Martin will ‘make the NUS more welcoming’
THE PRESIDENT-ELECT of the NUS has spoken of the “need to unite and eliminate barriers” at her first speaking engagement with a Jewish organisation.
Shakira Martin will take over the leadership of the student body from Malia Bouattia, who has previously been accused of antisemitism, next month.
On Tuesday she was the keynote speaker at a central London event hosted by Women in Jewish Leadership.
Since it was founded in 2012, the group has launched a gender equality plan to increase the role of women in Jewish communal organisations and promote women’s advancement.
Ms Martin, a mother-of-two, was warmly welcomed as she shared details of her upbringing in a “single working class family where drug abuse played a major part in my life”. She described growing up in Peckham, south London, and the many challenges she overcame along the way.
“I can’t believe a girl like me has got a position like this and I’m very, very grateful and honoured for
Shakira Martin this opportunity,” she said, thanking both the Union of Jewish Students and “JSocs across the country” for their support in her election campaign. Acknowledging past tensions between the NUS and Jewish students, she said: “We need to unite and eliminate these barriers. By coming together, women of ethnic minorities can smash the glass ceiling”.
She told the JC Jewish students had been “really supporting me this year, not only in helping me to get in to this position but the fact they are going to give me a chance to make NUS more welcoming”.
She described her relationship with UJS as “good” and said she hoped to combat antisemitism alongside Izzy Lenga, the Jewish vice-president for welfare at the NUS. “Jewish students have the right to define their own oppression and if Jewish students feel the NUS has been antisemitic then I will do my best to address their concerns and bridge the gap.” The reception paid tribute to the work of Women in Jewish Leadership, which now passes to the Board of Deputies. Speakers included Laura Marks, joint-chair of the project and Gillian Merron, Board chief executive.