The Board of Deputies has called on Malia Bouattia, the president of the National Union of Students, to apologise over remarks that could be understood as antisemitic.
Jonathan Arkush, president of the Board, was responding to the Daily Telegraph’s revelation of an internal NUS inquiry into allegations against Ms Bouttia over comments she made before her election as president last April.
According to the newspaper, the inquiry, led by Professor Carol Baxter, found Ms Bouttia had made remarks which “could be reasonably capable of being interpreted as antisemitic”.
During an Israel Apartheid Week event at London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies, Ms Bouattia had claimed the government’s anti-terror Prevent programme was fuelled by “Zionists and neo-con lobbies”.
But Professor Baxter rejected other allegations of antisemitism against Ms Bouattia, including a reference to Birmingham University – home to one of the largest university Jewish societies – as a “Zionist outpost”.
According to the Telegraph, Professor Baxter – who has previously advised the NHS on equality and diversity – recommended that Ms Bouattia make an apology.
Mr Arkush, speaking at a Board meeting on Sunday, said it was “shameful” no apology had come from Ms Bouattia so far. “It is fruitless to condemn antisemitism in others if you cannot face up to the reality of prejudice inside yourself,” he said.
NUS said the complaint against Ms Bouattia was ongoing but investigations under its code of conduct were kept confidential.
But the spokesman, citing the summary of Professor Baxter’s report, explained, “The investigator concludes that while there was no evidence of intent to be antisemitic, it is understandable how Malia Bouattia’s use of the phrase ‘Zionist and neo-con lobbies’ in her speech could be reasonably capable of being interpreted as antisemitic.”
The spokesman added the NUS president “has and is taking steps to repair relationships with UJS. Under Malia’s presidency, NUS is leading on work to combat hate crime on UK campuses, working with policy experts and is conducting research into the experiences of Jewish students. Malia has worked with a number of organisations, on antisemitic issues including the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, to ensure the safety and wellbeing of Jewish students.”
Last month, Ms Bouattia said her previous comments on Zionists had been “clumsy” and pledged she “would never do it again”.
In response to the Telegraph story, NUS also tweeted she has organised a summit next month “looking at antisemitism and other forms of racism”. The Building Bridges, Not Walls event includes a scheduled workshop on “tackling antisemitism”.
Her comments on Birmingham were criticised as unacceptable in a report on antisemitism by the Home Affairs Select Committee last October.
In December, UJS rejected a resolution to suspend contacts with NUS because of Ms Bouattia’s record.
