This might turn out to be a long blog – but hey, it will probably be my last! And if you don’t have much time, please just read the one but last paragraph!

I came into this job with great excitement. The first thing I did was to go along on a trip ran by ACTSA (Action for Southern Africa) to South Africa and Swaziland. I will never forget the sights I witnessed there along with other members of the NEC, young trade unionists and my wife, Gaby. I was inspired by the way in which a country transformed itself without the bloodbath that people were predicting at the time. I was inspired by a people who were not paralyzed with bitterness for the suffering that was imposed upon them. On the contrary, it was the way in which the victims of apartheid had transformed their suffering into hope that made the most lasting of impressions on me.

I also came home angry: Angry that in Swaziland, around 60% of the population are suffering from HIV/AIDs and that their autocratic King was doing nothing to help his people; he was far too busy building palaces for his 15 odd wives; Angry that millions of women are left powerless in a culture (pervasive over much of Africa) that often teaches them that they don’t have a right to say ‘no’ to the sexual advances of men; angry that a young girl in rural Swaziland orphaned by the epidemic, and receiving one meal a day in a humanitarian outpost, stood at a high risk of rape, because of a dangerous myth that sex with a virgin will cure a man of AIDs; angry that corruption was stopping money flowing to the overcrowded and underfunded state school we saw in the KwaZulu Natal, run by the most amazing teaching staff I have ever had the privilege to come across.

The land and people of Swaziland made a particular impression on me, and I hope to God that one day I can volunteer in some meaningful way to help the people living there. But in terms of NUS, I came back determined to put African issues on the student political map.

Stephen Brown and Ama Uzowuru did amazing work in getting ‘One Water’ out to campus shops. All the profits of this venture go towards quenching the thirst of millions of Africans. I tried, for my part, to roll out the first ever NUS National RAG week. It wasn’t perfect by any means. About 40 unions were interested, but because RAG weeks are scheduled so far in advance, only about 11 unions actually signed up to receive a pack. The money that was raised was supposed to be divided between the National Aids Trust and the newly formed South African Unions of Students to build capacity to support South African students affected by HIV/AIDS. In the end, because of various problems coordinating with SAUS, and because the funds raised we’re smaller than they would have been had 40 unions participated, all the money ended up with the NAT. But the real point of the endeavor was to raise awareness – and I think, on the campuses that the week was rolled out to – this objective was secured.

I still believe that RAG can be a political campaigning tool. Many more students want to be involved with RAG (which can involve ever society on a campus from the debating society to the kung fu club), than want to go on demos and occupations. So let them raise money around a political issue, and let’s raise issues in that way. I do sincerely hope that NUS continues to run national RAG weeks, because there was so much interest. And every year, it could get bigger and better.

I also pray that NUS will continue its good work with the AEGIS trust to campaign on the Darfur issue. As a Jew, with a collective memory of unspeakable crimes committed against us as a people, I feel particularly moved to act for Darfur. I will not allow our government to send back Darfuris to the land in which a genocide is being perpetrated against them without putting up a fight. For that reason, I was halfway down the M1, on my way to coordinate and stage an impromptu demonstration at Heathrow, where an asylum seeker was scheduled to be deported back to Sudan, when the sterling work of AEGIS students paid off. The government gave the asylum seeker in question a stay of leave, and I turned around at junction something or other, and came home. The student movement has to be prepared to mobilize at short notice on this issue. During the holocaust, ships full of Jewish refugees reached the shores of Western countries, only to be sent back to their deaths. We cannot commit this crime again.

On all these issues, I have been inspired by the unity of the NEC and by the leadership of all the full-timers. And on issues closer to student day to day life, I have been convinced by Gemma and Wes’ leadership in particular. In their hands, this union can once again become a union that is listened to and respected, a union that can deliver. There’s nothing wrong with being radical. I am radical. I hope you all are too. Gemma and Wes are radical. But the difference between their leadership and the leadership that the far-left in the student movement wants to impose upon us is this: Gemma and Wes are exemplars of reasoned, thought-out, joined up leadership. The left propose reactionary, shallow, black-and-white (rather than shades of grey) leadership with little or no relevance to the lives of students. The president, national secretary and vice-presidents of this union, with whom I have had a privilege of working and the vast majority of the NEC, have inspired me greatly and taught me that student politics can be relevant to actual students! I know! Shocking!

