Defend Bell, keep the Nazis off our campuses

April 16, 2010
Published in Latest News

Anti-fascists have launched a campaign to defend the policy of No Platform for Nazis after the censure of NUS Black Students Officer Bell Ribeiro Addy at the NUS conference yesterday.

Bell Ribeiro-Addy

Bell is a committed anti-fascist and a member of the UAF steering committee. This censure came as a result of her successful campaign to stop fascist BNP MEP (and former leading member of the National Front) Andrew Brons, from speaking at Durham University debating society.

Weyman Bennett and Sabby Dhalu, Joint Secretaries of Unite Against Fascism released the statement below defending Bell and the no platform policy - which has kept fascists off our campuses.

Add your name to the statement below and email it to Wes Streeting NUS President, and cc to UAF and Bell (email addresses below).

Defend No Platform for fascists in the NUS

Unite Against Fascism condemns the unjustified attack on Bell Ribeiro Addy, the NUS Black Students' Officer and co-convenor of the NUS Anti-racism and anti-fascism campaign by the NUS conference, which censured her as a result of her successful campaign to stop fascist BNP MEP Andrew Brons from speaking at Durham University debating society. Brons was formerly a member of the National Front.

The censure of Bell was passed narrowly, by 113 votes in favour and 107 against. An identical motion against the NUS LGBT officer Daf Adley was resoundingly defeated just a few minutes later when delegates became aware of the issue under discussion and returned to the conference hall.

The motion moved by Durham University Students Union ridiculously claimed that Bell and Daf, as officers of NUS, had threatened violence on the university campus, when in fact they were highlighting the violence and intimidation experienced Black, Jewish, Muslim and LGBT students that inevitably follows the presence of the BNP.

However, most importantly it comes at a time when fascists have made a national breakthrough and the student movement should be doubling its resolve to keep fascists off university campuses, where their politics of hate and violence whip up divisions, intimidate students and leads to racist, Islamaphobic, anti-Semitic and homophobic attacks.

The censure undermines the principle of 'no platform for fascists' within NUS, which will embolden fascists to further challenge this principle on campus.

With fascism on the rise electorally, and violently on the streets through the English Defence League, all those who take a stand in the fight against fascism should be given the full support of all democrats.

We call on the NUS NEC to make clear its opposition to this decision.

UAF supporters and affiliates are encouraged to write to [email protected], condemning this attack on the NUS Black Students Officer's anti-fascist activity and CC any letters to: [email protected] and [email protected]