PRESS RELEASE
British-Palestinian civil society submits formal complaint regarding NUS investigation into antisemitism allegations, says process ‘deeply flawed’ and ‘discredited from the outset.’
London, May 31 2022 – The British Palestinian Council (BPC) today submitted a formal complaint to the National Union of Students (NUS) UK Board in response to several aspects of its announced investigation into allegations of antisemitism.
British Palestinians fear that the inquiry, including its terms of reference and broader political context, will result in a fundamentally flawed report which conflates antisemitism with criticism of the State of Israel - severely repressing the ability of Palestinian students to speak about their lived reality of oppression at the hands of the Israeli government and silencing a large body of students wishing to advocate for Palestinian rights.
The formal complaint follows a letter and meeting request from the BPC, along with community groups Palestine Forum in Britain (PFB), the Association of the Palestinian Community in the UK, and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), all of which received a dismissive response from the NUS UK Board.
In the complaint, the BPC highlights four specific areas of concern around: the use of the controversial IHRA definition as a reference point; the public nature and scope of the allegations; the extent of the involvement of the Union of Jewish Students; and the failure to consult with other groups who stand to be affected, including failure to respond to any of the concerns raised in the original letter.
Dr. Sara Husseini, Director of the British Palestinian Council: “The deeply flawed process and framework surrounding this investigation have discredited it from the outset. It is unacceptable that the NUS UK Board is disregarding the concerns of Palestinian students and a large segment of the student population, when the Terms of Reference explicitly target Palestinian advocacy. Efforts to silence Palestinians are particularly appalling given the reality in Palestine, where women, men and children are being killed, injured, imprisoned, and expelled from their homes on a near-daily basis. We expect the NUS UK Board to remedy this immediately.”
Leanne Mohamad, President of KCL Students for Justice for Palestine Society: “The NUS has always been an organisation that has stood against colonialism, apartheid, and all forms of injustice. I am disappointed that the Board have set a dangerous precedent in investigating the President Elect, Shaima Dallali, for her Palestine activism and her principled anti-racist politics. This investigation sends a loud message to Palestinian students and anyone who cares about what’s happening in Palestine that they are not welcome in NUS spaces, and that our voices, concerns, and lived realities of Israeli occupation and oppression simply don’t matter. NUS and university campuses no longer feel like safe spaces.”
The planned investigation comes in the wake of public pressure from government to investigate alleged antisemitism by cutting ties with the NUS, which has been misreported in outlets including the Daily Telegraph and Sky News as ‘suspending funding’, despite the fact the British government does not fund the NUS.
Government influence on this matter follows a series of increasingly repressive and authoritarian moves targeting Palestinian advocacy as well as civic mobilisation and human rights work more broadly, including the Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions Bill, Nationality and Borders Bill, and the Police, Crimes and Sentencing Bill. Meanwhile, negotiations over an enhanced UK-Israel Free Trade Agreement are currently underway, without addressing well-documented human rights concerns and violations of international law, despite submissions by several human rights, legal, and policy organisations in the UK and beyond.
Full text of the complaint: www.britpalcouncil.co.uk/s/Formal-Complaint_NUS-Board_310522.pdf
For more information or media enquires: info@britpalcouncil.co.uk
The British Palestinian Council brings together British-Palestinian citizens in leading and representative positions across fields such as policy, advocacy, human rights, law, academia and journalism. We are an independent organisation that is not affiliated with any particular political party, whether in the UK or Palestine. Through decades of combined professional experience and deep roots within the wider Palestinian community, we bring informed perspectives grounded in human rights and the rule of law.
“The deeply flawed process and framework surrounding this investigation have discredited it from the outset. It is unacceptable that the NUS UK Board is disregarding the concerns of Palestinian students and a large segment of the student population, when the Terms of Reference explicitly target Palestinian advocacy. Efforts to silence Palestinians are particularly appalling given the reality in Palestine, where women, men and children are being killed, injured, imprisoned, and expelled from their homes on a near-daily basis. We expect the NUS UK Board to remedy this immediately.”
— Dr. Sara Husseini, Director, British Palestinian Council