Protesters Prevent Durham Debate

On Friday 7th June, Durham University cancelled a Durham Union Society debate following advice from the police that it was a "risk to public safety".

The motion to be debated was, ‘This House Believes Palestinian Leadership is the Biggest Barrier to Peace.’ It was to be debated in the Union’s debating chamber in the Pemberton buildings. But that debating chamber sits directly opposite the pro-Palestinian camp set up on 10th May on the University’s Palace Green.

Protestors from that camp were joined by others from Newcastle and blocked the front and back entrances of the Pemberton buildings at 7:15pm, intimidating other students inside who were preparing for the debate to start at 8:30pm.

They were stuck inside the debating chamber for more than two and a half hours because the University refused to give police approval to clear the protest outside - a refusal that has drawn much criticism for allowing free speech to be prevented by intimidation.

Matthew Brooker, president of the Durham Union Society, told the Mail that members of the group felt the University had bent over backwards to accommodate the protesters, and "many students, irrespective of their opinion on the motion, are devastated that the debate was prevented from going ahead."

The University released a statement saying:

‘The right to lawful protest must be balanced between
the rights of protesters to assert their views,
and the rights of others to go about their business safely,
unimpeded and free from intimidation, duress and harassment.’

Lance Forman, David Collier, and Natasha Hausdorff, the three speakers who were due to present the motion on that Friday, later decided to post their speeches on YouTube instead, clearly angered by the University ’cancelling’ the debate rather than ’postponing’ it.