Highlights from the NEC meeting on 03/08/06
Wes Streeting, NUS Vice President Education gave a report on the priority campaign on education funding and the cap on fees. It's looking good and I urge everyone to be in London on 29th October, you can see a bit of the city, maybe sight see a little before or after the main event which will be in Trafalgar Square.
Also, if you're an education officer you might like to know that there is an Education Conference planned for Novemeber. Wes has been busy!
Other things included discussion from the budgets and finding an NEC member to sit on the NUSSL Board, this was Stephen Brown, National Secretary. Related to this NUS Extra is to be rolled out nationally next year (as you are probably well aware) and sales are predicted to be 550,000 bringing in an estimated 2.25m into NUS. The web-launch is going to be on the 14th August, you'll be able to order your extra card online.
Motions passed easily on:
1. Guidance for FE colleges on tackling hate crime and intolerance.
2. Disability abuse
3. Work with the Aegis Trust
4. Green books - supporting a book on environmentalism for freshers
5. One water - a project to get more water pumps in Africa through bottled water in UK
6. Agenda for Africa
7. Keep our NHS Public - affiliates to Keep our NHS Public
8. Safeguarding the right to a fair trial - the NatWest Three
9. Building a greener NUS
10. Liberty Affiliation
11. Support for Student Nurses
I don't want to go into too much detail here but if you do want to know the details I'm more than happy to over email - see previous post for my contact details.
There was another motion on the Middle East, which needless to say caused the most discussion, it was very complicated but the final outcome was policy looking like this:
Escalation of Violence in the Middle East
NEC Notes
1. The escalating violence and military action across Lebanon, Israel and Palestine.
2. The Capture of the Israeli Soldier in Southern Israel who is currently being held in Gaza and the capture of two Israeli Soldiers in Northern Israel by Hezbollah currently believed to be in Lebanon.
3. The Capture of Lebanese and Palestinian government officials by Israel
4. Hundreds of innocent Lebanese, Israeli’s and Palestinian citizens have tragically lost their lives in the past weeks.
5. That more than half a million people have been forced to leave their homes
6. The escalating humanitarian disaster
NEC Believes
1. That on the 22nd of July, George Galloway attended a rally in London and said that “What I’m about to say is illegal in this country … Hezbollah has never been a terrorist organisation. I am here to glorify the Lebanese resistance, Hezbollah, and to glorify the resistance leader, Hassan Nasrallah …”, that Mr. Galloway went on to wish aloud that more Arab leaders were like Hassan Nasrallah and that at this same rally, placards were displayed that read, ‘We are all Hezbollah!’ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg6qWVGqEJ4)
2. Hezbollah is implicated in the following selected instances:
• Bombing of Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia killing 19 U.S Servicemen (1996)
• Bombing of Jewish Community Centre in Buenos Aires killing 96. The largest terrorist attack ever to take place on Argentinean soil, and the largest attack on Jewish non-combatants since World War II (1994)
• Bombing of Israeli Embassy, Buenos Aires killing 29, injuring 242 (1992)
• Abduction, torture and death of CIA Station chief in Lebanon (1985)
• The kidnapping of around 30 other Westerners between 1982 and 1992, including U.S. journalist Terry Anderson, British journalist John McCarthy, the Archbishop of Canterbury's special envoy Terry Waite and Irish citizen Brian Keenan.
• Car bombing of U.S. embassy on Beirut killing 241 & car bombing of French military barracks in Beirut killing 58 (1983)
3. That Hassan Nasrallah in his speech on the 9th of April 2000 at the Shi'ite Moslem "Ashura" flagellation ceremony, called ‘Nazi atrocities’ a legend ‘invented by the Jews’ and called for the dissolution of the state of Israel on the grounds that "Anyone who reads the Koran and the holy writings of the monotheistic religions sees what they [the Jewish people] did to the prophets, and what acts of madness and slaughter the Jews carried out ...
Anyone who reads these texts cannot think of co-existence with them, of peace with them, or about accepting their presence, not only in Palestine of 1948 but even in a small village in Palestine, because they are a cancer which is liable to spread again at any moment..."
NUS Further Believes
1. That the further escalation between Israel, Hezbollah and Hamas is detrimental to peace future stability of the region and will only lead more violence and to further loss of life.
2. That whilst the capture of Israeli soldiers is inexcusable, Israel has continued to exercise disproportionate military action on Lebanon.
