Leading UJS officer rules out meetings with Malia Bouattia over fears they would be used to “improve her PR”

A senior officer of the Union of Jewish Students has attacked the new NUS president Malia Bouattia for using their meetings as a PR stunt.

UJS campaigns director Russell Langer met Ms Bouattia last week after she was elected at the NUS national conference.

But he has ruled out any further discussions after she wrote about the encounter in a Guardian article.

In a post on Facebook Mr Langer said: “Malia states in her Guardian piece that the meetings with UJS are set to continue. Let me make this clear, if Malia's plan is to use these meetings in an attempt to improve her PR while not taking actual steps to address the anger of Jewish students then I see no reason for them to continue.”

He added that Ms Bouattia needed to do more to address concerns about her past remarks about Zionism, including her comment that Birmingham University, which has a large number of Jewish students, was a “Zionist outpost”.

Mr Langer wrote: "She needs to properly distance herself from her past rhetoric, issue sincere apologies and also commit to avoiding any flirtation with antisemitic stereotypes in the future. Without these steps, many Jewish students will feel that they are unable to engage with an NUS under her leadership.

“She is yet to do any of the above steps and has also repeatedly stated that her political beliefs have not changed. She has referenced her response to the open letter but Jewish students have made it clear that this was inadequate.”

During Ms Bouattia’s election campaign 45 JSoc presidents signed an open letter questioning her “past rhetoric” on Zionism.

In a Comment is Free article published in the Guardian on Sunday Ms Bouattia rejected allegations of antisemitism, citing her meeting with Mr Langer.

“I am deeply concerned at accusations of antisemitism… There is no place for antisemitism in the student movement, or in society… The first thing I did on being elected was to hold a meeting with the Union of Jewish Students, and these meetings are set to continue.”