OXFORD, England — As protests over the war in Gaza continue to roil U.S. college campuses, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met her own opposition at England’s prestigious University of Oxford Thursday night.
The senior Democrat was in town to debate a motion by the university’s Oxford Union that “This house believes populism is a threat to democracy.”
But as she took the podium — her first minutes mostly lost to broken microphones — two students wearing “Youth Demand” T-shirts walked in, holding up Palestinian flags, and stood in front of her.
On X, the campaign group called her a “genocide backer” and a “warmonger.”
The protesters stayed, silently, for Pelosi’s full 20-minute speech before police removed them.
The former speaker seemed unfazed, signaling support for the right to protest — and noting her own Democratic party had just recently waved Ukraine flags in Congress to celebrate a major aid bill passing.
Speaking through a microphone over chants from outside the building, Pelosi told students Israel Prime Minister Benjamin “has to go” and stressed that “the suffering of Gaza must stop.”
Pelosi recently joined fellow top Democrat Chuck Schumer in arguing that Netanyahu needs to stand down, branding him an “obstacle to the two-state solution” in an interview with Ireland’s RTE News.
She added in Oxford Thursday night: “We want peace on both sides. Both sides must agree to it.”
The main event was meant to see Pelosi pitted against James Schneider, who ran comms for Labour’s former left-wing leader Jeremy Corbyn. In the end, he dropped out and was replaced by a student.
In the courtyard of the 19th century union, a burly security guard explained the commotion to one student. “It’s Nancy Pelosi, and lots of people aren’t a fan,” he said.
