Row as union compares support for BDS with ‘honourable tradition’ of ‘Nazi trade’ boycott
Delegates at the University and College Union's annual conference back pro-BDS motion that compares boycott on Israel goods to 'honourable tradition' of civil society protests including 'boycotts of Nazi trade'
Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
The trade union representing university lecturers and academics has been accused of backing an anti-Israel motion at their annual conference that featured “grotesque and antisemitic language.”
Delegates at the University and College Union’s (UCU) four day long congress in Glasgow confirmed their full support of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement – concluding this was in the “honourable tradition” of civil society protests including “boycotts of Nazi trade.”
The motion “Israel oppression and the right to boycott” , tabled by the University of Brighton Moulsecoomb, London regional committee, was discussed at the conference on Saturday, with the UCU’s website confirming it was agreed to “fully support the Right to Boycott campaign.”
Incredible scenes at UCU Congress 2023 as the entire hall reaffirms that trans rights are human rights ????️⚧️
Our union stands unequivocally with the trans community#ucuTOGETHER pic.twitter.com/llw2UATs1z
— UCU (@ucu) May 29, 2023
It was one of three anti-Israel motions to be debated, and passed at the conference, which also saw delegates speaking in favour of calling on the government to stop arming Ukraine.
The text of the right to boycott motion added: “Congress believes that civil society boycotts have an honourable tradition from anti-slavery campaigns through boycotts of Nazi trade to isolation of Apartheid South Africa.”
Commenting on the positive comparison between the BDS movement and the campaign to boycott German business under the Nazis, Luke Akehurst, Director of We Believe in Israel, told Jewish News: “The language in this motion is grotesque and antisemitic, as it implies that Israel is worthy of boycott because it is comparable to Nazi Germany.
“It’s bad enough that UCU is involved in boycotting the world’s only Jewish state, but to justify this on the basis that it is part of the same tradition as anti-Nazi boycotts is deplorable on every level.
“It’s Holocaust inversion – taking the Jewish people who were victims of Nazi genocide and making a ridiculous, offensive and deliberately hurtful attempt to compare the state that provides a refuge to Jews, including holocaust survivors, to the regime that commited the genocide against them.”
Goldsmiths University lecturer and UCU member David Hirsh added:”We fought hard against this antisemitism in UCU but we were defeated by the union activists, who had the collaboration of the officials, the acquiescence of the membership and, in the end, the blessing of the employment tribunal.
“Yes, there is a tradition of honourable boycotts but there is also a tradition of boycotting Jews, who have been excluded from all contact with Christians; from crafts and professions, from universities; who were ghettoised and excluded from whole countries. The Nazis tried to exclude Jews from humankind altogether.
“Reasons were always given, just as they are in UCU, why Jews, and only Jews, should be subjected to this treatment. Antisemites always think they are the victims of the Jews.”
UCU general secretary Jo Grady had been among those to back the pro-Palestine stance of her union, telling delegates at the conference:”“It’s a touchstone of my politics, and my understanding of socialism, internationalism & trade unionism, to always remember that none of us are free until all of us are free.
“Never is that clearer than when it comes to Palestine.”
The UCU has been at the centre of several disputes involving claims of antisemtism in the past, with Jewish members leaving in protest, or most famously when in 2011 Ronnie Fraser, a lecturer in mathematics, acting through his lawyer Anthony Julius, filed a claim in the Central London Employment Tribunal against the union.
Fraser claimed that the union had created a ‘hostile environment’ for him as a Jewish member, but it was dismissed as mostly unfounded by the tribunal in 2013.
Further motions at last week’s conference expressed “solidarity with Palestine” and in one instance replaced reference only to violence against Palestinians with recognition of violence also against Israelis.
But a motion on threats to academic freedom noted only that it was Israel who was responsible for these attacks, and included no reference to repeated attacks on the freedoms of Palestinians mounted by Hamas in Gaza or by the Palestinian Authority elsewhere in the West Bank.
Bizarrely, a further motion on the war in Sudan also managed to reference Israel.
Addressing the devastating conflict in Sudan a motion noted:”Regional states allied to Britain, including Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt and Israel have fuelled the crisis through support to the combatants. ”
The UCU was at the centre of further controversy over its policy over Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine. A motion, backed by Trotskyist Socialist Worker and Socialist Appeal members, accused President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of wanting the country to become an “armed, illiberal outpost of US imperialism” was passed.
Meanwhile an attempt by some delegates to delete the comment about Zelenskyy and including a section calling for a peaceful resolution to the conflict “based on freedom and independence for Ukraine” was defeated.
The motion did called on Russian troops to withdraw from Ukraine and noted Vladimir Putin’s troops had committed war crimes in the country.
UCU also came out in support of the controversial Stop The War Coalition.
Standing strong in Solidarity with Palestine #ucuTogether #Solidarity #FreePalestine https://t.co/gaLqita4dv
— PSC (@PSCupdates) May 28, 2023
Dr Anna Hájková, a historian at Warwick University later said “many good” UCU members were considering leaving the union over the row.
Dr Jo Grady the general secretary of the UCU, tweeted: “I didn’t agree with the motion that passed, and I know that neither do many UCU members.”
A spokesperson for UCU defended the pro-BDS motion saying:”UCU is proud to stand with the Palestinian people and our congress reaffirmed support for BDS as a peaceful campaigning tactic supported by Palestinian civil society.
“Any attempts by the government to prevent UK citizens, post-16 education staff, students or public bodies taking part are an attack on civil liberties. ”
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
