of life in Israel on 7 October and the ongoing destruction of Gaza, and we continue to call for an immediate ceasefire, as we first did in 2023.”
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