Union of Jewish Students

Union of Jewish Students

The Union of Jewish Students (UJS) of the United Kingdom and Ireland was founded in 1973 and represents a constituency of approximately 8,000 Jewish students, with somewhere between five and six thousand being members of its affiliated Jewish Societies (J-Socs) on individual campuses. It is the successor organization to the IUJF (Inter-University Jewish Federation), and is a member of the World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS) and the European Union of Jewish Students (EUJS).

Goals

The new organization was founded with the aim of challenging an increase in both anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. UJS is often perceived as a staunch defender of Israeli policy although it would refute this. Its position on Israel is that it claims to be an independent organization, committed to the legitimacy of Zionism, and Israel's right to exist within secure borders. In practice, UJS support for and promotion of Israeli policy in their literature and media work is limited to promoting the idea of a two state solution. UJS have routinely opposed campaigns that are overtly critical of Israel, including campaigns run by Jewish students.

tructure

UJS is, for a student group, an extremely well funded organization, employing 11 recent graduates (increasing in 2004 from 9 with the addition of a dedicated Israel Officer and an Inter-Faith Dialogue Officer) alongside several support staff. UJS also takes a leading role in the politics of the National Union of Students with at least one member of the National Executive Committee being closely linked to UJS for many years. Through this it has had a close involvement with the NUS Anti-Racism and Anti-Fascism campaigns in recent years. UJS does not locate itself anywhere specific on the right-left political spectrum, as it sees itself as a pressure group supporting the interests of Jewish and other minority students, rather than a political faction. UJS often works with Labour Students and the Organised Independents within the NUS but does not see itself as affiliated to any particular party or group.

In addition to its political role, UJS is active in representing Jewish students' specific religious needs to academic institutions, providing informal Jewish education to members, promoting inter-faith dialogue, and social activity. For many of its members, UJS claims, the political aspect of its activities are secondary.

One of the oldest constituent organizations in the UJS is the "Liverpool Jewish Students' Society". Started in 1921, it has grown to cover Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool Hope University College, Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) and other surrounding colleges.

ee also

*Hillel House

External links

* [http://www.ujs-online.co.uk/ Official website]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Swiss Union of Jewish Students — The Swiss Union of Jewish Students (SUJS) is the umbrella organization of the 7 Jewish local student/youth unions in Switzerland. SUJS is a member union of the European Union of Jewish Students (EUJS) and of the World Union of Jewish Students… …   Wikipedia

  • European Union of Jewish Students — The European Union of Jewish Students [http://www.eujs.org (EUJS)] is an umbrella organization for 34 national Jewish student unions in Europe and the FSU, representing over 200,000 Jewish students. Cognizant of the religious, linguistic and… …   Wikipedia

  • World Union of Jewish Students — The World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS; pronounced IPA|/wudʒɘs/) is the international, pluralistic, non partisan roof organisation comprising around 50 national independent Jewish Student Unions from all over the world, founded in 1924, with… …   Wikipedia

  • Australasian Union of Jewish Students — The Australasian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS) is a federation of Jewish student societies at Australian and New Zealand universities and other higher education institutions. It was founded in 1948 at the University of Sydney and is affiliated… …   Wikipedia

  • World Union of Jewish Students — international youth organization encouraging Jewish studies and involvement in Israel …   English contemporary dictionary

  • Canadian Federation of Jewish Students — The Canadian Federation of Jewish Students (CFJS) or Federation Canadienne Des Etudiants Juifs (FCEJ), in French, is the representative organization of Jewish students across Canada. It was founded by leaders of Jewish student groups across the… …   Wikipedia

  • Melbourne University Jewish Students Society — At the time it was the first Jewish student representative body in the country. Since then it has worked to protect the rights of Jewish students on the campus and abroad. In addition, a fundamental aim of MUJSS is the advocacy of the existence… …   Wikipedia

  • HEBREW UNION COLLEGE-JEWISH INSTITUTE OF RELIGION — (HUC JIR) is the oldest rabbinical seminary in the United States. Dedicated to Jewish scholarship and the training of religious leadership for the Reform movement, it has campuses in Cincinnati, New York, Los Angeles, and Jerusalem. The school… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Jewish Polish history (1989–present) — Jewish Polish current events: 1989 present With the fall of Communism in Poland, Jewish cultural, social, and religious life has been undergoing a revival. Many historical issues, especially related to World War II and the 1944 1989 period,… …   Wikipedia

  • Union des étudiants juifs de France — Contexte général Zone d’influence enseignement supérieur, éducation nationale, international Fiche d’identité Fondation 1944 Président(e) …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”