There has only been one reoccurring disappointment this year. I have been a co-convenor of the Anti-Racism Anti-Fascism campaign. And with hand on heart, I can only say that it has failed this year. It has failed because Ruqayyah and I have found it so hard to agree on the smallest of issues. When I stood up at this year’s conference, appalled by the fact that a so called ‘secularist’ had attacked the woman’s right to wear a hijjab, I meant it when I said that I will stand against the enemies of freedom-of-religion, that I will stand shoulder to shoulder with my Muslim brothers and sisters. I am committed to the fight against Islamaphobia. But I am constantly aware of two things: 1) Many non-Muslim black people, with whom I have spoken, feel that Ar/Af doesn’t concentrate enough on the racism that attacks them; There was nothing in our report and plan about racism targeted against non-Muslim people of Indian and Sri-Lankan descent, for instance. Ruqayyah assured me that the fight on Islamaphobia helps them too, as they are often attacked by people who mistake them for Muslims. When I discussed this with my Hindu friends, they said that this was not good enough. Surprisingly (!) they are more often attacked for being Indian Hindus than they are for being Muslim. We need to engage with these minorities who are systematically under-represented in the student political movement. 2) My second concern was that the dedication with which I fight all forms of racism was not met by others in Ar/Af in the fight against AntiSemitism.

I was bitterly disappointed when Ruqqayah sent a letter to George Galloway that technically fulfilled what was mandated of her by the NEC but that totally undermined in spirit, our criticism, which she voted against, of his glorification of Shiekh Hassan Nassralah, an openly antiSemitic and homophobic leader of a terrorist organization. I was bitterly disappointed when again and again George Woods presumed to represent the diverse opinions of world Jewry on one issue or another, when in fact the democratically elected communal bodies were not divided. It would be as facile as someone finding a Muslim who loved the invasion of Iraq, bringing him to an NEC meeting, and then saying, ‘look guys, Muslim opinion is divided, because I’ve just found a Muslim who doesn’t agree with his community!’

To fight the fascist BNP we need to work hand in hand both with Unite against fascism and Searchlight. It’s a crying shame that the sectarianism within Ar/Af stops this happening all too often.

I’m disgusted by those factions on the left whose criticism of Israel lead them directly to support policies and actions that directly impede the chances of Israel and the Palestinians coming to an agreement and coming to live besides one another in peace. I sometimes think that the left have some sort of anterior motive; it’s as if they have something to gain from the prolonging of the conflict, the conflict that causes so much suffering for all the people who live in the region. There is only one group that is both revolutionary left and consistently principled. The AWL may well raise damning criticisms of the state of Israel, some of which I agree with and some not, but they criticize injustice wherever they see it. Their passion, principle and consistency have inspired me.

Which brings me to my final point; I leave office at a time when the UCU is seriously considering a boycott on Israeli academics. I am shocked and sickened. This is a union that has not boycotted the academics of Sudan, Iran, or China. In the past it did not boycott the academics of Serbia. It has not boycotted the academics of Russia over the Chechnya Conflict and it has not boycotted American academics over their 'not doing enough' to stop the war on Iraq - Not that I would have supported any of the above ideas (academic freedom is a solution to the world's ills and not their cause). The UCU has chosen to adopt a double standard with regards to the State of Israel, a double standard that I see again and again from members of the far-left on the NEC and in the NUS at large. I know that Jewish students in the UK find this double standard to be threatening, and they are right. Why is the state of Israel worthy of such a boycott and not China (which is systematically cleansing itself of Falun Gong, and de facto funding the genocide in Darfur)? China is clearly much worse that Israel in terms of human rights. I can only guess that the difference between UCU’s treatment of China and Israel is down to the fact that Israel is the only Jewish state in the world. Is this antiSemitism? I find it hard to say, either way. Furthermore, I am concerned as a PhD student. How will our research suffer if we are not allowed to collaborate with some of the world's leading academics just because of the passport they hold and the a-political institution they work within? I am concerned as a human being who wants to see peace in the Middle East. Peace is never secured in silence. Peace is secured through dialogue. Yet the UCU is looking to silence people in the very region where dialogue is most needed. I am proud that the NUS have taken the right stance on this issue. And I pray that all those who read this blog will think to write to Sally Hunt at the UCU to express their concern.

I am proud to have been part of the leadership of this union; this union that defends all students in this country but which still takes a stance on the wider issues of the day, fights for the liberation of oppressed minorities, and stands in solidarity with the oppressed peoples in this world. And though there are people in this union who seek to make it ever more reactionary, and who seek to make divisions wider and solutions less realistic (perhaps in order to bring about their bloody revolution), at the moment the reasonable are winning: This union wants justice for students at home, peace for all people, and academic freedom. It’s a union I’m still proud to be a part of.

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