The Vice Chancellor of the University of Essex has committed to “ensuring that the Jewish Society is created… irrespective of any ratification by the Student’s Union”, after hundreds of students at the university voted against the creation of a JSoc.

In a statement on Friday morning, Professor Anthony Forster also announced “the immediate launch of a review to ensure that we provide unequivocal support to our Jewish students and staff” and that he would be “holding a public event on Thursday February 28 at 1pm, in support of our Jewish community, to which staff, students and members of the public are invited.”

As first reported by the JC on Wednesday, students were being allowed to vote on the student union website over whether to allow the establishment of a Jewish society, as is the policy whenever an official university student society is proposed.

Although some 64 per cent of respondents had voted affirmatively, more than a third – over 200 – had voted against a Jewish society being allowed to form.

Last night the student union announced that it would be halting the vote on the establishment of the JSoc, claiming that non-students had also been voting in the poll, but adding that it would be re-running the vote soon.

The Union of Jewish Students had expressed itself “deeply disappointed” at the situation on the campus and said it was supporting Jewish students at the university.

Last night , UJS issued a further statement after it was revealed that one group which had urged students to vote against the establishment of the JSoc was the university’s Amnesty International Society.

“The Jewish Society is seeking ratification in Essex, which is very important for Jewish representation in Essex, as we have not had a Jewish Society in Essex for many years”, the statement from the Amnesty Society said.

“Unfortunately, there is something very problematic and upsetting written in their manifesto. The society has written it will celebrate Israel national day, which is nothing to do with Judaism. It is a day where 700,000 Palestinians were illegally expelled from their homes and ethnically cleansed from historic Palestine.

The group said it was "against this", adding: "Until the society is politically neutral like every other religious society we will take a stance on this. So we urge you to please vote no until they are politically neutral.”

The statement went on to claim: “We support a Jewish society that represents all Jews no matter where they lie on the political spectrum. Unfortunately this manifesto excludes a huge proportion of the Jewish community and implies that all Jews support the Israeli state. Judaism should not be conflated with Israel, as this is problematic with the rights of all in Palestine.”

In response to this, UJS said: “The people within this Amnesty group are either ignorant or prejudiced. They refer to the Jewish society including education about Israel and Zionism as having a ‘political stance’ and repeatedly suggest they know best how to define a Jewish society as a ‘religious society’. They arrogantly deem fit to dictate that celebrating Israeli national festivals has ‘nothing to do with Judaism’ and ‘Judaism should not be conflated with Israel'.

“Just as there are atheist Jews, a Jewish society will still offer Jewish religious services and education. In the same sense, while there may be Jewish students who do not support the Israeli state, offering education on Israel in the broadest sense and opportunities to engage with the world’s only Jewish state must be part of what is offered from a Jewish society.”

Additionally, as reported by the JC on Wednesday, an academic at the University, Dr Maaruf Ali, who had expressed opposition to the establishment of the society, had been found to have shared antisemitic and Holocaust denial material on social media.

Prof Forster also confirmed that Dr Ali had been suspended while “an independent investigation of allegations” into the academic takes place.

“To see the University of Essex associated with antisemitism has been a deeply shocking event and one which has filled me with great sadness”, the Vice Chancellor said.

“Antisemitism is antithetical to the values of the University of Essex and has no place at our University.  We have a zero tolerance approach to harassment and hate crime which is at the very core of our values and beliefs. We are proud to subscribe to the working definition of antisemitism produced by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).

“Recent events have shown me we still have work to do.”