Homerton’s principal is to personally apologise to students after Palestine flags were forcibly removed from their accommodation. The College has admitted there has been “confusion about what is and isn’t permitted on this occasion”.

Lord Simon Woolley, head of Homerton and a cross-bench peer, promised to meet with students amid claims of “colonial bullshit” and “double standards”.

Porters entered one student’s room, without their knowledge or consent, and removed a flag which was hanging in their window. The porters told the student that the Palestine flag might be offensive to Jewish students.

Cambridge Jews for Justice in Palestine “completely reject the idea that a Palestine flag would be seen as threatening towards Jews.”

“Confiscating what is merely a national flag denies the existence of Palestine and Palestinians”, they continued. “We find this appropriation of Jewish feeling and identity distressing and abhorrent.”

Minutes of a Homerton Union of Students (HUS) meeting stated that the College’s council agreed “there is to be no statement published, there will be no rules on flags, and Simon Woolley will personally apologise to the student whose flag was removed”.

The porters allegedly condemned the Palestinian flag as a political statement, and deemed it incompatible with the College’s values. A student has also said that they called the College a “politically neutral space”.

The student described the porters’ actions as “uncomfortable,” but said that “nothing is more uncomfortable than someone removing a Palestinian flag during a genocide”.

Another student accused the College of “wasting [their] time with the same colonial bullshit that you claim to have moved far beyond”. They went on to label the decision a “double standard” as the College has never attempted to remove any other flags.

“The double standards are crazy, and I believe that all identities should be expressed in an institution that claims to value diversity and inclusion. The College has made us feel very excluded,” they continued.

In an internally-circulated document titled ‘Purposes and Values’, Homerton describes itself as a college with a “tradition of challenging the status quo,” with a record of being “socially-conscious” and committed to “social justice”.

“We have always been a responsible and reformative place, with an eye to the world beyond academia,” the document continues.

In December 2022, Homerton released a statement on the conflict in Israel and Gaza, stating their “desire for the bloodshed to end and a lasting peace to take root”.

The statement confirmed the College’s commitment to standing “against racism in all its forms”. However, a student whose flag was removed, and who identified themselves as a student of colour, has dubbed the decision “extremely insensitive”.

Despite porters’ claims that the College is politically neutral, Simon Woolley, is a life peer in the House of Lords. He has voted in the House of Lords 46 times since his induction in late 2019.

This is not the first time Lord Woolley has had to apologise after controversial actions by college staff. In February, signs were put up in Chinese instructing students to clean up after themselves in the toilets.

Woolley offered an “unequivocal apology to all students, and in particular students of Chinese descent, for what occurred”. The College was accused of acting in an “offensive and discriminatory” manner.

Other colleges have previously attempted to ban flags from student accommodation. In May, Newnham College’s JCR launched a petition against a proposed ban on flags flying outside student accommodation.

The JCR argued the ban risked the College’s “inclusive atmosphere” and would limit students’ ability to “express individualism and identity in a communal space”.

In 2018, porters told students at Trinity to remove LGBT+ pride flags from their windows and allegedly told by a porter that the College “don’t want to be putting things in people’s faces”.

A spokesperson for Homerton College told Varsity: “Homerton College strongly believes in freedom of expression. Our College is a space where students are encouraged to debate, challenge, and express themselves, guided by our Mutual Respect policy.”

“There has never been any prohibition regarding hanging flags inside windows and, in particular, national flags,” they continued.

The spokesperson also confirmed that Lord Woolley “hopes to meet privately with the students to, among other things, reassure them that clearer guidance will be produced to prevent this from reoccurring”.