NABLUS, 17 November – The Right to Education Campaign at An-Najah National University is delighted that the outcome of a vote on a motion at University of Manchester Student Union's General Meeting on 14 November preserved in tact the twinning agreement between the two universities.
The motion ‘Peace Through Education’, which was the most controversial on the Meeting agenda, was proposed by some students of Manchester who have been protesting against the twinning by holding a poster saying “07/03/07 – The day YOUR union became complicit in murder” next to a plaque erected by the Student Union to mark the twinning. The date refers to the day that Manchester students voted in favour of the twinning and is a clear defamatory slur against the University.
Students were asked to vote for or against a motion that failed to depict the brutal conditions of the occupation and how it obstructs education and implied that An-Najah National University has promoted or sanctioned acts of terrorism.
In a General Meeting that saw unprecedented attendance, 644 students voted against the motion and 375 voted for it. Action Palestine, a student activist group based in Manchester, led the move to vote down the motion and were thrilled with the results, saying, “It is a great victory... it is a massive step forward because Manchester University is considered the heart of the pro-Israel lobby in universities in UK.”
Leading up to the vote, the Right to Education Campaign of An-Najah National University responded to the motion by expressing concern that students in Manchester were asked to vote on a motion that is unrepresentative of the real situation and full of defamatory accusations against An-Najah. In particular, it omits any reference to the ongoing occupation. The co-ordinator of the Campaign is delighted with the result, but noted that it simply defended the status quo, ‘The news of the defeat is heartening. Its rejection by ballot shows that the students at the University of Manchester were able to see through its insidious attempt to isolate Palestinian students even further. But we still have much work to do.’  Twinning agreements link the student bodies of two universities in a show of solidarity. An-Najah’s Student Council has additionally signed a twinning agreement with the Student Union of the London School of Economics.