Friends of al-Aqsa at the FOSIS Palestine Conference

On Saturday 4th March, Friends of al-Aqsa and the Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS) co-hosted the annual FOSIS Palestine Conference at University College London (UCL). The conference aimed to mark 100 years since the Balfour Declaration, in which the British government promised to work towards the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine, […]

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NUS faces further challenge over anti-Semitism

Over the weekend, a feature in the Guardian examined how UK universities have been “urged to tackle [a] rising tide of antisemitism on campus”, interviewing students and documenting the spate of anti-Semitic graffiti previously reported by Student Rights. The piece included a quote from the National Union of Students (NUS) president, Malia Bouattia, in which […]

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Students discuss extremism at York University

On Tuesday, Student Rights’ National Organiser, Elliot Miller, was hosted by the York University Conservative Association as he gave a lecture on extremism and the Prevent Strategy at the university. Elliot examined many of the complaints from students about Prevent, seeking to debunk misunderstandings and make the case for Prevent when it comes to extremist […]

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The Telegraph: Universities monitored your emails long before Prevent – don’t believe the NUS’s fake news

King’s College London (KCL) has been criticised this week  for supposedly ‘spying on student’s emails’ in what has been described an outrageous invasion of their privacy. ​It is claimed that the Government’s counter-terrorism strategy, Prevent, which aims to stop people being drawn into terrorism, is the problem.The President of the National Union of Students (NUS), Malia […]

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Challenging Prevent at UCL

On Wednesday 30th September, Student Rights attended an event at University College London (UCL) entitled ‘Challenging Prevent: Defending our universities, communities and civil liberties’. The event formed part of the NUS’ launch of a Prevent helpline, whose purpose according to leaflets distributed at the event is to “support students and student union officers” and fight […]

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The Huffington Post: When It Comes To Anti-Semitism, The NUS Just Doesn’t Get It

With the release of the Home Affairs Select Committee’s (HASC) much publicised report concerning anti-Semitism in the UK, campus tensions facing Jewish students have once more become a pressing issue of public discourse. ​Amid the general rise of anti-Semitic incidents in the UK, the British press has notably covered alleged anti-Semitic behaviour within the National […]

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Home Affairs Committee report slams NUS leadership

Yesterday saw the release of the Home Affairs Select Committee’s (HASC) report into antisemitism in the UK, which included a significant section on campus antisemitism. While this section began by detailing the controversy around Oxford University Labour Club, as well as Baroness Royall’s report into the matter, the focus was on the National Union of […]

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Student Voice: Prevent and the NUS’ credibility gap on tackling extremism

Queen Mary student, Jacob Kishere, attended last month’s ‘Students not Suspects’ event at his university which saw NUS vice president, Shelly Asquith, criticised for encouraging students to ensure universities were unable to fulfill their legal duties around Prevent. Here, he gives his take on the positions taken by the speakers. All views are his own, […]

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The Sunday Times: Corbyn aide: Ignore anti-terror laws (£)

A senior member of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership campaign team has called on people to break anti-terrorism laws. In a recording obtained by The Sunday Times, Shelly Asquith dismissed the threat of “so-called Islamic extremism” and laid out a programme of “grassroots activism” to make Prevent, the government’s anti-terror strategy, “truly unworkable”. She stated: “Are we […]

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