Comment: Omar Chowdhury responds to criticism

Omar Chowdhury is a third year History student at the University of Bristol. Last year he was elected SU BME Network chair, coming under fire for a comment he had previously made on a Bristruth. Now, he is running for Equality Liberation and Access officer in the ongoing SU Elections.

Yesterday, the issue was raised again surrounding comments that I made on social media in the past. I understand people’s concerns and would like to address them again while also clearing up some misconceptions about the situation.

In April 2018, I made a comment in which I told a Jewish student to “be like Israel and cease to exist.”

This was unacceptable, and I understand that they made Jewish students feel vulnerable. For context, these comments are two years old at the time of writing this article and were a year old at the time of my election as BME Network Chair. They were not made after my election.

I did not make those comments because the individual was Jewish

I had encountered the person in question before and had seen numerous comments that I found offensive. I made those comments in a moment of anger, and mentioned Israel because they had an Israeli flag filter on their profile picture at the time.

However, this was still antisemitic and wrong. This is why I publicly apologised, completely and unreservedly.

At the time I made those comments, I found jokes about Israel not existing funny. However, I later understood that my comments were deeply offensive, particularly to Jewish people, and I again apologise for and disavow them.

These are not the first problematic opinions I have had. In the past I was homophobic, transphobic, Islamophobic, misogynistic, fatphobic, and ableist. I have since worked hard to unlearn these sentiments as I have worked hard to unlearn Antisemitism.

In the time during and since my investigation, I did a huge amount of learning.

I did hours of research into antisemitism and the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I learned so much about antisemitism and since then I have continued to learn.

I actively took part in antisemitism training from the Union of Jewish Students (which I would recommend anyone to do) and I have worked on things to try and make life better for Jewish students, such as creating a detailed plan to create more Kosher flats and accommodating Kosher adherent students in catered accommodation.

It would be wrong for me to pretend that I have done no wrong this year.

The Jewish Society raised concerns about some of the events that the BME Network have done under my leadership, stating that they made Jewish students feel vulnerable, which I must also apologise for.

When it was raised, I reached out to Jsoc, and we have had some productive meetings to try and make amends. There was a breakdown in communication throughout the year, but I am proud to say that we have established an open communication channel to ensure that these issues do not happen again.

Some of the things I have been working on with Jsoc, like Antisemitism Awareness Week, have not managed to come to fruition yet, however, this is why I have put them into my manifesto for the election.

I am not asking for people to forget my past comments, I am just asking that you also look at the good things I have done.

I’ve supported LGBT+ History Month, secured multicultural food on campus, and helped to increase outreach to local disadvantaged students. I am glad I’ve been given the opportunity to show that I have learned, grown, and changed.

I am not the same person now that I was two years ago, as like most people, I have changed immensely during university. My opinions and my politics have changed and refined, including on Israel and Palestine, which are very different from before.

I will always celebrate students holding their representatives to account, even when it is against myself.

If anyone has ANY more questions or concerns, please approach me in person or message me on social media. There are no questions or topics that I am afraid to talk about. I want to be the kind of representative that people can approach and feel truly heard.

This situation has motivated me to make the kind of long-term systemic change so that the hostile environment of which I was part of does not continue, and I believe that my own journey, my own learning, and my own growth can be very valuable in educating people, which is exactly why I am running for ELA.

I fundamentally believe that people are capable of change and should be given that opportunity to atone if they choose to. I simply ask that you give me that same opportunity.

Voting in the SU elections closes at 9pm on March 12.

For more info on all the candidates and how to vote, click here.