3. The Lebanese army has been told not to respond to the Israeli attacks.
4. Hezbollah are continuing to launch hundreds of rockets at Isreal on a daily basis
5. That whilst the Lebanese President continues to support Hezbollah, the Prime Minster has urged for the release of the Israeli soldiers.
6. The majority of lives lost on both sides of the conflict have been that of innocent civilians.
7. Every life lost in this bitter conflict is a message for us to call for a just peace in the Middle East.
8. As a progressive union it is our duty to promote peace and understanding between peoples.
9. Slogans seen on the STWC demo of the 22/7 such as “We are all Hizbollah” conflate support for the Lebanese people with support for a reactionary political movement engaged in terrorist attacks on innocent Israelis.
10. Diplomatic efforts from the US and UK governments has failed to bring about a sustainable ceasefire.
11. George Galloway is clearly not ignorant of Hezbollah’s history of violence and the killing of innocents knowing his comments may breach the 2000 Terrorism Act
10. By expressing support for Hassan Nasrallah George Galloway is supporting a leader who is openly antisemitic and a holocaust denier.
11. The views expressed by Hassan Nasrallah as the leader of Hezbollah and applauded by George Galloway run contrary to the values of our union: solidarity, peace and respect.
12. Hezbollah carries out acts of terror and as such should be viewed as a terrorist organisation.
NUS Resolves
1. To Support calls for a UN Peacekeeping Force in Southern Lebanon.
2. To call on Israel to halt its disproportionate military action, condemn continuing attacks by terrorists on Israeli citizens and add our voice to calls for a sustainable ceasefire.
3. To Support Lebanese internationalists and the movement for progressive democratic reform in Lebanon.
4. To call for the opening of diplomatic ties between the Lebanese Government and Israeli Government.
5. To support the call for the release of Israeli soldiers
6. To call on the UK Government to pledge significant aid to the region
7. To reaffirm our commitment to a free and independent Palestinian State with the same rights as Israel in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza alongside a secure and independent Israel side by side in peace, with free communication and travel between the two states.
8. To condemn George Galloway for his comments and support for the racist, antisemitic, fascist leader of Hezbollah.
9. For the Co-convenors of the Anti-Racism campaign to write a letter to the Respect party condemning their current stance on the crisis in the Middle-East, and for this letter to be sent out as a press release.
Wes Streeting, NUS Vice President Education gave a report on the priority campaign on education funding and the cap on fees. It's looking good and I urge everyone to be in London on 29th October, you can see a bit of the city, maybe sight see a little before or after the main event which will be in Trafalgar Square.
Also, if you're an education officer you might like to know that there is an Education Conference planned for Novemeber. Wes has been busy!
Other things included discussion from the budgets and finding an NEC member to sit on the NUSSL Board, this was Stephen Brown, National Secretary. Related to this NUS Extra is to be rolled out nationally next year (as you are probably well aware) and sales are predicted to be 550,000 bringing in an estimated 2.25m into NUS. The web-launch is going to be on the 14th August, you'll be able to order your extra card online.
Motions passed easily on:
1. Guidance for FE colleges on tackling hate crime and intolerance.
2. Disability abuse
3. Work with the Aegis Trust
4. Green books - supporting a book on environmentalism for freshers
5. One water - a project to get more water pumps in Africa through bottled water in UK
6. Agenda for Africa
7. Keep our NHS Public - affiliates to Keep our NHS Public
8. Safeguarding the right to a fair trial - the NatWest Three
9. Building a greener NUS
10. Liberty Affiliation
11. Support for Student Nurses
I don't want to go into too much detail here but if you do want to know the details I'm more than happy to over email - see previous post for my contact details.
There was another motion on the Middle East, which needless to say caused the most discussion, it was very complicated but the final outcome was policy looking like this:
Escalation of Violence in the Middle East
NEC Notes
1. The escalating violence and military action across Lebanon, Israel and Palestine.
2. The Capture of the Israeli Soldier in Southern Israel who is currently being held in Gaza and the capture of two Israeli Soldiers in Northern Israel by Hezbollah currently believed to be in Lebanon.
