Israeli-born BDS supporter vies to head Britain’s Jewish student union -
Born in Tel Aviv, pro-Palestinian activist Eran Cohen, 27, is challenging the accepted norms of British Jewry.
read more: ▻http://www.haaretz.com/world-news/europe/.premium-1.756883
As outsider candidates take the lead in elections around the world, the trend of radical populism may be coming to Jewish student politics in the United Kingdom.
The surprise contender in this year’s elections for president of the Union of Jewish Students is Eran Cohen, a veteran pro-Palestinian activist and outspoken supporter of the Boycott, Divestments and Sanctions movement.
The 27-year-old’s candidacy marks something of a departure for a body that has long been a bastion of communal politics, committed to fighting campus boycotts and strengthening students’ ties to Israel.
A senior UJS role has long been a traditional stepping-stone for students considering a future in Anglo-Jewish leadership or mainstream politics.
Cohen, a member of the U.K.’s Jewish anarchist collective Jewdas and a committed diasporist, comes from a very different place, as he makes clear in his three-and-a-half minute campaign video.
