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Jewish students' anger over new NUS antisemitism row
UJS calls for candidates running in union elections to stand down over abusive social media posts
April 25, 2017 08:28
UJS calls for candidates running in union elections to stand down over abusive social media posts
April 25, 2017 08:28The Union of Jewish Students has called for several candidates standing for positions on the National Union of Students’ executive committee to “do the right thing and step down from their elections” after they were found to have made comments on social media which were derogatory towards Jews.
As reported by the Independent, Sean O’Neill, who describes himself in his campaign literature as a former “treasurer of the Oxford Students’ Palestine Society”, tweeted a comment in 2012 which included the hashtags #heilhitler and #f**kslutskilljews.
Also in 2012, Noorulann Shahid, the NUS’s LGBT+ officer, who uses the pronouns they/them, tweeted a video called “Black and Jewish”, saying that they had “LOL’d at this”. The parody video shows two black women dressing up in traditional Jewish clothing and singing lines including ““my ass and nose, they’re both big” and “don’t spend no money but you know I’m rich”.
And as reported by the JC two weeks ago, Ali Milani, a vice presidential candidate for the NUS, tweeted a series of offensive comments about Jews and Israel over a period in 2012 and 2013.
In 2012, he posted a message which read: “Nah u won’t mate it will cost you a pound #jew”, a slur suggesting Jews are miserly.
He also sent messages stating that “Israel has no right to exist” and that “Israel is a land built on ethnic cleansing and colonialism. Oppression is something your people should know about”.
On another occasion, he wrote: “So lecturer asks the class today ‘nobody in this room would ever want to go to war right?’ My hand rises. ‘Who?’ Me: ‘Israel’.”
All three candidates have apologised.
Mr Milani said: “I have apologised unreservedly for these comments before and I do so again. They do not reflect how I see the world today. These tweets are from an incredibly long time ago - when I was 16 to 17 years old."
He added that the antisemitic language he had used was "unacceptable. I know that now. Education taught me that.
"I was lucky enough to be given a comprehensive political education through the NUS and Black Students campaign; I want to make sure that every student has access to an education that challenges the types of words and comments we once thought acceptable.”
Noorulann Shahid said: “What I said was not acceptable. I sincerely and unreservedly apologise to Jewish students for the video I shared and comments I made on Twitter. I wrote the tweets a long time ago when I had a limited amount of political education and understanding, and I’d never make such comments again as I am committed to unlearning all types of offensive and oppressive language.
"I am particularly ashamed for sharing the parody video which perpetuates antisemitic stereotypes and I cannot apologise enough for doing this," adding: "I have already begun working with Jewish LGBT+ students to apologise and take their comments on board.”
Mr O Neill was quoted by the Independent as saying: "I was absolutely horrified to see this tweet. It flies in the face of my commitment to anti-fascism and anti-sexism.
“It was five years ago, and I have no recollection of writing it. I can only assume it was an incredibly distasteful inside joke, or a reference to something someone else said the night before.
"I wholly, unreservedly apologise for having ever associated myself with these truly vile hashtags. I am ashamed, and reach out to all groups affected to say sorry."
Josh Nagli, campaigns director for UJS, said the representative body for Jewish students was “appalled by these absolutely disgraceful posts, all of which are extremely offensive to Jewish students.
“The regularity of antisemitic comments being made by candidates is exceptionally worrisome and shows complete disregard for the welfare of Jewish students, as well as for the anti-racist, anti-fascist values that NUS and many of these individuals claim to uphold – particularly when those comments invoke the memory of the Holocaust.
“It is only two weeks since NUS research revealed a large proportion of Jewish students’ lack of faith in NUS effectively tackling antisemitism; whilst several opportunities for the student movement to show its resolve in tackling antisemitism have passed unfulfilled, these candidates should do the right thing now and step down from their elections.
"As delegates vote this week, they have a choice: whether to shape a student movement that takes antisemitism seriously or not, and I seriously hope they choose the right one. Otherwise, Jewish students will seriously question whether they are welcome at all in NUS."
A spokesperson for the NUS said the union was committed to tackling all forms of racism.
“We have a long and proud history of doing so and right now we are in the process of developing a Race Equity Plan to tackle all forms of racism in the students movement.
"This year, NUS has run a series of roundtables on tackling hate crime including specific events on antisemitism and islamophobia, campaigned for students' unions to be hate crime reporting centres. We have also published research about the experiences of Jewish students, setting out a series of bold and recommendations for the student movement.”
NUS delegates are attending the union's annual conference this week where the results for elections for president and other senior positions will be announced.
