As a Trot activist, I once voted against a JSoc - luckily I was defeated - The Jewish Chronicle

Back in 1985, I seconded a far-left inspired student union motion calling for the disbandment of the Jewish Society at City of London Polytechnic. Fortunately, it was roundly defeated.

Given the utter unimportance of what I did as a Trotskyist activist at a now-defunct and none-too-prestigious higher educational institution more than three decades ago, that should by rights constitute little more than a shameful memory for me personally.

But reading the JC’s report that around a third of participating students at Essex University this week voted against the establishment of a JSoc there, some things clearly have not moved on from where they were 34 years on.

A substantial minority of student opinion opposes allowing Jewish peers to get together on the same basis as young people from other ethnic or religious backgrounds, supporters of political parties, or even aficionados of such recondite enthusiasms as K-Pop.

While some voters may have been motivated by antisemitism - a growing force in Britain - overt prejudice probably wasn’t the major factor here. The strongly anti-racist ethos of the generation currently sending themselves £50,000 or more into debt simply to secure a degree precludes that as a blanket explanation.

More likely to be at work is the sort of anti-Zionism that oversteps any legitimate mark and crosses over into antisemitism in fact, if not in intent; just the sort of anti-Zionism to which I subscribed while enjoying free tuition and a generous grant.

City Poly JSoc was strongly Zionist, and Zionism equalled racism; hadn’t the United Nations decided as much in general assembly resolution 3379? Therefore, City Poly JSoc had to go.

And so, self-assured by the virtue of my intent, righteous outrage still kindled by the horrors that ensued after Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982, I mounted the podium and made that speech.

These things are nowadays debated via Facebook rather than face-to-face, with cack-handed attempts at soapbox rhetoric sometimes replaced by memes ripped off conspiracy websites. But the flaws in the argument remain unchanged.

Racism exists within Israel, as it exists everywhere else. Its controversial Nation-State Law passed last year has attracted widespread criticism, not least from President Rivlin himself.

And unless genuine justice for Palestinians forms a central pillar in the package, no settlement in the Middle East stands the least chance of being durable.

But a student club is there to facilitate convivial social occasions, usually involving alcohol. It is not morally responsible for the actions of politicians thousands of miles away.

Given the overwhelming preponderance of opinion in the Jewish community, any JSoc is understandably going to be strongly Zionist. But banning a JSoc on those grounds is akin to banning a rock-climbing society because it includes people who exhibit a propensity for climbing rocks.

Essex University is now reportedly reconsidering the issue, following claims of irregularities first time round.

Nuance has never been a strongpoint of student leftism. Even so, those participating in the rerun need to remember the logical contradiction inherent in being racist in the name of antiracism.