A tweet poorly misrepresenting a recent meeting between UJS and NUS as "secret" was recently shared by a reporter. The fact that a meeting was to take place between UJS and the current NUS president had been in the public domain for weeks prior to it.

Both parties decided that in the interests of a frank and forthright conversation, where the many ongoing concerns of Jewish students could be put directly to the NUS President, further publicity around this meeting would come after this initial round of discussions had been concluded – which as of this evening they have not.

Since Malia’s election, UJS had made clear that we would only be willing to meet her to discuss the concerns of Jewish students regarding her past rhetoric, and her inability to address them. A meeting took place to do just that. It was constructive, and provided an opportunity to directly address the issues that have been raised since her election.

J-Soc Presidents, Jewish student activists and our members have been involved throughout our work since NUS Conference to secure a safer national student movement for all students.

In the last six months we have seen many Jewish students at the forefront of disaffiliation campaigns to leave NUS. The frustration and anger voiced by Jewish students in recent months at Malia’s election is completely justified and we maintain our commitment to not working with the National President until she issues an apology to Jewish students and demonstrates a genuine willingness to listen to their concerns and work towards addressing them. 

The fact that a meeting took place between UJS and Malia is not proof that we are working together, far from it. UJS’ and Jewish students’ relationship with NUS is likely to be discussed and debated at next month’s UJS conference, and the decision taken will determine UJS’ next steps in how it chooses to engage with NUS and what any future relationship between the two organisation looks like.