By
Imogen Wilson
Last week my Students’ Association voted to support the Boycott, Divest and Sanction campaign , with 249 votes for and 153 against. I spoke passionately against the motion, on the grounds that antisemitism is a growing problem in student politics, and that it would be foolish to subscribe to a movement that could divide our campus even further.
I’ve been an elected sabbatical officer at Edinburgh University Students’ Association (EUSA) or almost a year now, and my first experience of BDS was at a National Union of Students’ Conference in Bolton last summer. There was an awards dinner event that was sponsored by Coca Cola, a company that is on some BDS lists for having a franchise in the West Bank. NUS have had a BDS policy since 2014, and when some NUS officers found out about the sponsorship there was a complete uproar.
Many of the students there, including myself, were new to wider student politics circles and issues. Therefore, our first impression of BDS, and NUS, was a protest outside the dinner that was supposed to be celebrating student achievements from across the UK. I remember thinking how alarming this must have been for Jewish and Israeli student representatives, who on top of being surprised by a protest, may have felt that it was somehow targeted at them.
I’ve become proud of the work that student unions do for women, black and minority ethnic, LGBT+, and disabled groups of students. However, the lack of awareness of the struggles that Jewish students face on campus is astounding from people who fight so hard for the liberation of other oppressed groups.
For example, the motion for BDS at EUSA last week was co-signed by the leader of the black and minority ethnicity group, but as far as I’m aware the Jewish Society were not consulted on the impacts for their members of BDS, or the wording of the motion.
This is a national issue too. NUS have a number of full-time elected representatives. The current Black Students Officer has been accused a number of times of antisemitic behaviour this year, and the newly elected Disabled Students Officer was elected amongst serious allegations of antisemitism in the Oxford Labour Students Club.
Obviously, I can’t, and don’t want to, speak for all Jewish students, and I myself am not Jewish. There are of course some who feel that Israel doesn’t represent them, and many Jewish supporters of BDS through groups such as Jewish Voice for Peace. It’s also important to clarify that I’m not condoning the actions of the Israeli government, and this isn’t a fight between Jews and pro-BDS campaigners.
However, nuances like these are difficult to get across, and Jewish and Israeli students ultimately suffer because of people’s ignorance. After Brianna Sommer, President of the Jewish Society and I had both made our speeches against BDS, a reasonably well-informed friend asked me after the meeting if I was sitting with “all the pro-Israel people” which says a lot about the ignorance surrounding BDS as a whole: This is not a simple pro-Israel vs pro-Palestine case, and it shouldn’t be. This is about protecting the safety of our Jewish and Israeli students on our campuses.
I think it’s clear that we aren’t doing enough for Jewish students, and there is no clear answer of how to fix that. But to me, continuing to campaign against BDS seems like a good start.
Imogen Wilson is Vice President Academic Affairs for Edinburgh University Students’ Association