Disappointment that City SU choose to turn away from productive dialogue

UJS are disappointed that City Students’ Union chose to support a motion raising awareness of BDS rather than seeking positive dialogue and practical solutions to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

We are proud that Jewish and non-Jewish students stood up for the values of coexistence, dialogue and peace and ensured that the arguments against BDS were heard clearly in the room. UJS will continue to work closely with the J-Soc to ensure that Jewish students’ voices are heard, and that students continue to be made aware of the case against BDS.

Statement from City, University of London and Cass Business School J-Soc

Following Thursday’s vote at the Student Union AGM to pass a motion promoting BDS at City, University of London, we would like to express our extreme disappointment and concern at the outcome. City and Cass J-Soc want to promote productive dialogue and we feel that this motion has threatened dialogue on the relevant topics, as students may no longer feel safe to participate in conversations about Israeli-Palestinian issues.

Michali Belovski, president of the J-Soc said: ‘Although we are very disappointed at the outcome, we are very proud of the efforts put in by the Jewish students on campus this week. The quality of the debate opposing the motion on Thursday was so high that there were a significant number of abstentions and we feel confident that we have widened the viewpoint of those who were present.’

We would like to reassure the students that we will support Jewish students in every way possible. We will be taking further action to attempt to overturn this divisive policy. Meanwhile, if anyone would like to discuss the outcome, or has any concerns, please feel free to contact either the J-Soc committee or UJS.