The Union of Jewish Students (UJS) of the United Kingdom and Ireland was established in 1919, when it was known as the Inter-University Jewish Federation (IUJF). The organisation was renamed UJS in 1973 and currently represents a constituency of approximately 8,500 Jewish students, with somewhere between five and six thousand being members of its affiliated Jewish Societies (J-Socs) on individual campuses. It is a member of the World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS) and the European Union of Jewish Students (EUJS). The current President is Daniel Grabiner, a Graduate of Leeds University.
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The new organization was founded with the aim of challenging an increase in both anti-Zionism and antisemitism. Its position on Israel is that it is 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 is, for a student group, an extremely well funded organization, employing a number of recent graduates alongside several support staff.
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, University of Liverpool, Liverpool Hope University, Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts and other surrounding colleges.
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. UJS has supported Wes Streeting and Aaron Porter, who became successive Presidents of the National Union of Students in 2008 and 2010.[1] The UJS funds delegations of Students’ Union leaders to visit Israel.[2] 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, claiming to be a pressure group supporting the interests of Jewish students, rather than a political faction. UJS works with those it believes to support the interests of Jewish students.
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 the political aspect of its activities are secondary.