Britain 2005 - II

In her diary, Melanie Phillips quotes from a statement by Luciana Berger, co-convener of the Anti-Racism/Anti-Fascism Campaign of Britain's National Union of Students (NUS), accusing the union of standing passively by in the face of rising anti-Semitism:

This year, I have suffered baseless accusations of NUS being pro-Jewish and therefore biased because I tackled antisemitism where it stood. There was no defence of Jewish students by NEC members who heard those claims. This year, a comment was made in a Student Union meeting saying that burning down a synagogue is a rational act; when asked to comment NEC members could not even bring themselves to condemn that statement.

'Over five months ago serious complaints were lodged about antisemitic comments made by an NEC member in a public meeting; there is yet to be any form of official response to these complaints. When it was rumoured that I, a Jewish student, was standing for the NUS Presidency - whispers of antisemitism were used as a political football...At the beginning of this conference I stood here and warned you against the BNP presence in Blackpool. But it is within these walls I feel most afraid. We have talked for the past three days about NUS' values of equality, diversity and respect. In practice this could not be further from the truth.'