NUS President Malia Bouattia has been accused of having “one rule for the Jews, another for everyone else,” following an interview in The Guardian, in which she stated she does not think she has ever said anything anti-Semitic.

Asked about her past comments describing the University of Birmingham as “something of a Zionist outpost”, and the fact that she has referred to “mainstream Zionist-led media outlets”, she claimed that she “wasn’t being critical of the number of Jewish students or the size of the Jewish society at Birmingham.”

“It was very much in relation to the opposition to any kind of Palestine solidarity efforts that were taking place.”

Bouattia added: “if my words were misinterpreted, then in future I’ll take the time to make sure I break them down and explain them.”

Following the interview’s publication, Josh Nagli, Campaigns Director for the Union of Jewish Students, accused Bouattia of “completely [denying] the right of Jewish students to define their experiences of antisemitism.”

Writing in response to the interview, Nagli condemned her “poor attempts to clarify her clarify her past rhetoric”, claiming that they “do not remotely hold with Jewish students.”

He went on to argue that Bouattia is “yet to adequately acknowledge, let alone appropriately address” the concerns of Jewish students about her past comments.

In the interview, Bouattia also stated that she thought the controversy surrounding her remarks had “not necessarily” diminished her power as NUS President, and that it had in fact raised the organisation’s profile, as well as providing new platforms for her to “put out our vision of the future”.

Nagli condemned this response as “shocking”, going on to state: “if her vision of the future is one where Jewish students are made to feel intimidated by the things their National President says and where their oppression is used as a wave to ride on and not taken seriously, then it is a future that I, and I’m sure many, don’t want to be part of.”

Bouattia also said during the interview that a lack of relatable topics of study at universities could be “psychologically destructive” for BME students.

“When we look at the incredibly Eurocentric curriculum,” she said, “where people don't see themselves in what they're studying, and can't relate to it, and feel that their European counterparts hit the ground running, they can't see themselves advancing in the subjects.”

In May, Cambridge narrowly voted to remain a member of NUS in a referendum on CUSU’s membership of the organisation, which was called following Bouattia’s election to the presidency.

CUSU wrote to NUS after last term’s referendum, calling on the organisation to “do more to protect the rightful place of Jewish students within the student movement”, after a Council meeting mandated the sending of the letter.

Bouattia responded, saying she would “fight for the rights and safety of all students, including Jewish Students.”