The National Union of Students (NUS), which represents around 600 student union associations in higher education places across the UK, decided to back a call to boycott Israeli goods.
The NUS National Executive voted in favor of a motion entitled 'Justice for Palestine' by 19 votes in favor and 12 against. The text condemns Israel's actions in the West Bank and Gaza. It also accuses the Israeli military of "directly attacking the right to education in Gaza" and alleges that "UN schools and the Islamic University of Gaza were amongst the infrastructure Israel targeted during its assault on Gaza" last summer.
The adopted motion, which was voted in secret, explicitely endorses the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and mandates the student union leadership to "coordinate a nationwide student day of action to commemorate UN Palestine Solidarity Day on 29 November."
The NUS resolution also attacks the British government of complicity in Israel's actions by "supplying Israel with weaponry.
Britain's Union of Jewish Students (UJS) said the motion "divides student groups, undermines interfaith relations and suffocates progressive voices for peace on both sides." The UJS said it was "disturbing that supposed representatives of students throughout the UK have joined a movement that at the core is not progressive or constructive in supporting two states for two peoples."
The UJS also noted that despite claims made by the BDS movement that it does not target individuals, "Israeli individuals and academics have been blocked from delivering lectures on nothing to do with Israel or Palestine."