ByNaomi Firsht, Naomi Firsht
1 min read
The group that represents thousands of Jewish students across Europe is holding elections this week, but there won’t be any Britons standing.
As the European Union of Jewish Students decides who will be in charge for the next two years, the only “British” interest is an Israeli – Noam Yossef who studies at the University of Sheffield, and who is a candidate for the organisation’s board.
The EUJS is the umbrella group for student bodies in 34 countries across the continent. It runs seminars throughout the year and has made representations on behalf of Jewish students at the European Parliament.
Currently, 400 of its members are gathered in Portugal for its annual Summer U event. As well taking part in educational programmes and social activities, they will be voting in new leaders, including a new president.
Only 10 British students have made the trip to Lisbon, and only 21-year-old Ms Yossef is running for office.
“Unfortunately there are not a lot of British students who participate in Summer U,” she said, suggesting that other programmes like Camp America held more appeal.
Ms Yossef got involved with EUJS when she attended a seminar in Macedonia as part of a Union of Jewish Students’ delegation. She is a former Sheffield JSoc president and sits on the UJS national council, representing the British student organisation at the Board of Deputies.
If elected, she plans to champion stronger ties between British and European students.
“I think we can learn from each other,” she said. “We should do our best to stay tight and help each other, especially with everything going on in Europe now. There is no reason why there shouldn’t be stronger co-operation.”
The last British EUJS board member was Daniel Orelowitz, in 2010, and there was a British president in 1993.
UJS president Hannah Brady said she hoped to see the EUJS attract more interest among UK students.
She said: “I’d like students to be more aware of the international opportunities available through EUJS. One way of doing this is to find time for European student leaders to connect with British students when they are visiting the UK.”