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Huge step backward for National Union of Students

Infinite Chaos

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Malia Bouattia has in her short few years as a "student"


  1. Prevented the NUS passing a motion that condemned Islamic State (She did later support a watered down version)
  2. Described Birmingham University as "something of a Zionist outpost"
  3. Campaigned as part of the "Why Is My Curriculum White?" movement.

And now, she has been elected as president of the National Union of Students (NUS)I hope the current protests at Oxford and Cambridge Universities to walk away from the NUS will happen and will also take other universities away from the NUS.

Worse still, CAGE congratulated her election in a tweet.
 
Malia Bouattia has in her short few years as a "student"


  1. Prevented the NUS passing a motion that condemned Islamic State (She did later support a watered down version)
  2. Described Birmingham University as "something of a Zionist outpost"
  3. Campaigned as part of the "Why Is My Curriculum White?" movement.

And now, she has been elected as president of the National Union of Students (NUS)I hope the current protests at Oxford and Cambridge Universities to walk away from the NUS will happen and will also take other universities away from the NUS.

Worse still, CAGE congratulated her election in a tweet.

It's not the sort of organization I'd want to be affiliated with.
 
Malia Bouattia has in her short few years as a "student"


  1. Prevented the NUS passing a motion that condemned Islamic State (She did later support a watered down version)
  2. Described Birmingham University as "something of a Zionist outpost"
  3. Campaigned as part of the "Why Is My Curriculum White?" movement.

And now, she has been elected as president of the National Union of Students (NUS)I hope the current protests at Oxford and Cambridge Universities to walk away from the NUS will happen and will also take other universities away from the NUS.

Worse still, CAGE congratulated her election in a tweet.

She one of those kids from African or Middle Eastern countries who win a scholarship and that's why their there?
 
She one of those kids from African or Middle Eastern countries who win a scholarship and that's why their there?

Her family escaped persecution in Algeria.

"I saw a country ripped apart by terror and was forced into exile," she explained, adding: “I know too well the damage done by racism and persecution."
She explained how her university lecturer father was almost killed by a bomb and her school had been attacked by gun-wielding militia, causing her family to flee. Link.

Seems her response to this past in Algeria is to support all the anti-Israel motions in the student body that she could. Then there is the infamous block on a resolution against ISIS in 2014... :doh
 
Her family escaped persecution in Algeria.



Seems her response to this past in Algeria is to support all the anti-Israel motions in the student body that she could. Then there is the infamous block on a resolution against ISIS in 2014... :doh

I'm sure Andy will be along soon saying it's all part of growing up, and trivialise the issue. When I read it yesterday I couldn't quite believe my eyes.
 
Her family escaped persecution in Algeria.



Seems her response to this past in Algeria is to support all the anti-Israel motions in the student body that she could. Then there is the infamous block on a resolution against ISIS in 2014... :doh

I was going to say her name sounded Algerian.

Algeria has a virulent Islamist terrorist movement which has been fighting the Army for years, so it's unsuprising that'd she'd be more sympathetic to other Islamist groups.
 
Malia Bouattia has in her short few years as a "student"


  1. Prevented the NUS passing a motion that condemned Islamic State (She did later support a watered down version)
  2. Described Birmingham University as "something of a Zionist outpost"
  3. Campaigned as part of the "Why Is My Curriculum White?" movement.

And now, she has been elected as president of the National Union of Students (NUS)I hope the current protests at Oxford and Cambridge Universities to walk away from the NUS will happen and will also take other universities away from the NUS.

Worse still, CAGE congratulated her election in a tweet.

Some sense at last:University students threaten to split from NUS - University students threaten to split from NUS - BBC News
 
Malia Bouattia has in her short few years as a "student"


  1. Prevented the NUS passing a motion that condemned Islamic State (She did later support a watered down version)
  2. Described Birmingham University as "something of a Zionist outpost"
  3. Campaigned as part of the "Why Is My Curriculum White?" movement.

And now, she has been elected as president of the National Union of Students (NUS)I hope the current protests at Oxford and Cambridge Universities to walk away from the NUS will happen and will also take other universities away from the NUS.

Where are you getting your info from IC? She specifically and enthusiastically promoted a condemnation of ISIS. In her own words:
Specifically, on the claims that I refused to condemn Isis: two years ago I delayed a National Executive Council motion condemning Isis – but that was because of its wording, not because of its intent. Its language appeared to condemn all Muslims, not just the terror group. Once it was worded correctly I proposed and wholly supported the motion.

Context of the zionist comments, again in her own words:
There is no place for antisemitism in the student movement, or in society. If any of my previous discourse has been interpreted otherwise, such as comments I once made about Zionism within the media, I will revise it to ensure there is no room for confusion. I was being critical of media outlets that unquestioningly support Israel’s actions and maltreatment of Palestinians, I was not talking about the media as a whole, or repeating despicable antisemitic prejudice.

