University of Birmingham Misconduct Panel Dismisses All Allegations Against Students Following ELSC Intervention 

Birmingham, UK-  7th April 2025, the University of Birmingham dismissed all allegations against students Mariyah Ali and Antonia Listrat after the College Misconduct and Fitness to Practise Committee found no evidence of wrongdoing. This outcome followed a robust defence by the students and legal support from the European Legal Support Centre (ELSC). For nearly a year, both faced distressing disciplinary proceedings solely for protesting the university’s complicity in the ongoing genocide in Gaza. The allegations were rooted in Islamophobic and racialised stereotypes, unfairly portraying Palestine solidarity as “threatening” or “intimidating” dissent. 

This case reflects a broader and well-documented pattern of UK universities weaponising disciplinary procedures to suppress Palestine solidarity, disproportionately targeting Muslim and racialised students. These institutions have increasingly aligned themselves with UK government policies that fund, arm, and politically support the mass killing of Palestinians. Through investments, research partnerships, and political alliances, universities like Birmingham have become complicit in sustaining the siege and violence, turning campuses away from critical inquiry toward institutional repression and political compliance. Despite growing public and political scrutiny, academic institutions have yet to confront or acknowledge their role in enabling systemic human rights violations, raising urgent questions of accountability. 

The student movement for Palestinian liberation faces heavy repression precisely because of its strength and power. The ELSC remains committed to supporting and defending students’ right to protest against injustice. As Mariyah Ali said: “Your attempts to silence us have failed. The student movement for Palestine is only growing stronger.” 

Tasnima, ELSC “As Gaza endures its 19th month under siege, British academia will be remembered not as spaces of critical inquiry or justice, but for choosing the side of apartheid, starvation, bombing civilians, and destruction on a genocidal scale. The question is no longer if they are complicit but when they will be held to account. While some politicians and media figures begin to reckon with the gravity of their support, the real test remains: when will universities confront their role in enabling one of the worst crimes against humanity of our time and take concrete action to end their complicity?” 

Mariyah Ali, “These past 11 months have been an unnecessarily drawn-out and distressing process that has taken a serious toll on both my and Antonia’s academic and personal wellbeing. The University of Birmingham attempted to punish us for protesting its complicity in the genocide of Palestinians—yest, it lost. Every single allegation was found to be baseless and unproven.  Your attempts to silence us have failed. The student movement for Palestine is growing stronger, and we will not stop until there is full disclosure, divestment, and the protection of our right to speak out.”