Northern Irish students to ‘condemn’ those who go on Israel trips
Policies pass to discourage free educational visits to Israel, tackle anti-Semitism and reaffirm support of BDS
Northern Ireland’s student body has told its elected officials they shouldn’t accept trips to Israel.
NUS-USI, which represents more than 200,000 students in Northern Ireland, passed policy to discourage free educational trips to the Jewish state and the occupied territories, often organised by the Union of Jewish Students (UJS).
A motion agreed at their annual conference on 4-5 April, resolves “to condemn student executive officers accepting paid trips to Israel provided by organisations that actively advocate against furthering Palestinian human rights, liberation and justice”.
It says: “UJS and other organisations should reveal all their funding sources publicly for transparency and accountability reasons.”
The Union of Jewish Students said the policy is a “disappointing” attempt “to bar officers from engaging with the difficult topic of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from multiple angles in a broad, nuanced and balanced way”.
They add, “the implication that UJS is an organisation that ‘advocate[s] against furthering Palestinian human rights, liberation and justice’ is a mendacious and grossly offensive slur” as they campaign for a two state solution, and “UJS is neither funded nor directed by the Israeli government, the continued suggestion to the contrary is sinister and deeply offensive.”
The conference saw the reaffirming of support for boycotts of Israel, a policy initially passed in 2012. In voting for it not to lapse, NUS-USI agree to “implement the BDS campaign using a progressive approach that utilizes an assessed look at companies and products to determine if they fit the Palestinian call to BDS”.
Policy was passed to combat anti-Semitism in the student movement, “regardless of whether an anti-Semitism problem exists or not on our own campuses”.
The motion makes NUS-USI “mandated to work with relevant educational institutions in order to address racism and antiSemitism on campus and methods to alleviate it”.
Gary Spedding, a cross-party activist on Israel/Palestine, who proposed the BDS motion in 2012 was instrumental in putting together the ‘trips to Israel’ and ‘anti-Semitism’ policies.
Speaking to Jewish News, he said: “I’m tired of anti-Semitism constantly being an issue within the student movement and the wider left. We should have tackled this a long time ago in order to protect our Jewish compatriots and colleagues, respect their autonomy and political agency, whilst also standing in solidarity as allies with them.”
He added: “Having a robust policy on anti-Semitism at a student movement level contributes to educating about and engaging in debate on these crucial issues so as to expand our knowledge base and be able to recognise, call out and actively tackle anti-Semitism.”
Reacting to the motion to tackle anti-Semitism, a UJS spokesperson said they “welcome steps taken by NUS-USI to combat antisemitism with an emergency motion but are concerned to see that the IHRA definition, adopted by the Government, the Labour Party and voted for by the Union of Jewish Students Conference was ignored by the conference. We look forward to working with NUS-USI as the only national representative body for Jewish students in the UK and Ireland.”
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
