Jewish students want change after NUS antisemitism claims

Amy Cregor, an drama student at the University of Leeds, was on her way to campus for a Crunch Time rehearsal when she heard the anti-Semitic slur.

Next thing she knew, her hair and clothes were covered in barbecue sauce. Then their attackers drove away.

“I was a little shocked,” she said. “I cried a bit, but I just said, ‘Pull yourself together’.”

That day, Amy had been wearing a Star of David necklace that all four of her grandparents had put together when she was a baby.

She no longer wears it in her college town.

The Union of Jewish Students (UJS) says it has lost confidence in Britain’s leading student activists to fight for the rights of its members like Amy – following a spate of controversy at the National Union of Students (NUS).

A report on allegations of anti-Semitism within the NIS is due to be released in the coming weeks. The UJS hopes it will bring about change and the NUS says it is ready to take action.

Among the controversies that have sparked investigations this year are a planned appearance by “Britain’s most political rapper” at a NUS event and the election of a president who has made controversial comments in the past. They refer to tensions rumbling more than 2,000 miles away – between the State of Israel and Palestinians living in East Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank.

The arguments focused on what constitutes criticism of Israel, the only country in the world with a Jewish majority, and what can be termed anti-Semitism.

The research adopts the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, which describes it in part as “a particular perception of Jews that may express itself as hatred toward Jews.”

Amy’s university says it encourages students to report incidents, but says she doesn’t think she has enough information to do so.

“For every reported traumatic incident, there are many that go unreported,” said Joel Rosen, President of the UJS.

Accompanying these are what he sees as “more subtle, insidious instances of political anti-Semitism” related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he says — anti-Semitism he believes has been present in the NIS in recent years.

“It’s an anti-Semitism that sees all Jewish students as agents of a government that many of them have no connection with and certainly don’t support,” he said.

“There is an exclusionary political culture within the NIS, in which Jews are marginalized within student discourse. The prejudices they face are denied. They feel left out.”

The dispute over anti-Semitism allegations prompted the NUS to launch two independent investigations, both led by attorney Rebecca Tuck KC.

As students await the results of a broader probe into allegations of antisemitism in the NIS at large, former President Shaima Dallali was fired last month after the first probe into allegations against her and found what the NIS considered “serious violations” of they designated guidelines.

The results are confidential and her lawyers have told the BBC that her sacking will be appealed.

Ms Dallali had been criticized for a tweet she posted in 2012 that referred to a 7th-century massacre of Jews, for which she has since apologized.

Another controversy involved an article published under her name that called a “moral compass” a Muslim cleric who once called suicide bombings of Israelis “martyrdom.”

Ms Dallali’s critics say these comments went beyond legitimate criticism of Israel and amounted to anti-Semitism. Ms Dallali denies this and told the Guardian in April that it was absolutely not true that she dislikes Jews.

Her lawyers have previously said she denies the allegations and the panel’s findings. They claim she was discriminated against because of “her beliefs about the plight of the Palestinian people” – and because she is a black Muslim woman. They added that news of her sacking leaked to news outlets before she found out.

They declined a BBC request for comment and an interview with Ms Dallali.

One element of the broader report will look at how the NUS handled complaints about the invitation of rapper Lowkey, aka Kareem Dennis, to its March conference.

Lowkey, whose tracklist includes a song called Long Live Palestine, has previously called the State of Israel a ‘racist endeavor’.

He hosts a podcast on stories he says are “routinely ignored by the mainstream media.”

In an episode that aired just before the NIS conference, he said the media had “weaponized” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s “Jewish heritage” to raise questions about the presence of extremists in the country’s Azov Battalion ” fend off”.

Last year, the rapper defended a professor who was fired from the University of Bristol after making a series of comments, including telling the Jewish Chronicle that Israel is using Jewish students “as political pawns.” An inquest acquitted Prof. David Miller of unlawful speech, but lawmakers charged him with “inciting hatred against Jewish students.” Lowkey said Prof. Miller was fired under “pressure from the Israel lobby.”

Jewish students who complained about Lowkey’s planned appearance were reportedly told they could “isolate” in a separate room, according to a list of allegations in the NUS inquiry’s briefing.

Lowkey’s performance did not take place. The rapper told the BBC this was “part of a much broader campaign to deplatform him”.

Mr. Rosen believes the invitation itself showed “how much the NUS has separated from Jewish students.”

“When the country’s top elected student officials are allowed to act with impunity, it creates a culture of impunity that trickles down,” he claimed.

“How can I go to a student union and say ‘this is unacceptable’ when this thing is allowed to fly in the NIS? That makes the fight against anti-Semitism much more difficult.”

Josh Cohen, the 20-year-old president of Nottingham Trent University’s Jewish Society, says he’s tired of people “digging up” about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict when they find out he’s Jewish.

“It’s something the Jews are just getting used to,” said Mr. Cohen, who is also on the National Council of the UJS.

Mr. Cohen believes that Jewish students have been “pushed out of democratic spaces” like the NIS and some student unions.

“It’s very important because those are the rooms where Jewish issues are discussed, whether it’s voting or campaigning about how a university is responding to anti-Semitism… he said.

“If it’s viewed as a no-go space for Jews, you don’t represent everyone properly. And in fact, you also miss out on students who could be really committed.”

A spokeswoman for NUS said the organization knows antisemitism is “real in society, in education and in the student movement” and is “deeply concerned by the hurt and pain that has been expressed”.

“We stand ready to be accountable, to listen and to take action,” she said — including through grievance mechanisms, education and culture change.

“This is not the fight of Jewish students that we must fight alone, and we want to do our part. There is no place for anti-Semitism within the NIS because Jewish students have the right to feel safe and welcome in every corner of our movement – and our society.”

The broader NUS inquiry will look at incidents that have emerged since a 2005 NUS inquiry, when the organization was criticized for its handling of complaints but cleared of apathy towards anti-Semitism.

It will likely examine how the NIS handled controversy in 2016 and 2017 related to comments made by a former NIS president – who denied being anti-Semitic and said at the time that her comments were a criticism of the media and their Reporting on it is the Israeli-Palestinian situation.

The NUS has continued its campaign this year, supporting university staff strikes in November and publishing research on students struggling with rising living costs.

But students have said it was distracted by the investigation.

A former NUS employee, who asked not to be identified, said issues such as the cost of living appeared to have been “pushed aside” while the NUS grappled with the fallout.

“Hopefully there’s a productive outcome, a way out,” he said. “There is still a lot to be done … to prove that the NIS is relevant.”

The Federation of Student Islamic Societies has accused the NUS of being “absent” while students struggle with finances. It has called for an investigation into Islamophobia within the NIS over the investigation into Ms Dallali.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign has defended Ms Dallali since her sacking. There has been a “mixing of anti-Semitism with legitimate criticism of Israeli oppression” that has been “exploited to silence Palestinians and those who support their rights.”

In February, the group accused Nadhim Zahawi, then Minister of Education, of trying to “cool down and delegitimize pro-Palestine activism” after he reportedly said that student activists “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” chanted “Must be reported to the police.

The NUS issued a joint statement at the time, calling on Mr Zahawi to retract his comments, which they said were part of a “broader attempt to silence activists”.

Mr Rosen said the student movement has a “proud history of Jewish students standing together alongside other marginalized groups and fighting racism,” adding, “I really hope that can be restored.”

“Jewish students don’t just want another study,” he said. “We want to see action.”