NUS settles with former president ousted over antisemitism claims

The UK’s National Union of Students (NUS) has settled an employment tribunal brought by its former president who was dismissed after an investigation into antisemitism.

Shaima Dallali was suspended from her role and then had her contract terminated shortly after taking office in 2022 when a tweet emerged that she had sent when she was 18, referencing a massacre of Jewish people.

Her departure left the UK’s biggest student representative body without a president for almost two years, while allegations of a wider culture of antisemitism within the organisation prompted the UK government to cut ties.

Ms Dallali has previously apologised for having in 2012 sent a tweet that included what is known as the “Khaybar chant”, a reference to the killing of Jewish people in Khaybar in Arabia in the 7th century, and has said that she had not appreciated that the expression had an antisemitic meaning.

But she contended that the tweet – and three others that were investigated by the NUS and found to be “discourteous” rather than antisemitic – did not amount to a dismissible offence.

Ms Dallali’s lawyers, Carter-Ruck Solicitors, announced that a settlement had been agreed just as proceedings in the employment tribunal were set to begin on 7 May.

A joint statement from Ms Dallali and the NUS said the terms of the settlement were being kept confidential.

It said both parties wished to make it clear that the “NUS accepts that pro-Palestinian and anti-Zionist beliefs may be protected beliefs, as may pro-Zionist beliefs”.

“As a private individual Ms Dallali is, and as president of NUS she was, entitled to hold protected beliefs,” the statement continued.

“As has been noted repeatedly in the media, NUS was very concerned by a tweet that was written by Ms Dallali when she was a teenager, before she was even a student, in 2012.

“Ms Dallali has accepted that  while it was not her intention, the tweet was antisemitic. Both parties accept that Ms Dallali has repeatedly apologised for that tweet.

“Throughout this matter, Ms Dallali has suffered truly horrific abuse, which has included death threats, threats of sexual assault and flagrant Islamophobia. 

“This is wholly unacceptable, and NUS categorically condemn it. Ms Dallali now has the right to move on with her life and her career free from harassment or abuse.”

Reacting to the announcement, Ms Dallali, a former president of the students’ union at City, University of London, said she was looking to “put the matter behind me”.

“I am an anti-Zionist and a proud pro-Palestinian,” she added. “Following today’s settlement, I look forward to being able to focus on continuing to dedicate myself to the Palestinian cause and to serving my community.

“I am immensely grateful to those who have supported me during this difficult chapter in my life, and I am pleased that all parties can now move on. Now more than ever, it is important that all communities come together for peace and justice.”

Chloe Field, the NUS’ vice-president for higher education, has acted as a de facto face for the organisation for much of the past two years, representing the organisation during a tumultuous period in higher education, including dealing with the impact on students of industrial action by academics, the cost-of-living crisis and the new conflict in the Middle East.

She also oversaw the publication, in January 2023, of an investigation carried out by Rebecca Tuck KC that found that Jewish students within the NUS had been subjected to “harassment” and “discriminatory stereotyping”, which led to the organisation’s agreeing a five-point action plan covering how it planned to change.

The NUS recently elected a new president, Amira Campbell, the head of the University of Birmingham Guild of Students, who will take on the role in July.

tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com