A former University of Birmingham Jewish Society president, has been elected the new President of the Union of Jewish Students.
James Harris won by 361 votes and will take over from Esther Offenberg in June 2020.
His election was announced on Sunday at the annual UJS conference, which saw more than 100 attend.
Mr Harris, who is a UJS delegate to the Board of Deputies and University of Birmingham rep at the NUS Conference, pledged to tackle the reluctance of “many Jewish students in the UK and Ireland” to engaged with UJS.
Huge Mazel Tov to the new President-Elect of UJS 2020-2021 James Harris who won by 361 votes! UJS is excited looking forward to him implementing key points from his manifesto, click here to read
— Union of Jewish Students (@UJS_UK) December 8, 2019
James manifesto:https://t.co/hfm6nMgZIY pic.twitter.com/XzlTwiVepl
In his manifesto he said: “That’s what I am trying to change. If elected, I’ll work to engage as many of those students as possible with our national organisation, building a movement that fights on the issues that matter to them.”
His pledges included zero tolerance to antisemitism and uniting in the fight against BDS and the delegitimisation of Israel.
“Having been a victim of antisemitism myself, I know the damage that it can cause. Jewish students lose complete faith in their Students’ Unions if they fail to stand up for Jewish students and condemn the anti-Jewish racism of some of their members,” he said.
Mr Harris said he would lobby Universities and Students’ Unions to create a Zero Tolerance policy “that is fit for purpose, including the IHRA definition and all its examples.”
The Board of Deputies congratulated Mr Harris on his win and said it looked forward to working with him.
Congratulations to new @UJS_UK President-elect @_James_Harris! We look forward to working with you next year when you enter office. Mazel tov! https://t.co/FViWYVOajI
— Board of Deputies of British Jews (@BoardofDeputies) December 8, 2019
