University Set To Debate Ban On Israeli Speakers
JEWISH leaders have branded a potential ban against Israeli speakers by one of the country's top university unions as illegal.
The University of Manchester Student Union Council met on Tuesday to debate whether its current boycott of Israeli goods also includes the banning of speakers from the same country.
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Last February, in the wake of Israel's incursion into the Gaza Strip, the union voted for a motion to "join the global Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement by divesting from Israel and boycotting all companies that support, or benefit from, the Israeli occupation".
A union spokesperson said that council members will meet on 16 March to decide if this policy should be interpreted as also banning Israelis from speaking at the union.
The issue was raised after Israel's Deputy Ambassador Talya Lador-Fresher cancelled a speech at the union on Thursday, citing security threats after widespread student protests. She had been invited to speak by the university's politics society.
The student union's Action Palestine society led a protest in which students claimed Israel was an apartheid state and held up signs labelling the deputy ambassador a "war criminal".
Some Jewish students holding Israeli flags attended the protest to show solidarity with the Jewish state. The CST said that two of its personnel were "slightly injured" while defending the Jewish students during "confrontational scenes at the student union".
Jonathan Arkush, a barrister and senior vice president of the Board of Deputies, contacted the university to insist that any policy banning Israeli speakers would be against the Race Relations Act of 1976 as discrimination on the grounds of national origins.
Arkush said that there was no point in the union re-examining its 2009 resolution calling for an Israel boycott. He said: "Whether or not it covers boycotting Israeli speakers, such a move would be a breach of the Race Relations Act."
He added: "If the union is so unwise as to pursue a policy that breaks the law then it will be at risk of legal action to compel them to abide by the law."
A University of Manchester spokesperson said the university was disappointed that the deputy ambassador had cancelled her planned visit and added that the university has reinvited her to speak.
The spokesperson also said there were "clearly issues" with a ban on Israeli speakers and that the university was awaiting the outcome of the union's decision.
He added: "We are seeking urgent talks and clarification from the student union."
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