I am not an antisemitic ISIS sympathiser

Worse still, CAGE congratulated her election in a tweet.
Do we judge Cameron by the fact that Putin sent him a message of congratulations on his general election victory?

I don't know very much about this young woman, but I'm more likely to base my opinion on what she actually says, rather than on what right-wing media outlets tell us she said.
 
Where are you getting your info from IC? She specifically and enthusiastically promoted a condemnation of ISIS. In her own words:

Context of the zionist comments, again

It's actually incredibly hard to find the IS condemnation on the NUS website Andy, I checked before posting the OP.

It's also easier to find her condemnation of Birmingham as a zionist outpost than to find her condemnation of antisemitism - and I'm not even talking about using "right wing media outlets."

I guess you'll ask me to post them and I will - as soon as I have free time to do it.

Question is, I do that and then what?
 
It's actually incredibly hard to find the IS condemnation on the NUS website Andy, I checked before posting the OP.

It's also easier to find her condemnation of Birmingham as a zionist outpost than to find her condemnation of antisemitism - and I'm not even talking about using "right wing media outlets."
Is the Guardian website so difficult to locate?

I guess you'll ask me to post them and I will - as soon as I have free time to do it.

Question is, I do that and then what?
Honestly IC, don't bother on my account. Of the things you've quoted I can't see anything wrong with pointing out that you can condemn the ideology of Zionism without being antisemitic, just as you can condemn Islamism without being Islamophobic.

I posted her very public and unequivocal condemnation of ISIS.

I don't know anything about the Why Is My Curriculum White? movement, although I'd agree with the premise, as in my experience the education I received was embarrassingly white.
 
Is the Guardian website so difficult to locate?

I didn't say her condemnation, it is easily spoken by her and means nothing when you view it against all her previous actions and words. I said the NUS website - as it was an NUS motion.

Honestly IC, don't bother on my account. Of the things you've quoted I can't see anything wrong with pointing out that you can condemn the ideology of Zionism without being antisemitic, just as you can condemn Islamism without being Islamophobic.

You could have a search of actions she's been involved with in her past Andy

I posted her very public and unequivocal condemnation of ISIS.

Yes, but not the one she apparently supported after blocking the first motion by the NUS. that's what I'm talking about - her words come across as insincere. I almost (also) feel like I'm watching a child of the "History Man" or worse still, "Militant Tendency" but with regard to the ME as opposed to UK governance and politics.

I don't know anything about the Why Is My Curriculum White? movement, although I'd agree with the premise, as in my experience the education I received was embarrassingly white.

As a black person, I feel incredibly embarrassed just thinking "why is my curriculum white" especially at university. Anyhow, if I was studying in China I would expect a largely chinese curriculum in some areas (and not in the sciences and arts) and if I were in Peru, I would expect a largely peruvian curriculum in some areas (and not in the sciences and arts).

It's just so... petty.
 
It's been known for a while that if you want to be antisemitic while not sounding (to yourself perhaps) like an antisemite all you have to do is swap the word "Jews" with "Zionists".
The "Zionists" are controlling our media. The "Zionists" are controlling our banks. But hey, who are you to say I can't criticize Israel? :lol:
 
Is the Guardian website so difficult to locate?

Honestly IC, don't bother on my account. Of the things you've quoted I can't see anything wrong with pointing out that you can condemn the ideology of Zionism without being antisemitic, just as you can condemn Islamism without being Islamophobic.

I posted her very public and unequivocal condemnation of ISIS.

I don't know anything about the Why Is My Curriculum White? movement, although I'd agree with the premise, as in my experience the education I received was embarrassingly white.

"Embarrassingly white" ? How cringe worthy to say such a thing.
 
It's been known for a while that if you want to be antisemitic while not sounding (to yourself perhaps) like an antisemite all you have to do is swap the word "Jews" with "Zionists".
The "Zionists" are controlling our media. The "Zionists" are controlling our banks. But hey, who are you to say I can't criticize Israel? :lol:
What is so silly with people pursuing that take is the general incomprehension of the terms Zionism and Zionist.

Zionism is and was the undertaking of not only forming a Jewish homeland (in Israel or British Palestine or whatever one wanted to call it) but also to maintain it, once established. So being anti-Zionist of necessity involves the eradication of said homeland.

And there the circle closes in that being of course anti-semitism.

Too many labels around, too little understanding of their actual meaning and too much carelessness in their application.
 
What is so silly with people pursuing that take is the general incomprehension of the terms Zionism and Zionist.

Zionism is and was the undertaking of not only forming a Jewish homeland (in Israel or British Palestine or whatever one wanted to call it) but also to maintain it, once established. So being anti-Zionist of necessity involves the eradication of said homeland.

And there the circle closes in that being of course anti-semitism.

The problem with that position is the existence of a strong, if minoritarian, Jewish anti-Zionist movement in Israel and beyond.
 
"Embarrassingly white" ? How cringe worthy to say such a thing.

If you're going to throw around insults, you might learn to spell them correctly.

