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NUS ‘plays the race card’ in criticism of student occupations

galleani | 18.02.2009 00:32 | Education | Palestine

In a letter to The Independent on February 15th, Wes Streeting, President of the NUS, said he did not believe ‘that the sit-ins relating to the Gaza crisis have been the student movement’s finest hour’, condemning the ’significant disruption to [...the] education’ of other students ‘.

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.

galleani

Comments

Hide the following 8 comments

fuck the nus

18.02.2009 01:02

Yeh - big surprise. The NUS is run by a bunch of zionist wankers. I worked that one out at their disgusting little conference back in 2001. And my article criticising the whole event couldn't be published by my student union rag because the NUS said it would take our student union to court. Motherfuckers.

Krop


Indymedia - refuge for Stalinists, Nazis, Jihadist fans and other slime.

18.02.2009 01:25

Now that's more like it- slimy whingeing followed by unsubtle, coded, sweary ranting by crop-headed Nazi scum.

Well done Indymedia! You show them dirty Zionists what's what, eh?

happy


ps

18.02.2009 01:33

I believe this is the sort of thing you are ranting against. Oh noes! Students actually want to get an education! Nobody's interested in your little race war against (cough) "Zionists"! Jewish people are feeling intimidated and are reporting harrasment!

 http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/01/30/uk.students.gaza/?iref=mpstoryview

THIS IS AN OUTRAGE! right?

happy


balls to the NUS

18.02.2009 09:24

Having been an elected officer at a university for two years in a row several years ago, i never want anything to do with the NUS again. they are (apart from a brave few, who generally get silenced) a bunch of self-important, reformist, careerist scumbags whose main aim in life is to climb the greasy pole by shitting on everyone else to further their plans for a cushy Labour Party job at the end of it. middle class, self-serving poseurs of the lowest kind.

I don't know about zionism, and wouldn't like to make any assumptions either way without more proof, but they are definitely spineless, even more so than they used to be a few years ago.

and to respond to the person slagging off the occupatioins because students couldn't somehow learn because of the occupations - if you had been paying attention, all of them involved occupying a single room (out of hundreds in their respective universities), and most offered to allow lectures to continue within that room while the occupation was going on. the fact that university management made everyone's lives difficult as a result is something you should take up with management and heads of security, not the people who were occupying the rooms.

all this shit stirring from the NUS and their lackeys reminds me why student politics is a crock of shite. if/when you get a job, you'll understand that (institutional) student politics means bugger all to 99% of the population.

lolwob


i know

18.02.2009 09:43

i know first hand it was the security of man met who made it difficult to get in not the protesters

and happy

please show some better evidence than some speculation on cnn that points to no actual occurrence of said jew abuse.

ballz


small old political football

18.02.2009 10:23

I'm getting pretty tired with anti-semitism being used as a political football, and students who complain about their education being spoilt are probably the same scabs that moan about lecturers striking.. Didn't anyone tell them that uni is a political place?

moon23


sweet memories

18.02.2009 12:48

So because I used the word "motherfucker" and mentioned the word zionist I'm Nazi huh?

Bloody hell, reminds me of the NUS conferences I've been to, being patronised by usually fat (not that it matters, but it creates an impression when they sit on a stage sneering at you) Labour party scumbags, who did their utmost to silence any voices calling for the union to actually do something USEFUL - rather than acting as a clearing house for corporate crap like Bacardi and Coke and the overpriced insurance angency called Ensleigh (look for cheaper deals, student friends! : - Co-op insurance is much cheaper).

Anyway, did it not occur to you that I might have said these words because 1) the behaviour of the NUS officials at the conferences I went to was disgraceful and an insult to the word 'union'; 2) that the NUS silenced Palestinian students, and invited Israeli generals accused of war-crimes from giving speeches at fringe sessions and simultaneously mysteriously lost the Palestinian stall bookings so that they couldn't display their materials (sounding Zionist yet?), 3) I was so bloody fed up with the whole farce that it left me feeling very bitter about having to endure 3 days of being surrounded - on the most part (but not all) - but utter cunts?

The last time I was called a nazi it was by a member of the SWP. Now it is by a Labour party holding NUS executive scumbag. Thanks for making my day! With enemies like these I know I am doing the right thing. Have fun joining one of the main political parties when you've moved on to 'big boy politics'. You'll be more than ready and trained for screwing the entire population over, rather than unfortunate students.

Krop


'anti-semitism' - here we go again!

18.02.2009 19:16

Is the 'ruling body' of the NUS not aware that the majority of Palestinians are themselves Semites?

What does that make the 'ruling body' in the Occupied Territories? Sociopaths at the very least, IMO.

JG


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