The Oxford Student Union is set to have a Palestinian president for the first time, after second-year PPE student Arwa Hanin Elrayess was elected for Trinity Term 2026.
Her election follows a stormy term for the Union after the previous president-elect, George Abaraonye, was ousted for celebrating the death of Charlie Kirk (he posted a message on Instagram which read “Charlie Kirk got shot loool”).
Speaking to the student union, Elrayess said: “I am grateful and humbled by the faith and trust the members of the Union have placed in my team and me. I want to thank all those who put aside their differences and came together to work towards a shared vision of this union, which we all adore. I look forward to serving the members of this society in Trinity Term 2026.”
Elrayess is not uncontroversial. In a union committee meeting to discuss a no-confidence vote on Abaraonye, Elrayess said, “Alumni are racist and are incapable of making a rational judgment,” and called for them to be disenfranchised. She said that, because alumni members of the union were “racist,” they would therefore vote against then-president-elect Abaraonye.
Gaza was mentioned in Elrayess’ manifesto. In it, she referred to the union as “the only place where freedom is not just protected but encouraged.”
Oxford Union set to have first Palestinian president
She claimed that in her first term at the student union, “as a student raised in Gaza while my family faced unimaginable hardship, I stood only feet away from a former Israeli spy and an IDF soldier and challenged them.”
She continued by pledging to ensure governance transparency and free speech.
Elrayess was also involved in a documentary named Heart of a Protest, which purported to follow “a powerful wave of pro-Palestine protests that emerged in the wake of Israel’s assault on Gaza.”
“This documentary is a complete zero-budget film, made by five people who care about what’s been going on since 1947,” a post on social media said. Elrayess is one of those five.
In its promotional content, the documentary is described as “a film on resistance, identity, and occupation covering the Palestine Solidarity Campaign protests in London.” All funds raised are said to go to a family in Gaza.
A particularly shocking promotional post features a drawing of Anne Frank and Hind Rajab. Alongside it is the text: “Dear Anne and Hind, We failed you – in different times, in different ways – by letting fear, hatred, and silence speak louder than humanity. Never again isn’t just a promise. It must be a practice.”
It is not clear when Elrayess lived in Gaza. However, it is common knowledge that she studied for her A Levels at Doha College School in Qatar (where she was head girl) and prior to that at RGS Guildford in Qatar. Her father is the section head of basic research at Qatar University.
Mohamed Elyraess has lived and worked in Qatar since 2012. Previously, he lived in London from 2002 to 2011. Arwa was born between 2005 and 2007.