Founded last summer, the ‘Students Not Suspects‘ campaign has now spent an academic year working to undermine Prevent, the government’s counter-radicalisation strategy, on university campuses. While students should of course be free to oppose and challenge policy, Student Rights has repeatedly criticised the campaign, which is led by high profile National Union of Students (NUS) […]
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Warwick student Palestine activist in antisemitism row
Over the weekend, Aysegul Gurbuz, a student at the University of Warwick and Labour councillor in Luton, was in the spotlight after a series of antisemitic tweets she had made were exposed. These revelations, which have seen Gurbuz resign, follow a series of scandals involving students and antisemitism, including allegations made against Oxford University Labour […]
Continue readingConcerns over ‘antisemitic’ play at York highlight wider issue
Update 05/04/2016: The risk assessment carried out by YUSU, obtained by a Freedom of Information request, has been seen by Student Rights, and it is worrying that no formal assessment of the play’s content appears to have been carried out. The student union assessment does not factor in the allegations of antisemitism surrounding the play, […]
Continue readingOxford anti-Semitism allegations highlight wider problem
UPDATE 21/03/2016: Brahma Mohanty, the OULC Disabilities Officer has resigned his position, accusing the society of forcing members “to subscribe to a radical ideology of division and isolation”. Mohanty took on roles with the university club to promote “access and diversity”, but now believes this ethos is not shared by other OULC members. He cited […]
Continue readingPreventing Prevent at Goldsmiths
On Monday, Goldsmiths College hosted the latest event in the National Union of Student’s (NUS) ‘Students Not Suspects’ tour, which aims to undermine the government’s counter-radicalisation strategy, Prevent. Once again, NUS Black Student’s Officer Malia Bouattia used the event to defend CAGE and shared a platform with the group’s Director of Outreach Moazzam Begg, despite […]
Continue readingConcerns raised about ethics at Bath
A blog post published last week, and highlighted by Harry’s Place, has shone fresh light on concerning academic practices at the University of Bath. Addressing research by Hilary Aked, a PhD student studying the ‘Israel lobby’, the blog claims an article written by Aked attacking a recent Israel advocacy day “used information provided in confidence […]
Continue readingNUS campaign materials endorse extremist groups
Today, activists from the National Union of Students (NUS) Welfare Campaign and NUS Black Students’ Campaign are taking part in a “national day of action” against Prevent, the government counter-radicalisation policy. Part of an ongoing effort to undermine attempts to challenge extremism on campus, this follows a number of events on the issue which have […]
Continue readingFOSIS work with MEND on Islamophobia campaign
Islamophobia Awareness Month (IAM) aims to raise awareness of anti-Muslim hate crime across the UK. Bigotry towards Muslims remains a problem at UK universities, and groups like the Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS) are right to highlight this serious issue. Student Rights has logged a number of anti-Muslim incidents at universities in the past, […]
Continue readingEx-student who fought against Islamic State banned from UCL (Update: UCLU reverse decision)
UPDATE: 16/11/2015: Following a high profile campaign by UCLU Kurdish Society, the Student Union has reversed their decision to ban Macer Gifford from speaking on campus. In a statement released today, UCLU said: “On Friday 13th November, UCL finally received a response from the police, stating that they felt it would be safe and legally […]
Continue readingMaryam Namazie barred from Warwick University (Update: Warwick SU reverse decision)
UPDATE 28/09/2015: Following widespread coverage of this story the Student Union at the University of Warwick has changed its decision and allowed Namazie to speak. In a statement released over the weekend, the union has said that: “Warwick SU has a process for assessing any potential risks or legal issues associated with any external speaker, […]
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