NUS conference opens with apology for failings over tackling antisemitism
The National Union of Students (NUS) opened its conference earlier this week by apologising for its failings in tackling antisemitism.
The apology arrived in the wake of Rebecca Tuck KC’s damning report into the allegations of antisemitism within the NUS.
Nehaal Bajwa, NUS’ Vice President for Liberation and Equality, said at the conference: “[Rebecca Tuck’s] findings were truly shocking and showed us what Jewish students have been saying and have known for a long time; that antisemitism is real and it is happening in NUS spaces as well as in student unions and wider student politics.”
Chloe Field, Vice President for Higher Education, added: “So, we really want to open conference today with a moment of accountability for NUS and a moment of humanity towards our Jewish friends and members. On behalf of NUS today and the past, I am genuinely, truly sorry that it has taken us so long to address antisemitism head-on. You have been let down by the very organisation that you should have been able to trust the most. My team and I will do everything that we can do to make sure that you never have to fight this fight on your own again.
“Let us say this to anyone in doubt: antisemitism is real and it is happening in student politics today. Antisemitism is an attack not just on Jewish people, but on all of us and the shared values we hold.”
Ms Tuck’s report, which was released in January and followed an investigation into which Campaign Against Antisemitism, the Union of Jewish Students (UJS) and others provided input, observed that NUS allowed the development of a “hostile environment” for Jewish students, with instances in which Jewish students were “subjected to harassment” likely to be in breach of the Equality Act 2010, in addition to NUS’s own code of conduct. It rightly recognised that there had been a “poor relationship” between NUS and Jewish students for a long time. Ms Tuck drew on Campaign Against Antisemitism’s input and past research, including our annual Antisemitism Barometer survey of the Jewish community.
The report recommended improvements in NUS’s record-keeping, elections, due diligence of candidates, and code of conduct complaints. It also called for antisemitism training and the provision of educational materials, and a governance review. Ms Tuck also advised improvements in discussions about Israel, including the inclusion of an “experienced facilitator” in such debates.
Importantly, the report also called for the establishment of an advisory panel to ensure the implementation of the recommendations and for a survey of Jewish students to test that implementation, which were among the suggestions made to Ms Tuck by Campaign Against Antisemitism to ensure the durability of any recommendations that the report made. Indeed Ms Tuck observed how the recommendations of past reports relating to NUS have often not been implemented, a point that we stressed to her.
The announcement of Ms Tuck’s investigation last April came after Robert Halfon MP (then the Chair of the Education Select Committee) wrote together with Campaign Against Antisemitism to the Charity Commission calling for an investigation into the union’s charitable arm, which the Commission agreed to launch. The full dossier on NUS, produced by Campaign Against Antisemitism, can be read here.
After the investigation was announced, Shaima Dallali, the then-President of NUS, was removed from her position amidst allegations of antisemitism. This was the first time in the Union’s 100-year history that a President has been removed.
There have been numerous controversies involving NUS over the past twelve months. In one scandal, the rapper Kareem Dennis, known as Lowkey, was due to headline NUS’s centenary conference but, after initially dismissing the concerns of Jewish students, who pointed out the rapper’s inflammatory record, the Union came under media scrutiny and eventually Mr Dennis withdrew from the event. As the scandal erupted, Robert Halfon MP excoriated NUS for failing to send a representative to attend a hearing held by the Education Select Committee, which he chairs.
This scandal was immediately followed by the election of Shaima Dallali as NUS’s new President, despite her history of antisemitic tweets and other inflammatory social media posts. Ms Dallali was forced to apologise for tweeting the words of an antisemitic chant. In 2012, during an escalation of tensions between Israel and the antisemitic genocidal terrorist group Hamas, Ms Dallali tweeted the words “Khaybar Khaybar, ya yahud, Jaish Muhammad, sa yahud.” Translated into English, this chant means “Jews, remember the battle of Khaybar, the army of Muhammad is returning.” It is a classic Arabic battle cry referencing the massacre and expulsion of the Jews of the town of Khaybar in northwestern Arabia, now Saudi Arabia, in the year 628 CE.
These scandals come after decades of atrocious relations between NUS and Jewish students. Ms Tuck’s investigation is at least the third major such inquiry into NUS’s relations with Jewish students in the last twenty years.
It was reported today that, claiming that her dismissal was discriminatory, Ms Dallali is taking legal action against NUS.
It was also reported that Manchester Students’ Union is set to hold a referendum on whether it should disaffiliate from NUS, citing concerns over antisemitism and Islamophobia.
If any students are concerned about antisemitism on campus or need assistance, they can call us on 0330 822 0321, or e-mail [email protected].
Image credit: NUS via Twitter