LONDON: Palestinian American author Susan Abulhawa is suing the Oxford Union in the UK, seeking an apology and compensation for damages after parts of a speech she gave during a debate on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were removed from a video posted by the union on YouTube.

The Pennsylvania-based author of the best-selling book “Mornings in Jenin” was one of eight speakers who took part in the debate in November 2024. The Oxford Union uploaded her speech to YouTube but deleted it from the platform a week after the debate, then replaced it in December with an edited version that omitted remarks she made about Zionism and Israel’s actions in Lebanon.

The union said that it removed parts of Abulhawa’s speech because of “legal concerns” about certain aspects of it, The Times newspaper reported, including comments about Zionists encouraging “the most vile of human impulses,” and Israeli booby traps in Lebanon.

In one part removed by the union, Abulhawa addresses Zionists directly, saying: “You don’t know how to live in the world without dominating others. You have crossed all lines and nurtured the most vile of human impulses.”