3. The Capture of Lebanese and Palestinian government officials by Israel
4. Hundreds of innocent Lebanese, Israeli’s and Palestinian citizens have tragically lost their lives in the past weeks.
5. That more than half a million people have been forced to leave their homes
6. The escalating humanitarian disaster
NEC Believes
1. That on the 22nd of July, George Galloway attended a rally in London and said that “What I’m about to say is illegal in this country … Hezbollah has never been a terrorist organisation. I am here to glorify the Lebanese resistance, Hezbollah, and to glorify the resistance leader, Hassan Nasrallah …”, that Mr. Galloway went on to wish aloud that more Arab leaders were like Hassan Nasrallah and that at this same rally, placards were displayed that read, ‘We are all Hezbollah!’ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg6qWVGqEJ4)
2. Hezbollah is implicated in the following selected instances:
• Bombing of Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia killing 19 U.S Servicemen (1996)
• Bombing of Jewish Community Centre in Buenos Aires killing 96. The largest terrorist attack ever to take place on Argentinean soil, and the largest attack on Jewish non-combatants since World War II (1994)
• Bombing of Israeli Embassy, Buenos Aires killing 29, injuring 242 (1992)
• Abduction, torture and death of CIA Station chief in Lebanon (1985)
• The kidnapping of around 30 other Westerners between 1982 and 1992, including U.S. journalist Terry Anderson, British journalist John McCarthy, the Archbishop of Canterbury's special envoy Terry Waite and Irish citizen Brian Keenan.
• Car bombing of U.S. embassy on Beirut killing 241 & car bombing of French military barracks in Beirut killing 58 (1983)
3. That Hassan Nasrallah in his speech on the 9th of April 2000 at the Shi'ite Moslem "Ashura" flagellation ceremony, called ‘Nazi atrocities’ a legend ‘invented by the Jews’ and called for the dissolution of the state of Israel on the grounds that "Anyone who reads the Koran and the holy writings of the monotheistic religions sees what they [the Jewish people] did to the prophets, and what acts of madness and slaughter the Jews carried out ...
Anyone who reads these texts cannot think of co-existence with them, of peace with them, or about accepting their presence, not only in Palestine of 1948 but even in a small village in Palestine, because they are a cancer which is liable to spread again at any moment..."
NUS Further Believes
1. That the further escalation between Israel, Hezbollah and Hamas is detrimental to peace future stability of the region and will only lead more violence and to further loss of life.
2. That whilst the capture of Israeli soldiers is inexcusable, Israel has continued to exercise disproportionate military action on Lebanon.
3. The Lebanese army has been told not to respond to the Israeli attacks.
4. Hezbollah are continuing to launch hundreds of rockets at Isreal on a daily basis
5. That whilst the Lebanese President continues to support Hezbollah, the Prime Minster has urged for the release of the Israeli soldiers.
6. The majority of lives lost on both sides of the conflict have been that of innocent civilians.
7. Every life lost in this bitter conflict is a message for us to call for a just peace in the Middle East.
8. As a progressive union it is our duty to promote peace and understanding between peoples.
9. Slogans seen on the STWC demo of the 22/7 such as “We are all Hizbollah” conflate support for the Lebanese people with support for a reactionary political movement engaged in terrorist attacks on innocent Israelis.
10. Diplomatic efforts from the US and UK governments has failed to bring about a sustainable ceasefire.
11. George Galloway is clearly not ignorant of Hezbollah’s history of violence and the killing of innocents knowing his comments may breach the 2000 Terrorism Act
10. By expressing support for Hassan Nasrallah George Galloway is supporting a leader who is openly antisemitic and a holocaust denier.
11. The views expressed by Hassan Nasrallah as the leader of Hezbollah and applauded by George Galloway run contrary to the values of our union: solidarity, peace and respect.
12. Hezbollah carries out acts of terror and as such should be viewed as a terrorist organisation.
NUS Resolves
1. To Support calls for a UN Peacekeeping Force in Southern Lebanon.
2. To call on Israel to halt its disproportionate military action, condemn continuing attacks by terrorists on Israeli citizens and add our voice to calls for a sustainable ceasefire.
3. To Support Lebanese internationalists and the movement for progressive democratic reform in Lebanon.
4. To call for the opening of diplomatic ties between the Lebanese Government and Israeli Government.
5. To support the call for the release of Israeli soldiers
6. To call on the UK Government to pledge significant aid to the region
7. To reaffirm our commitment to a free and independent Palestinian State with the same rights as Israel in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza alongside a secure and independent Israel side by side in peace, with free communication and travel between the two states.
8. To condemn George Galloway for his comments and support for the racist, antisemitic, fascist leader of Hezbollah.
9. For the Co-convenors of the Anti-Racism campaign to write a letter to the Respect party condemning their current stance on the crisis in the Middle-East, and for this letter to be sent out as a press release.
posted by Cat S at 6:59 pm
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