University at war over 'apartheid Israel' vote

Thousands of Muslim and Jewish students from across Britain will converge on Manchester University today for demonstrations over an attempt to brand Israel an apartheid state that has brought campus relations to "boiling point".

More than 1,000 students at the university are expected to cram into a student union meeting to vote on a motion which Jewish students claim could lead to their social and cultural societies being banned from campuses across Britain.

The motion, proposed by the union's anti-racism officer and supported by its Islamic Society – but opposed by the National Union of Students – calls for a boycott campaign against "Israel's apartheid regime" and condemns the Israeli government's human rights record.

Its supporters say it does not attack Jews or the existence of Israel but simply criticises the current Israeli government. Opponents claim it risks creating a climate of fear among Jewish students, and will lead to their societies being barred from campuses as racist organisations.

The dispute, which echoes tensions at last year's disastrous UN anti-racism conference in Durban, South Africa, will be played out today in the Academy, a Manchester University building normally reserved for concerts. The student union is not large enough to cope with the number of Manchester students wanting to vote.

Those library-card carrying union members who do get in are to be joined outside by hundreds more from other universities being bused to Manchester to demonstrate in support of both sides. With tensions on campus said by the chairman of Manchester Jewish Society, Daniel Sacker, to be "at boiling point", Greater Manchester Police are deploying officers around the building in what they hope will be a "low-key" operation.

The furore was started by a motion proposed by Omayma Al-Khaffaf, a third-year Middle Eastern studies student, and former member of the Islamic Society, who doubles as the union's anti-racism officer. It states that "anti-Zionism or criticism of Israel is not anti-Semitism" and asks the union to "promote the boycott of companies whose profits are being used to prop up the Israeli apartheid regime".

Although Ms Al-Khaffaf insists the motion is not intended as an attack on Jewish students, Mr Sacker – whose society has about 500 members at the university – said that if it passed it would effectively mean the union condoning calling Jewish students racists.

"If Israel becomes a dirty word and is associated as a racist and apartheid state, the Jewish Society that supports and promotes Israel would become a racist society. The union policy against racism means there is a good chance the Jewish Society would be banned.

"The only thing this motion will do is create tensions on campus," he added. "The Jewish community in Greater Manchester is concerned about this because there is worry that it will spread out to the population of Manchester." Jewish students from Leeds, Birmingham and London will demonstrate at the meeting today as will Muslim students supporting Ms Al-Khaffaf.

The Union of Jewish Students claims that if the motion succeeds it will create a "domino effect" with other "inflammatory" resolutions introduced at all universities with a Jewish presence. There was an attempt to ban Zionist organisations in Manchester in 1996, said Mr Sacker, and Jewish students had already been unsettled when the extreme Islamic Al-Muhajiroun organisation targeted the university last autumn.

"This motion will create an environment on campus where Jewish students cannot feel safe. Manchester is a seen as a flagship Jewish society and if it is targeted the same will happen elsewhere. Many Jewish students feel threatened just because they are Jewish."

Ms Al-Khaffaf said that as the union's anti-racism officer she took Jewish students' concern very seriously. "I understand they are concerned, but when it comes to human rights we can't stay silent because we are afraid we are going to be called racist. We are not attacking the Jewish people, Jewish students or the existence of the state of Israel. The motion is solely to do with human rights violations the Palestinian people face every day."