The Friends of Israel Society at Manchester University has hit back at a proposed motion of the University of Manchester Student Union (UMSU). The motion contains a litany of anti-Israel allegations and supports BDS against Israel and amplifying the voices of Palestinians.

The allegations include that “the Palestinian people have been subjected to colonisation and genocide for over 76 years”; that Israel practices ethnic cleansing; and that “Israel, in its entirety, is an apartheid settler-colonial state committing ongoing genocide against Palestinians”.

The motion also claims that “Starting 7th October 2023, the Israeli state has committed a genocide and crimes against humanity in Gaza, including collective punishment and ethnic cleansing.”  It says nothing about Palestinian atrocities on 7 October, but appears to justify Hamas’s actions as a “right to resist occupation.”

UMSU has postponed the vote on the motion while it takes legal advice.

UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) assisted the Friends of Israel Society to formulate a letter setting out why the motion and UMSU’s procedure are unlawful:

1. UMSU’s procedure does not appear to allow opponents of the motion a fair opportunity to counter the many false and one-sided allegations in the motion by a communication circulated to students before they vote on it. According to advice by leading barrister, Christopher McCall KC given to and adopted by the National Union of Students (NUS), student unions are permitted to arrange motions on political issues, provided they further the union’s proper educational purpose; but in order to further this purpose, they must be conducted in a balanced and non-partisan manner, ensuring a fair opportunity for different viewpoints to be expressed.
2. The motion effectively promotes a BDS campaign. It calls on the University to cut all ties with Israel, end exchange programmes with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, cut joint research programmes with Tel Aviv University and divest from shareholdings in companies linked to Israel. It endorses earlier, unlawful BDS motions without qualification, implying that they were lawful and proper, and that they can and should be reaffirmed and implemented – even though UMSU had rightly accepted that the earlier motions should not be put into effect after receiving legal advice that it would be unlawful to do so.
3. The motion provides for UMSU to fund amplifying the voices of Palestinians, and campaigns to cut ties with Israel and adopt BDS. This would constitute unlawful discrimination against students with ethnicities other than Palestinian and/or philosophical beliefs that do not favour the Palestinian cause, in breach of the Equality Act 2010. It would also result in unfair allocations of funding to different societies in breach of section 22 of the Education Act 1994.

The Friends of Israel Society has asked UMSU tor confirmation that UMSU will post their response to the motion and circulate a link to it to all students in advance of voting on the motion. The Society have asked for three weeks from the date this is confirmed to give them a fair opportunity to prepare their response

Naomi Bookarsh, President of the Israel Society, commented: “Despite our concerns about this deeply troubling motion, the students’ union proceeded with discussions on the Solidarity with Palestine policy. Prior to the assembly, they invited us to a meeting where we voiced our concerns. While they assured us that the policy’s demands cannot be enforced due to the union’s charitable status, they also acknowledged that its only real impact would be fostering intimidation, an unwelcoming atmosphere, and hostility toward Jewish students and those who proudly support Israel. They are trying to create an environment where you have to disavow Israel and your identity to be accepted. We were given no real opportunity to object the motion and were overwhelmingly outnumbered when attempting to propose amendments. This is not the inclusive university experience I expected and no longer a place where I feel comfortable or safe.”

Jonathan Turner, Chief Executive of UKLFI, said “The Student Union’s procedure is highly unsatisfactory and the motion is clearly an attempt to use the Union to promote a political campaign outside its charitable objects. The whole exercise is unlawful, quite apart from the outrageous falsity of the allegations in the motion.”