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LONDON UNIVERSITY ROW OVER 'EUROCENTRIC AND COLONIALIST' HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE REJECTION
Yahoo News UK
Oct 16 2014
By Ewan Palmer | IB Times
A row has erupted at a London university following accusations its
Union members are rejecting a proposal to commemorate the Holocaust
for being "Eurocentric".
A motion was proposed at Goldsmiths University's Students' Assembly
to feature events to commemorate those who were killed during the
catastrophe on Holocaust Memorial Day alongside those killed during
other genocides such as Holodomor and Armenia, reported The Tab.
The motion - set up by former Ukip member Colin Cortbus, who also
wrote the Tab article - was voted down by the students by a majority
of 60 to one, with some students taking to Twitter to describe it as a
"colonialist motion".
The row intensified the day after the proposal was rejected, after
Goldsmith University's education officer Sarah El-alfy tweeted a
message of support that the "Eurocentric motion" was rejected.
The row erupted days after the National Union of Students (NUS) was
heavily criticised for rejecting a motion calling on the organisation
to condemn the militant group Isis (Islamic State) on the grounds it
would be "Islamophobic".
The Goldsmiths University Union rejected suggestions this is an
outright dismissal of an idea to remember the victims of the Holocaust
as an "insulting misrepresentation" and instead said the motion will be
discussed at the next Student Assembly in November following a redraft.
A spokesperson added: "Many baseless claims are made, however the
central tenet is that the Students Assembly and the Students' Union
opposed remembering the victims of the Holocaust. This is an insulting
misrepresentation. We have in the past commemorated Holocaust Memorial
Day and will in the future.
"A nuanced discussion about how best to effectively and collectively
remember these events was had at Students Assembly. Re-drafting
motions and re-entering them at a later date isn't unusual in Students'
Unions and shouldn't be misinterpreted as opposition.
"Sarah El-alfy offered to help the proposer re-draft the motion
and bring it to the next Student Assembly and this reflected the
positivity in the room about the motion with the ambition to strengthen
it further.
"A motion that includes remembering the Holocaust will be brought to
the next Student Assembly in November. We feel these facts have been
ignored in the subsequent reporting."
The Union also criticised The Tab for what it described as a series
of "factual inaccuracies" in its report and for misgendering one of
its students.
"We would like to ask for this to be corrected along with the rest
of the article," it added.
IBTimes UK has requested a comment from El-alfy to clarify her stance.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/london-university-row-over-eurocentric-colonialist-holocaust-remembrance-143446841.html
Yahoo News UK
Oct 16 2014
By Ewan Palmer | IB Times
A row has erupted at a London university following accusations its
Union members are rejecting a proposal to commemorate the Holocaust
for being "Eurocentric".
A motion was proposed at Goldsmiths University's Students' Assembly
to feature events to commemorate those who were killed during the
catastrophe on Holocaust Memorial Day alongside those killed during
other genocides such as Holodomor and Armenia, reported The Tab.
The motion - set up by former Ukip member Colin Cortbus, who also
wrote the Tab article - was voted down by the students by a majority
of 60 to one, with some students taking to Twitter to describe it as a
"colonialist motion".
The row intensified the day after the proposal was rejected, after
Goldsmith University's education officer Sarah El-alfy tweeted a
message of support that the "Eurocentric motion" was rejected.
The row erupted days after the National Union of Students (NUS) was
heavily criticised for rejecting a motion calling on the organisation
to condemn the militant group Isis (Islamic State) on the grounds it
would be "Islamophobic".
The Goldsmiths University Union rejected suggestions this is an
outright dismissal of an idea to remember the victims of the Holocaust
as an "insulting misrepresentation" and instead said the motion will be
discussed at the next Student Assembly in November following a redraft.
A spokesperson added: "Many baseless claims are made, however the
central tenet is that the Students Assembly and the Students' Union
opposed remembering the victims of the Holocaust. This is an insulting
misrepresentation. We have in the past commemorated Holocaust Memorial
Day and will in the future.
"A nuanced discussion about how best to effectively and collectively
remember these events was had at Students Assembly. Re-drafting
motions and re-entering them at a later date isn't unusual in Students'
Unions and shouldn't be misinterpreted as opposition.
"Sarah El-alfy offered to help the proposer re-draft the motion
and bring it to the next Student Assembly and this reflected the
positivity in the room about the motion with the ambition to strengthen
it further.
"A motion that includes remembering the Holocaust will be brought to
the next Student Assembly in November. We feel these facts have been
ignored in the subsequent reporting."
The Union also criticised The Tab for what it described as a series
of "factual inaccuracies" in its report and for misgendering one of
its students.
"We would like to ask for this to be corrected along with the rest
of the article," it added.
IBTimes UK has requested a comment from El-alfy to clarify her stance.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/london-university-row-over-eurocentric-colonialist-holocaust-remembrance-143446841.html