Jewish supporters rally behind Malia Bouattia, saying she is victim of a witch-hunt

Antisemitism allegations against Malia Bouattia are “false” and part of an “Islamophobic campaign”, Jewish supporters of the new NUS president have claimed.

The group of former students and NUS representatives wrote a letter to the JC in which they describe criticism of Ms Bouattia as a “witch-hunt”.

They were responding to a comment piece in the paper by Maajid Nawaz , founder of the Quilliam think tank.

The letter said: “We are therefore horrified at the Islamophobic campaign being waged against her, amidst opportunistic and false charges of antisemitism.”

“The witch-hunt against Malia is part of a wider narrative that includes, for example, the racist attacks on London mayoral candidate, Sadiq Khan. It is a narrative that as Jews we should oppose without qualification.

“Her critics should hang their heads in shame.”

Ms Bouattia was elected as the 2016 NUS president at the union’s national conference last week. In the run-up to the conference, Ms Bouattia had been attacked over her remarks about Zionists, including her description of Birmingham University, which has one of the largest Jewish societies in the country, as a “Zionist outpost”. In a leaked video she was also seen referring to “Zionist-led media” in a speech.

An open letter signed by 45 Jewish society presidents during her election campaign raised questions about her “past rhetoric”.

However the signatories of the letter to the JC defend Ms Bouattia as an, “outstanding and principled record as an anti-racist activist and NUS Black Students Officer”.

The letter continued: “Just a month ago she spoke at the 20,000 strong Stand Up to Racism demonstration under the banner ‘Refugees Welcome Here: No to Racism, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism and Fascism’.

“Malia’s critics conflate opposition to Israel with anti-Jewish prejudice per se. This is a recipe for division in the face of the real threat.”

In an interview on Channel 4 news on Tuesday Ms Bouattia said she was happy to be known as an anti-Zionist and said “Israel as it behaves is problematic to me”.

The letter was signed by NUS national executive members Sai Englert and Barnaby Raine, former NUS Scotland president Gordon Maloney, former Edinburgh JSoc president Keziah Berelson, Michael Rosen, Rob Ferguson, Marcos Schneider and Lev Taylor.

According to student newspaper The Tab students at 25 different universities are pushing for referendums over NUS membership following the election of Ms Bouattia.

Oxford University students union will hold a referendum on NUS membership after voting for a motion at a council meeting on Wednesday evening.