Petition launched to force General Assembly following Israel Boycott

It needs 2 per cent of students to sign it


A student councillor has launched a petition to force a General Assembly following the passing of a pro-BDS motion last night.

The petition needs 2 per cent of UCLU members – approximately 770 signatures – to force through a General Assembly. Unlike Union Council meetings, all members of UCLU are eligible to vote and the Union must give eight working days notice in order to allow students to submit proposals before the deadline.

The text of the petition stipulates, “this is not a petition either for or against the BDS policy and it is not a petition against action critical of Israeli government policies.

“We have varying political perspectives, but we all want this issue debated fully at a General Assembly where all students have the right to attend, have their say, and vote.”

The motion has proved highly controversial, with the atmosphere at the meeting having been described as “nasty”. Supporters of the BDS motion voted to curtail the debate before non-voting students could scrutinise the motion, and allegedly claimed that students who had not yet arrived to the meeting “had only themselves to blame” for missing the motion.

An amendment to the motion which made no reference to the BDS movement failed to pass.

The motion result sparked controversial views

The Union Council voted 14-4 for the motion which called for UCLU to “work with students to publish a report on academic, corporate and economic links between the university and companies or institutions that participate in or are complicit in Israeli violations of international law” as well as to end the stocking, advertisement, or endorsement of any products the BDS movement is boycotting.

Only current UCL students can sign the petition, which can be found here.