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Jewish Leeds University students relieved as it is confirmed there will not be campus referendum on fighting antisemitism

The poll was triggered because a motion, which set out a number of measures to tackle Jew-hate, failed to pass a students' union vote

March 15, 2019 10:38
Leeds University Union
1 min read

Jewish Leeds University students have welcomed the news there will not be a campus-wide referendum on whether the students' union should do more to fight antisemitism, saying it would have caused "great distress".

A referendum loomed after a motion, that set out a number of measures to tackle Jew-hate, including the adoption of the IHRA definition of antisemitism, failed to pass at the Leeds University Union (LUU), coming two votes short.

Under the LUU constitution, this triggered a referendum, which the university’s Jewish Society (JSoc) condemned, saying it meant LUU resources could, in theory, be allocated to argue against fighting antisemitism.

On Thursday evening, the LUU published a letter of support for its Jewish students, announcing the referendum “will not be happening”, because “LUU and JSoc are confident that the content of the idea is already in place".

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