NUS delegate and Malia supporter accused of antisemetic remark

An NUS delegate has been publicly condemned for an “anti-Semetic” comment on Facebook, after he said: “Not what I expect from a Jew.”

Youssef Zidouri, a student from the University of Nottingham was replying to a comment made by a fellow NUS delegate, who argued that Malia Bouattia’s stance towards Israel was ‘xenophobic’ and ‘alienating to both Jews and non-Jews.’

The comment and reply by Youssef Zidouri was on Facebook

The comment made by Youssef Zidouri accuses someone of behaviour “quite frankly childish and not what I expect from a Jew.” He later goes onto citing the Torah, accusing the delegate of telling tales and not giving Malia Bouattia a fair hearing.

Youssef Zidouri has been an active supporter of Malia Bouattia’s NUS Presidential campaign on Twitter. It is unclear as to what the Facebook comment was in response to.

A retweet from Youssef expressing his support for Malia’s presidential campaign

Some students have condemned the comment, such as Izzy Lenga, the Education Officer for the Student Guild of Birmingham University, as an example of ‘further homogenisation of Jews in the student movement’ and that the NUS has a ‘complete double standard’ when it comes to slurs made about Jews and other ethnic and gender groups.

Izzy Lenga publicly condemned the comment the day before the NUS Conference

In a speech made today at the beginning of the National Conference, the NUS President Megan Dunn pledged to tackle any allegations of anti-Semitism and racism as a priority for the NUS.

This has come following allegations that Malia Bouattia has anti-semitic prejudices. An open letter by Birmingham JSOC president Daniel Clemens challenged her on supposed anti-Jewish sentiments as well as on her links to MPACUK, a Muslim lobby group which has been considered to be anti-semitic.

Megan Dunn at the National NUS Conference today

Youssef Zidouri has been approached for comment.