A new student campaign has been launched urging student societies across the UK to ditch the National Union of Students (NUS) over the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the NUS’ “failure” to defend pro-Palestine students.
The campaign called “Not My NUS” was sparked following rising tensions between student bodies over the NUS’s perceived lack of support for pro-Palestine activism and students being penalised over protest action.
A public letter to the NUS Board of Directors was published on July 11 which listed the many grievances of student groups against the NUS. The letter was undersigned by over 200 student officers, societies, and groups across at least 55 campuses.
The letter claims that the NUS has remained “neutral” amid the ongoing genocide in Gaza which is a “strategy” which “shields the oppressor.”
The letter also details other issues such as the adoption of the controversial IHRA definition of anti-Semitism which equates criticism of Zionist and Israel to anti-Semitism.
The letter warns the NUS that if they fail to support pro-Palestine activism or implement a list of changes mentioned in the letter, that they face disaffiliation by student groups.
The letter has received backing from 10 legal, academic and human rights bodies, including ELSC, CAGE UK, BRISMES and the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention.
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The Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS) has informed 5Pillars that they are fully behind the campaign and have issued a call for other societies to abandon the NUS.
FOSIS told 5Pillars: “The NUS is no longer fit for purpose. It has failed to defend students facing censorship, ignored rising Islamophobia, and remained silent during a genocide. Its treatment of Muslim students, from the dismissal of Shaima Dallali to the recent blacklisting of over 70 sabbatical officers for signing an open letter to them, is indefensible.
“When representatives are punished for standing against injustice, the NUS ceases to be a platform for student voice and becomes a tool of repression. FOSIS has consistently raised these concerns in good faith. They have been met with silence, denial, and now retaliation, with no attempt at engaging with our conditions for a meeting. Yet, they falsely claim they have reached out to us. The NUS does not represent our values, nor those of the students it claims to speak for. Disaffiliation is no longer a radical step. It’s a necessary one.”
‘Threats and intimidation’
An article published by The Canary on July 19 claimed that, in response to the letter, the NUS leadership wrote to CEOs of the student unions which signed the letter, demanding that the sabbatical officers from various universities remove their signatures from the letter.
These Sabbatical officers, who are elected and employed student representatives and receive a salary, were reportedly issued an ultimatum by the NUS – remove their signatures from the letter, or get banned from attending NUS events.
The article quotes Antonia Listrat, Guild President at the University of Birmingham Guild of Students, who alleges the NUS reached out with “threats to intimidate” those who signed the letter.
“The NUS has reached out to Student Unions and elected officers with threats to intimidate them into removing their signatures. Student trustees have been threatened with investigation from the Charity Commission, and even with losing their jobs.
“This is an unprecedented attack on our student movement, and one of the worst cases of conflation between Zionism and Judaism. Not even the government has targeted us in such a direct way, simply for our beliefs and political expression.
“Instead of protecting marginalised students, and defending our rights, the NUS is instead paving the way for more repression. I am terrified of losing my job during this cost of living crisis.”
5Pillars has reached out to the NUS for comment on the allegations and for a response to the row. We will add any comment or response to the story if received.
Shaima Dallali row
Bitterness, distrust and allegations of bias from pro-Palestine students have dogged the NUS since the sacking of former NUS president Shaima Dallali in November 2022.
Dallali was the first hijab wearing Muslim woman to be elected to the post, yet, she was removed in disgrace after a campaign of complaints by pro-Israel forces over claims of anti-Semitism.
Amid an investigation into old comments she had posted online 10 years earlier and despite already apologising, admitting she was a “different person”, Dallali discovered she had been sacked anyway but only after reading about the NUS’ decision online.
Dallali posted on X: “On the first day of Islamophobia Awareness Month, I find out I have been dismissed through Twitter. That is unacceptable.”
The decision was celebrated by various pro-Israel groups but left a bitter taste among her many pro-Palestine supporters.
Dallali claimed that during her stint as president and the NUS investigation she had received threatening and abusive messages. Her supporters believed she was being targeted because she was a visible pro-Palestine Muslim.
Dallali later launched a legal action against the NUS and secured a “substantial settlement” shortly before her legal challenge was to be heard by an employment tribunal.
The NUS was forced to accept that: “pro-Palestinian and anti-Zionist beliefs may be protected beliefs, as may pro-Zionist beliefs. As a private individual Ms Dallali is, and as president of NUS she was, entitled to hold protected beliefs.”
The NUS statement also added: “Throughout this matter, Ms Dallali has suffered truly horrific abuse, which has included death threats, threats of sexual assault and flagrant Islamophobia. This is wholly unacceptable, and the NUS categorically condemns it.
“Ms Dallali now has the right to move on with her life and her career free from harassment or abuse.”
Earlier this week the Not My NUS Instagram account has published a call for students to disaffiliate.
“Enough is enough. The NUS no longer represents us. From Islamophobia to silence on Palestine — it’s time to disaffiliate.”
