National Council Meeting Report – 20^th October 2024

National Council Meeting Report – 20^th October 2024

Meeting Agenda, 20^th October 2024

We began our meeting by discussing our work towards achieving each of our three objectives this year, which are:

Objective 1: A more visible, accountable and active National Council

The new National Council page on the UJS website is nearly complete, and the UJS team will shortly add a Form so students can reach out to us informally and through an official channel. We also posted an explainer video about the revamped national council to the UJS Instagram story and discussed the importance of regularly sharing these reports via official and personal social media channels.

We considered the National Council’s plans for the UJS convention. Ideas discussed included running a session to allow all Jewish students to engage with National Council and develop a better understanding of what we do. We also discussed formalising our new National Council format through the submission of motions at UJS Conference.

Objective 2: Monitoring UJS policy

We agreed that a UJS policy tracker will be created after the upcoming convention and shared with the National Council. This compromise reflects the significant workload of priority campaign issues currently on the team’s plate.

Objective 3: Amplifying a diverse range of student voices

Each National Council member reported on the numerous conversations they have had with Jewish students in the past month. Common sentiment includes:

• Gratefulness for UJS’s planning and support around October 7^th
• A disconnect between those engaged in JSocs alone and those also involved in UJS
• A lack of awareness of the great work done by UJS
• A lack of clarity on the work done by the National Council
• Many campus-specific issues were raised, including specific campuses struggling in light of incidents around the October 7^th

We discussed with Sami ways in which UJS's work could be made more visible, such as the upcoming increase in the frequency of emails sent out. We also reflected on the events of October 7^th, noting that UJS will shortly be making public comments on October 7^th-related incidents (investigations are still ongoing).

Recent and Future UJS Activity

Then followed an update from Sami on UJS’s recent and future activity.

• UJS visited seventy Freshers’ Fairs, a rise from last year, which was an intense but rewarding period for the entire team.
• Sami represented Jewish students in meetings with Ed Davey and Rishi Sunak. Sunak mentioned British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari in Parliament on Sami’s suggestion.
• Sami and Samantha attended a parliamentary drop-in with the JLC and UJC. 36 MPs, including the Higher Education Minister, came by and were provided with information about UJS's work (and merch!).
• A number of the UJS team attended the Rosh Hashanah celebration at the US embassy.
• On October 7^th, UJS hosted a tree-planting reception in London, while every Sabb visited a different campus to support their JSoc’s events, including the tekkes, for which UJS provided resources.
• UJS also had a stall at the national rally, where community members wrote messages of support to Jewish students.
• An extended meeting with Lord Mann and NUS was productive. Sami called out a lack of disciplinary action against certain student union representatives who have been involved in antisemitic incidents.
• The fellowship application window closed, with over 100 applicants. Those successful have been informed.
• Sixth-form fellowship applications are underway.
• Planning for the UJS convention is underway, with over 100 sign-ups already.
• Youth movement workers have been invited to participate in the Convention, and efforts have been made to prioritise cross-communalism. This year, the UJS team has an excellent working relationship with the movement workers.

Q&A Session

Then, time was allocated for Q&A. A number of questions about current UJS policy were asked first:

• Clarification was sought around ‘Community 5: Period Poverty Awareness’. Sami is planning a campaign, and collection points and period products will be sent out The Sabbs will discuss this further soon.
• Regarding ‘Programming 15: UJS against marginalisation’, Sami confirmed that two sessions on inclusion were run on the JSoc committee training day. A follow-up booklet and a Women’s Empowerment Network are on the way.
• As per ‘UJ32: UJS for ALL Jewish students’, Sami explained the recent social media statement commemorating October 7^th. Care was taken to ensure ideological balance whilst paying tribute to the innocent lives lost.

The conversation then turned to UJS’s engagement with Kehillahs and other anti- or non-Zionist Jewish student groups:

• Sami is looking to invite Kehillahs to a meeting at the request of some Kehillahs. Engagement will focus on how all Jewish students can feel comfortable in UJS/JSoc spaces.
• UJS will stand by JSoc decisions regarding engagement with other Jewish groups on campus, given that JSocs are the only direct affiliate organisations of UJS.
• SOAS JSoc did not permit UJS to attend the Freshers Fair. However, UJS have developed a strong relationship with the CEO of SOAS, and Jewish students at SOAS can contact Samantha, who is their sabb.

Finally, further matters were discussed, including:

• Sharing best practice on campaign issues between JSoc committees occurs predominantly through UJS knowledge-sharing and the JSoc Presidents group chat.
• Plans for the Scotland Convention are being worked on with the Scotland Chaplains.
• The reimbursement process for JSocs is not instant; however, the process can be expedited if there is urgency. The relevant Sabb officer for a given JSoc should be the first port of call.

Next meeting: Sunday 17^th November

Please contact one of the five members of the National Council if you have any matters you wish to see discussed at the next meeting!