The allegations of misconduct are believed to center on past comments by Shaima Dallali, in some cases dating back 10 years before she was elected NUS president in March this year. In a statement announcing the decision, NUS said: “Following the independent [King’s Counsel]-led the investigation into allegations of anti-Semitism, specifically about the then president-elect under the NUS code of conduct, an independent panel found significant breaches of NUS policies. “Based on this finding, we have terminated the president’s contract.” NUS said the panel’s decision could be appealed. Chloe Field, vice-president of NUS, will act as chair of the board of NUS UK until a new president is appointed. “In strict accordance with the rules regarding employees and confidentiality, we will not be releasing any further details of the investigation into the president,” NUS said. “We can assure every interested party that this process has been incredibly robust and that we can and should trust the outcome. “We know there will be strong feelings around this issue, so we urge people to respect this process and refrain from engaging in or perpetuating any abuse, particularly online, towards anyone involved in this matter.” Dalali, a former student union president at City University of London, was elected NUS leader for a two-year term from July. But he was suspended from the role in August as a result of the investigation. Following Dallali’s election, the Union of Jewish Students (UJS) objected to comments he allegedly made, including a tweet posted in 2012 that read: “Khaybar Khaybar, Jews…Muhammad’s army will return Gaza,” referring to a historical massacre. Dallali later apologized for the tweet. UJS said it “respects the decision of the National Union of Students to sack their president. Anti-Semitism in the student movement transcends the actions of any one individual and this case is symptomatic of a wider problem. “Jewish students across the country will be asking how a person deemed unfit for office by the NUS was elected in the first place. We await the findings of the substantive inquiry into the treatment of Jewish students by NUS.” Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. The sacking of the president – said to be a first in the organisation’s 100-year history – followed pressure on the NUS to address long-standing concerns about anti-Semitism. The Guardian revealed in April that more than 20 former NUS presidents, including three former cabinet ministers, had warned the organisation’s administrators to address the concerns of Jewish students. In consultation with UJS, NUS asked Rebecca Tuck KC to undertake an inquiry into Dallali’s behavior and wider issues of antisemitism. In an interview with the Guardian in April, Dallali said of the controversy: “It’s really, really hard to see these horrible things being said about me. It’s not true. This idea that I don’t like Jews, or that I hate the Jewish community, is absolutely not true.” Dalali said she had received Islamophobic and racist online abuse, including death threats, after the allegations came to light. Robert Halfon, education minister, said: “We welcome the verdict of this initial inquiry and look forward to seeing the outcome of the next stage, which will provide more detail on NUS’s plans to tackle anti-Semitism within the organisation.”