What is cringeworthy is, as was the case throughout my education, teaching about the 'discovery' of the Americas while ignoring the indigenous cultures that pre-dated Columbus; or learning about great figures such as Florence Nightingale whilst ignoring Mary Seacole; or learning about the wealth and influence of the East India Company whilst ignoring its repression of the indigenous Indians; or learning about the abolition of slavery concentrating on the likes of Wilberforce whilst leaving Olaudah Equiano, Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass out of the narrative.

If you're not embarrassed by such ideological and ethnocentric omissions then you have something faulty in your conscience.
 
The problem with that position is the existence of a strong, if minoritarian, Jewish anti-Zionist movement in Israel and beyond.
Oh indeed, I've come across them and with me being in Israel at that. I mean at the time. Not an intense encounter, I'll admit, since it was infrequent and even then brief.

Nevertheless I heard all sorts of funny spins in response to my argument that without the existing state none of them would probably be there.
 
If you're going to throw around insults, you might learn to spell them correctly.

What is cringeworthy is, as was the case throughout my education, teaching about the 'discovery' of the Americas while ignoring the indigenous cultures that pre-dated Columbus; or learning about great figures such as Florence Nightingale whilst ignoring Mary Seacole; or learning about the wealth and influence of the East India Company whilst ignoring its repression of the indigenous Indians; or learning about the abolition of slavery concentrating on the likes of Wilberforce whilst leaving Olaudah Equiano, Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass out of the narrative.

If you're not embarrassed by such ideological and ethnocentric omissions then you have something faulty in your conscience.

Become the norm for you and your ilk, to make things personal. What is wrong with "cringe " ? There will always be something missed in history lessons, and someone thinking some other characters should have been added. Nothing new to that. It still amounts to an embarrassment by suggesting a curriculum is "too white ". It was like the pathetic idea of protests showing chained up in London, apologising for slavery. That said, coming from you it is no surprise. Furthermore, there is a white guilt thread going on, that'll be right up your street.
 
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~ If you're not embarrassed by such ideological and ethnocentric omissions then you have something faulty in your conscience.

I didn't have school lessons which focused only on the european perspective and this was the 1970's in Cardiff and then Suffolk very early 80's. I think the problem is taking one or two examples (either mine or yours) and then extending that to the wider curriculum. In cardiff we had trips to Liverpool's museum of slavery and similar which added to what we were exploring about UK history.

The problem is when a culture's history is seen as from one perspective or another rather than from a unified perspective. The phrase "too white" does make me cringe though. In the context of degree study as this is where the original point comes from - inquiring minds usually are free to follow and explore different perspectives on a subject so considering a curriculum is too white says more about the students Ms Bouattia is rousing than the tutors who lecture on the subjects or curricula discussed.
 
I didn't have school lessons which focused only on the european perspective and this was the 1970's in Cardiff and then Suffolk very early 80's. I think the problem is taking one or two examples (either mine or yours) and then extending that to the wider curriculum. In cardiff we had trips to Liverpool's museum of slavery and similar which added to what we were exploring about UK history.

The problem is when a culture's history is seen as from one perspective or another rather than from a unified perspective. The phrase "too white" does make me cringe though. In the context of degree study as this is where the original point comes from - inquiring minds usually are free to follow and explore different perspectives on a subject so considering a curriculum is too white says more about the students Ms Bouattia is rousing than the tutors who lecture on the subjects or curricula discussed.

You may be correct about modern curricula, I wouldn't know, I haven't had any first-hand experience of UK education for some considerable time. My experience is drawn from the Seventies. You may have had a very different, more cosmopolitan education than I did in rural North Yorkshire. Slavery certainly barely made it into our syllabus. Imperialism, not at all.
 
You may be correct about modern curricula, I wouldn't know, I haven't had any first-hand experience of UK education for some considerable time. My experience is drawn from the Seventies. You may have had a very different, more cosmopolitan education than I did in rural North Yorkshire. Slavery certainly barely made it into our syllabus. Imperialism, not at all.

Should I take that as a compliment as I went to school in the 70's too - I have the embarrassing pics of huge afros, supersized flared trousers and high heels to go with it. Maybe schooling in North Yorkshire was more rudimentary - there was always that old joke about needing a passport to enter Yorkshire.
 
Malia Bouattia has in her short few years as a "student"


  1. Prevented the NUS passing a motion that condemned Islamic State (She did later support a watered down version)
  2. Described Birmingham University as "something of a Zionist outpost"
  3. Campaigned as part of the "Why Is My Curriculum White?" movement.

And now, she has been elected as president of the National Union of Students (NUS)I hope the current protests at Oxford and Cambridge Universities to walk away from the NUS will happen and will also take other universities away from the NUS.

Worse still, CAGE congratulated her election in a tweet.

They are so influential that most have never heard of them. Why would students need a Union, they provide no serve other than to provide a few radicals a false air of legitimacy. They are Students and as such are not yet qualified to dictate to the rest of the world what is right or wrong or how things should be done.
 
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