Whilst maintaining that ‘criticism of Israel is acceptable’, he goes on to refer to incidents of anti-semitism ‘campuses and in our communities’. It is unclear from the letter whether or not the incidences of anti-semitism he refers to happened in connection with the occupations and it seems like an attempt to ‘play the race card’ for those not convinced by the absurd claims that the students caused ’serious disruption’. Any statement issued by the NUS condemning the known existence of anti-semitism and racism on campus is laudable, but the letter appears to be an attempt, much in line with Israel’s recent PR offensive, to conflate criticism of Israel’s zionist agenda with anti-semitism.

For politically active students the letter doesn’t come as much of a surprise and is indicative of the NUS’s gradual move to the right, coming as it does from a reformist and Labour - dominated NEC, which had so far kept quiet on the wave of occupations, representing one of the biggest resurgences in student activism since the Iraq war. It remains to be seen how an organisation which has rejected a diversity of tactics and is now committed (via its recent governance changes) to the cause of tame government sponspored reformism will be able to fight the corner of students in the coming tuition fee battle and will only add to calls for a new and more radical national student union to be formed.