The former immigration minister and Conservative leadership hopeful Robert Jenrick inquired into revoking a Palestinian student’s visa, court documents have revealed.
Dana Abu Qamar, 20, a law student who led the Friends of Palestine society at the University of Manchester, was stripped of her visa in 2023 after speaking at a university demonstration on Gaza’s historical resistance to Israel’s “oppressive regime” and a subsequent interview with Sky News.
On 1 December, the government revoked her visa on the assertion that her presence in the UK was “not conducive to the public good”, after her statements.
According to disclosed emails from October, a member of Jenrick’s team wrote to Home Office officials saying the minister was interested in “finding out about Dana Abuqamar” and to inquire whether it would be “possible to revoke her student visa”, the Guardian understands.
Abu Qamar, a dual Jordanian-Canadian citizen of Palestinian origin who has lost 22 relatives in Israel’s war on Gaza and whose paternal grandparents were displaced by the 1948 Nakba, drew criticism after a Sky News interview after the 7 October Hamas-led attacks, when about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed in southern Israel and about 250 others were taken hostage. During Israel’s retaliatory military offensive, more than 40,000 people are reported to have been killed in Gaza, most of them also civilians.
“For 16 years Gaza has been under blockade, and for the first time they are actively resisting, they are not on the defence, and this is truly a once in a lifetime experience,” Abu Qamar told Sky News in October 2023.
“And everyone is, we are both in fear, but also in fear of what, how Israel will retaliate and how we’ve seen it retaliate overnight, and the missiles that it’s launched and the attacks, but also we are full of pride. We are really, really full of joy of what happened.”
A spokesperson for the European Legal Support Center, which provides legal support for Europeans advocating for Palestinian rights, said: “For a government minister to personally and arbitrarily intervene to remove a Palestinian student from the country and suppress her speech while her family are being killed in Gaza is truly unconscionable.
“Despite Jenrick’s previous statements about the importance of protecting freedom of expression, he seems perfectly comfortable suppressing speech when it comes to Palestine solidarity, seemingly for ideological purposes and political gains,” they added.
After the 7 October attack, Jenrick, who was the immigration minister at the time, suggested that visitors to the country would be removed if they incited antisemitism, and said that there was a “legal process that must be followed properly” concerning visa-holders whose conduct was being reviewed.
Abu Qamar, who is challenging the government decision through a human rights appeal later this month, has said she was misinterpreted, and does not condone the use of violence against civilians, nor has she expressed support for Hamas.
As part of the proceedings Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, will review the previous government’s decision by 13 September 2024. The appeal comes as the new Labour government has gradually pivoted from the Conservatives’ stance towards the Middle East crisis. On Monday, the UK announced the suspension of some arms export licences to Israel because of a “clear risk” they may be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “It would be inappropriate to comment while there are ongoing legal proceedings.” A source close to Jenrick said: “A visa is a privilege, not a right. Those that celebrate terror have no place in our country.”
• This article was amended on 4 September 2024. An earlier version made reference to the deaths of “citizens”, when “civilians” was the intended word. It was further amended on 5 September 2024 to add to the subheading that Dana Abu Qamar’s remarks at the demonstration related to the events of 7 October, and to reposition those quoted comments within the article text.
