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Anger over Soas student union vote on antisemitism
JSoc president says decision to block Jewish students determining what constitutes Jew-hatred is an "outrage"
January 26, 2017 14:08
2 min read
JSoc president says decision to block Jewish students determining what constitutes Jew-hatred is an "outrage"
January 26, 2017 14:08A university student union has been condemned for preventing Jewish students from deciding what constitutes antisemitism.
The union at the School of Oriental and African Studies rejected a proposal that “Jewish students should be given the right to self-determination and be able to define what constitutes hatred against their group like all other minority groups” at a meeting earlier this week.
The proposal was part of a a broader motion, put forward by Andrew Sanger, the president of the Soas Jewish Society, that also called for prayer spaces for all students of faith, for kosher food to be made available on campus, and events not to be scheduled on Jewish holidays or Shabbat.
Although the was motion - named by Mr Sanger as a “Jewish Equality Act” - was passed, the clause on antisemitism was dropped after a vote.
Mr Sanger said the move was “an outrage”.
“Removing this line tells me and my Jewish peers that we are not able to define our own oppression, that we are not able to self-determine our identity,” he said.
“Our union general meeting, which consisted mainly of non-Jewish students, has told Jewish students that it is one rule for them and another for every other minority group."
He added: “We also debated whether the union's anti-racism officer has adequately tackled antisemitism. Once again, I was told that my opinion, as the Jewish student proposing this motion, didn’t matter. It is a double standard. For a student union which proclaims its commitment to liberation, it seems like the only minority group that doesn’t include is Jewish students.”
According to Mr Sanger, one student who spoke at the meeting was applauded for suggesting that speakers with Zionist links should not be allowed to appear on campus.
The comment was “utterly disgraceful,” Mr Sanger said.
“How do you think I felt as a Jewish student who identifies as a Zionist? Hearing what I did the other night made me fear the potential that this has of making our campus an unsafe space for many Jewish students and fuelling antisemitism.”
In a statement, Soas student union described the remark about Zionism as “a comment made by one individual student which was not part of the motion itself and did not play a role in shaping the outcome of the motion. No organisation was banned from speaking on campus.”
Regarding the removed clause, the union said the motion had been amended to include an alternative definition of antisemitism.
“Amendments to the motion included adding a definition of antisemitism based on the definition put forward by Professor David Feldman from the Pears institute for the Study of Antisemitism. This amendment was put forward by a Jewish student who gave a clear argument as to why he felt it should be added,” the union said.
In a statement, the Union of Jewish Students said: “The comments made during the Soas union general meeting were outrageous. Not only were Jewish students told that they did not have the right to define their own oppression, but they also heard that Zionists are not welcome in their students union. These disgraceful comments are a stark reminder of the discrimination and intolerance many Jewish students at SOAS have faced in recent years.
“Time and again, Jewish students are being told what constitutes antisemitism. Whereas students unions have regularly applied the Macpherson principle to other minority groups, allowing them to define their own oppression, it seems that once again we are seeing one rule for Jewish students and another for everyone else.”
Soas student union has been contacted for further comment.
