Daily Mail: Fears raised over Islamic radicalisation at British universities after students vote to back Jihadi John apologists over anti-terror bill
By Martin Robinson
4th May 2015
The National Union of Students has been accused of backing 'terrorist apologists' after endorsing the controversial Islamist civil rights group who called Jihadi John a 'beautiful young man'.
The NUS has agreed to oppose the Government's counter-terrorism bill with the help of Cage, the group who supported Mohammed Emwazi in the years before he joined Islamic State.
At its 2015 conference delegates passed the motion, apparently without discussion, so they could save time - a decision that has raised fears of radicalisation at British universities.
Last week NUS committed itself to 'publicly oppose the Counter Terrorism and Security Act, for the NUS President to issue a public statement condemning the PREVENT Strategy and the Government's Counter-Terrorism and Security Act, and alongside civil liberties groups including CAGE, lobby the government to repeal it immediately'.
Its agenda went on: 'The problem with e.g. ISIS/IS isn't that it's radical, but that it's radically reactionary and oppressive. Demonising "radicalisation" and "extremism" can and is being used to target anyone who dissents from the unjust, oppressive and exploitative state of society'.
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March 6, 2018 at 4:02 pm
Far left masked anarchists violently shut down libertarian event at King’s College London
On 5 March 2018, the King’s College Libertarian Society attempted to host an event featuring Israeli speaker Yaron Brook of the Ayn Rand Institute and controversial YouTube vlogger ‘Sargon of Akkad’ (Carl Benjamin). Both speakers were due to talk about freedom of expression as well as ‘objectivism’, the libertarian philosophy created by Russian-American author Ayn Rand. The protest group set up on Facebook called for the speakers to be no-platformed and described them as ‘white supremacists’, ‘neo-fascists’, ‘nazis’ and ‘alt-right’. Off-campus groups, including black-clad activists from the hardline “left-wing, anti-fascist” street movement Antifa, were also present. Unlike the student societies, Antifa violently shut down the event and forced it to be cancelled. The organisers of the event faced other institutional obstacles. The appalling scenes at KCL last night are evidence of an encroaching culture of intolerance and hostility towards free speech on university campuses in Britain.
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February 14, 2018 at 11:25 am
Anti-Israel activists intimidate students at King’s College London
On Monday 12 February, former Israeli Deputy Prime Minister and Likud Party politician Dan Meridor gave a speech entitled ‘Threats and Challenges’ to students at the Strand Campus of King’s College London (KCL). This event, which was jointly organised by The Pinsker Centre and the KCL and City University Israel Societies, was met with vocal protests by students and activists affiliated to anti-Israel groups. Video footage shows how a crowd of around sixty protestors waved placards and sought to disrupt the event by screaming loudly outside the entrance to the lecture room where Meridor was speaking. Some protestors were reported to have photographed members of the audience leaving the room. The Union of Jewish Students (UJS) condemned what it called “disgraceful scenes”, and the President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews claimed that he would be in contact with the Principal of KCL to “gain assurances that there will be no repeat”. We hope that KCL can fully ensure that future speakers, Israeli or otherwise, are not subject to similar attempts at disruption in future, nor their audience subject to unacceptable levels of hostility and intimidation.
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January 23, 2018 at 5:00 pm
UK Government pledges to fund student trips to Auschwitz to combat anti-Semitism
In the lead up to Holocaust Memorial Day 2018, the UK government has announced that it will partner with the Union of Jewish Students (UJS) and the Holocaust Education Trust (HET) in sending 200 university students from across the UK to Auschwitz-Birkenau, the former Nazi extermination camp in Poland. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Department for Education have pledged to devote £144,000 to the project. They aim to train participants so that they can educate fellow students about anti-Semitism when they return to UK campuses. Student Rights is extremely supportive of the government’s decision to support students in this way. We hope it has a tangible impact at all levels of student life across the UK.
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