King’s College overturns Israel boycott

King’s College Student Union has dramatically overturned last week’s decision to boycott Israel after referring the result of last Tuesday’s vote to the Union’s Trustee Board for advice and further review.

In a statement released today, the university’s student body explained that it would not be withdrawing the motion entirely, but that “after careful consideration and taking into account legal advice… we will not promote the BDS movement through the union”.

It follows a Student General Meeting (SGM) on 25 March which saw a motion adopted which called for the King’s College Student Union to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

“After a difficult and turbulent week, we are very pleased with the decision of the Trustees,” said Hannah Brady of King’s J-Soc: “We hope that the King’s student community can now move forward with the values of tolerance, cross-communalism and unity at the heart of all its endeavours.”

The decision was also welcomed by the Union of Jewish Students, which said: “Upholding the democratic voice of the student population is an imperative duty of all student’s unions. It’s reassuring that there are strong unions like Kings, who will go to all measures to ensure that the welfare of all students is kept as a main priority and will therefore not be promoting the mandate of this motion in any formal capacity.”

The Union had earlier explained why it sought the advice, saying: “The BDS movement is a subject that has strength of feeling on both sides. Given our responsibilities as a democratic charity, we were obliged to refer the outcome. In-line with charity law we have to do this for any motion where there is a potential legal, financial or reputational risk.”