The non-Zionist pro-Palestinian Israeli who wants to lead Jewish students in Britain
- Text by Eran Cohen
First up let’s get a few things straight about me: My name is Eran Cohen, I’m Jewish (you’d never have guessed, right?) and I’m originally from Israel.
My family moved to the UK when I was about ten-years-old and aside from a year or two back in the Holy Land, I’ve been living in England ever since.
I’m a religious Liberal Jew with a secular background, and my family has a diverse range of political beliefs, especially when it comes to Israel-Palestine.
For me this means supporting the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), a deeply unpopular opinion for an Israeli Jew to have, both here and in Israel.
So now you know a little bit about me, I hope that the following will make sense and carry just a little bit of authority.
There are around 9,000 students who identify as Jewish in the UK and Ireland, according to the UJS, and it aims to represent them all. Right now it doesn’t.
The thing is, the UJS is a cross-communal organisation, claiming to unite Jewish students whether they are “reform, orthodox, secular, religious, left, right.”
However, I’d argue that the UJS is also currently an explicitly Zionist organisation, receiving a significant (if not major) amount of its funding from the United Jewish Israel Appeal (UJIA).
UJIA’s mission is to strengthen young Jewish people’s identity with Israel; that is, to instil in us a sense of national identity for a country in which we do not live and that many of us may have no connection to. Yes you can be Jewish, and yes you can be a Zionist, but they are not the same. Or you can be like me: Jewish, Israeli, but by no means a Zionist.
Though cross-communal on paper, in my experience the UJS and university Jewish Societies (JSocs, for which the UJS acts as an umbrella organisation) tend alienate those of us with alternative and non-Zionist views. This problem isn’t unique to the UJS; it’s seen across the wider Jewish community in the UK and abroad too.
There has been some progress, we have a situation now where young Jews may be questioning Israeli commitment to peace, but have not yet begun to question the more basic assumption that Zionism is good for the Jews. Hence the thought process, “Jewish societies are for proper Jews; proper Jews are Zionists; non-Zionist Jews do not belong in JSocs.”
The UJS is also committed to fighting the BDS movement, which is a non-violent way to put pressure on Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian territories. To be fair, the UJS also funds important services like regular Friday night dinners (otherwise known as Shabbat dinners) for Jewish students and the fantastic #labelfree campaign.
The problem is that according to recent surveys, over 70% of British Jews oppose the occupation, and 31% of us would not consider ourselves Zionist (10% were not sure). If you extrapolate these findings from the general Jewish population to the student one (which seems reasonable to me, as most university-aged students are unlikely to stray far from their families’ political views and in fact tend to be more progressive than their parents), it is strange that the UJS campaigns so hard to defend Israel and its policies when 41% of students are either directly opposed to such support, or at the very least are not sure about it.
This year, we decided to do something about it by engaging directly with UJS democracy (which, incidentally, is the only democracy in the British Jewish community) and put someone up to represent our views to the student community. For my sins, that person is me.
My hope is to become president in order to open up the debate within the community, and to create a space where the voices of 30-41% of Jewish students who aren’t uncritical supporters of Israel can be heard.
As a president I would aim to represent everyone equally, and I believe that in this case that might mean a need for the UJS to move away from a pro-Israel to a more neutral footing, where it doesn’t alienate either Zionist or non-Zionist students. If this happens, it will be a radical shift for such an organisation, as very few (I can’t think of any, actually) Jewish community organisations take a neutral stance on this issue. This can only be a good thing.
When we’ve dealt with that, I want the UJS to begin focusing on more immediate problems that students face: the threat of the Teaching and Excellence Framework lifting the tuition fees cap, the rising instances of xenophobia, racism and anti-Semitism from the emboldened far-right, and supporting immigrants and refugees (which most British Jews are descended from, either recently or from the 19th century).
There’s plenty of work to do, and I’m raring to get started.
Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
Latest on Huck
Barry Keoghan, Franz Rogowski and Andrea Arnold on ‘Bird’
The new issue of Little White Lies brings Andrea Arnold’s sixth feature to life with a thematic voyage down the Thames estuary.
Written by: Maisy Hunter
“A party is a microcosm of a nation”: Caleb Femi on the decline of the house party
To celebrate the publication of his new collection ‘The Wickedest’, Isaac Muk caught up with Femi to talk more about the work, the future of the shoobs, and discuss why having it large on a Saturday night should be cherished.
Written by: Isaac Muk
Celebrating 20 years of The Mighty Boosh
A new exhibition takes a look behind the scenes of the iconic show two decades after its BBC3 premiere.
Written by: Isaac Muk
We Run Mountains: Black Trail Runners tackle Infinite Trails
Soaking up the altitude and adrenaline at Europe’s flagship trail running event, high in the Austrian Alps, with three rising British runners of colour.
Written by: Phil Young
The organisation levelling the playing field in the music industry
Founded in 2022, The Name Game is committed to helping female, non-binary and trans people navigate the industry.
Written by: Djené Kaba
Vibrant, rebellious portraits of young Cubans
A new photobook captures the young people redefining Cuban identity amidst increased economic and political turbulence on the Caribbean island.
Written by: Isaac Muk