Could Anti-Israel Activist Win Vote To Lead Britain’s Largest Jewish Student Group?

Image by YouTube

By Dave Goldiner December 2, 2016

A prominent advocate of the boycott Israel movement reportedly has a “definite chance of winning” election as head of Britain’s national Jewish student group.

Eran Cohen, an Israeli student at the University of York, is one of three contenders to lead the Union of Jewish Students and has a committed base of support that makes him a frontrunner in the vote, which already started and continues until December 8.

He has “a definite chance of winning,” analyst Jonathan Hunter told the Algemeiner.

Cohen is an strong supporter of the boycott Israel movement, and vowed to move UJS “away from a pro-Israel…position.” and turns off students like him, who are “Jewish, Israeli, but by no means a Zionist.”

He adds that the “occupation of Palestinian land by Israel has had devastating consequences on both Palestinians and Israelis, and negatively affects Jews in the rest of the world.”

Cohen’s run comes amid the ongoing controversy surrounding Malia Bouattia, the president of the country’s National Union of Students who is a harsh critic of Israel.

Dave Goldiner is the Forward’s director of digital media. Dave is a veteran journalist who has spent two decades working at newspapers in the United States and Africa. A native New Yorker, Goldiner wrote for the New York Daily News, where he covered some of the biggest stories of our time, including the attacks of September 11, along with thousands of stories of hope and heartbreak. He also studied and worked in Southern Africa and has written for publications in South Africa and Zimbabwe. He holds masters degrees in journalism and public administration from Columbia University. Dave can be reached at [email protected], or follow him on Twitter @davegoldiner

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.

In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.

At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.

Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO