By Gerry Downing

This is the courageous left-wing Algerian Muslim anti-racist and anti-Zionist fighter Malia Bouattia, the newly-elected President of the National Union of Students. This is the first real left NUS student leader for decades. Wes Streeting MP, a rabid Blairite witchhunter against Corbyn and the left, was President in 2008–10. She has faced attacks from the Tories, the Zionist lobby, the right wing in Labour and bogus ‘leftist’ like the pro-Zionists Andrew Coates and the AWL. Coates’s assault on her in his Tendance Coatesy blog finishes:

‘The Gerry Downing-Socialist Fight style anti-imperialism of fools which led, and justified a rejection do (sic) support for the Kurdish people in their hour of need signals a broader problem’.

The Andrew Coates/AWL attack on Malia stemmed from her understanding that US imperialism is the main enemy as opposed to the AWL, who always portray the local tyrant as the main enemy. They thought it good to covertly support the US bombing on behalf of the Kurds on the basis that they were fighting for their liberation. Given the group’s pro-Zionism and universal back-handed support for imperialism in every conflict it was not too difficult for Melia to spot their covert attempt to smuggle in a pro-imperialist motion to tie the NUS to that agenda.

Their efforts came to nought and it is enormously heartening to see not only a left wing President of the NUS but a consistent one in international anti-imperialist politics. And if that outrages Andrew Coates and the AWL that is a very good indication that she is on the right lines.

Coates bitterly complained that “she responded (to the right wing witch hunt against her, sparked by the AWL—GD) by whipping up a storm against the proposer of the motion, Workers’ Liberty comrade Daniel Cooper.”

The AWL rants on:

“we believe that Bouattia behaved like a petty and unprincipled factionalist, putting her resentment at her bad luck, her prestige and the chance to attack a political grouping she doesn’t like above the massive issue of the Kurdish struggle. Although the NEC eventually, two months later, passed a motion about Kurdistan. So much for anti-imperialism! We have little confidence that an NUS led by Malia Bouattia would be more habitable for political minorities and dissenters, more democratic or more serious about political debate and discussion than one led by Megan Dunn.”

The content of the NUS motion is not mentioned so it must have been consistently anti-imperialist and so pissed them off. They are absolutely choked that the NUS has slipped out of the control of pro-Zionists like themselves, Wes Streeting and other right wing forces. We confidently expect that both Malia and Socialist Fight will continue to supply all these vile reactionaries with even greater ‘problems’ in future. ▲