On Thursday 13 March, the Edinburgh University Student Association (EUSA) ballot for the motion on Jewish History and Culture Week (JHCW) closed.
The motion failed to pass, with 41 per cent of the 858 students who voted in favour of the motion.
The motion had been created by the Edinburgh University Jewish Society (JSoc) after the society ran a JHCW in January independently from EUSA. JSoc described itself to The Student as a religious and cultural representative organisation with no political affiliation. The Week included a Bat Mitzvah for a JSoc member and a talk from a Holocaust survivor, run in collaboration with History Society. Many JSoc members were left “shocked and upset” at the result of the motion.
Leading up to the vote, Kehilla, a society which describes itself as “Jewish students of the University of Edinburgh in solidarity with Palestine” posted a statement on Instagram urging students to vote against the motion. In the post, they emphasised that while they supported the concept of a JHCW, they could not accept the motion due to the amendments they submitted being rejected.
Kehilla submitted three amendments to the motion which aimed to ensure that JSoc would not be the only society organising JHCW; expanded the scope of a clause on raising awareness of antisemitism to also include raising awareness of other issues facing Jewish students; and deleted a clause which affiliated JHCW with the Union of Jewish Students (UJS) and the Community Service Trust (CST).
When asked why JSoc voted against these amendments, a former president of JSoc emphasised to The Student that it was due to the amendment seeking to block the involvement of the CST and USJ. He explained: “(UJS) provide JSoc with vital logistical and financial support – as anyone who has tried to sustain a Kosher diet in Scotland will tell you, it’s pretty expensive… CST is a mainstream voluntary security organisation that protects Jewish events around the country. Police Scotland advice is that any Jewish event on campus should consult with CST, and they work closely with the government, police and universities to combat antisemitism.”
Another member of JSoc, who wished to remain anonymous, explained that as the only Jewish Society affiliated with EUSA on campus, they were the only society which would be able to effectively coordinate the JHCW with EUSA.
All JSoc members The Student spoke with emphasised that they would welcome any student or society who wished to be involved, including Kehilla.
The JSoc member further clarified that JSoc did not necessarily oppose the amendment on expanding the clause on awareness, however, EUSA regulations mean that amendments cannot be individually voted on and must be either wholly accepted or rejected.
Speaking to The Student, Kehilla stated: “Though the motion was positioned as politically neutral by JSoc, their rejection of the amendments demonstrates a concerted political motive, attempting to assimilate explicitly Zionist organisations (i.e. UJS and CST) into celebrations of Jewish history and culture.”
When asked for comment, UJS stated, “It is disappointing to see the Edinburgh Kehillah mischaracterise UJS in a way that disregards the diversity of Jewish student voices. UJS is proudly cross-communal and for all Jewish students. UJS also firmly upholds the principle that no Jewish student should be excluded from campus spaces based on their political views.
“Attempts to reduce Jewish student representation erases the complexity of Jewish identity, and risks marginalising those we represent. Our commitment remains to ensuring that all Jewish students feel safe, supported, and empowered on campus.”
The former JSoc president refuted claims that UJS and CST are “racist Zionist organisations” and emphasised “Our members’ political beliefs stretch across the spectrum of opinion, which we absolutely encourage! Everyone is welcome at JSoc, and so we work to be an apolitical society.”
Discussing the UJS website’s “Digital Israel Portal,” which leads to informational pages and opportunities for “Birthright” trips to Israel, an anonymous JSoc member argued that UJS is a democratic organisation and “any Jewish student could go to a UJS conference and propose a motion to remove that Israel portal, if Kehilla as a political organisation doesn’t like the portal, they can and should, and I would encourage them, to get involved in their representative body and change it.”
Recently, UJS signed a statement taking a “stand against anti-Zionist Jewish groups and their damage to our Jewish community.”
Kehilla further criticised CST for “racially profiling Arab students” and “stoking up fears around antisemitism with extremely questionable reporting on antisemitism (i.e. considering every time there’s a Palestine protest an antisemitic incident).”
The CST “Antisemitic Incidents Report 2024” stated: “It would not be acceptable to define all anti-Israel speech and action as antisemitic. Nevertheless, it cannot be ignored that contemporary antisemitism can occur in the context of, or be accompanied by, extreme feelings over the Israel/Palestine conflict.”
The report gives examples, including comparing Israel to Nazi Germany as antisemitic but comparing Israel to apartheid South Africa as not inherently antisemitic. CST recorded a 117 per cent increase in antisemitic incidents in the 2023/2024 academic year.
Furthermore, Kehilla asserts that Jewish students “do not need a private security firm to keep Jews safe.”
When asked for comment, CST stated: “CST explicitly trains our volunteer security officers not to profile people along racial and religious grounds – quite apart from the ethics of doing so, it is bad security to racially profile people as anti-Jewish terrorists can be of any colour or ethnicity.
We do not record pro-Palestinian protests as antisemitic incidents and to suggest otherwise is completely untrue.”
JSoc members stated that they would not pursue another motion via EUSA, describing the experience as “bruising.” Despite this, they plan to organise another JHCW next year and encourage everyone to participate. Kehilla said it “wants to look into sustainable options for a Jewish culture and history week based in collaboration and solidarity with other causes, which denies the cooperation of Jewish identity into Zionism, and celebrates the diversity and breadth of Jewish existence in the diaspora.”
“Old College Quadrangle, North Side, Edinburgh University” by dun_deagh is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
