Updated: EUSA sabb faces censure vote as Israel row escalates

Updated (19:30) In a narrow vote, Student Council has just voted down the motion to censure Emma Meehan, 29-22. Full report to follow.

Pro-Palestinian activists at Edinburgh University Students’ Association will today move to censure controversial sabbatical officer Emma Meehan in response to her recent visit to Israel, The Journal understands.

A censure motion has been submitted to Student Council, which meets this evening. If passed, the motion would see Council formally condemn the sitting Vice-President (Societies & Activities) for her participation in a contentious Union of Jewish Students-funded delegation earlier this month.

A draft copy of the motion seen by The Journal alleges that Ms Meehan "brought EUSA into disrepute by meeting with representatives of an occupying army responsible for denying Palestinian students their fundamental right to education, and by visiting illegal settlements on Palestinian land."

Ms Meehan has stepped up her criticism of the pro-Palestinian lobby, accusing them of setting a "damaging precedent" and attempting to curb the freedom of debate on campus.

"Frankly, I find it difficult to justify any motion which seeks to curb an individual's right to learn and engage in free thought," she told The Journal. 

"Moreover, the move to invoke this censure is unjustified as I have broken no code of conduct, and more importantly, have broken no mandate from the students who elected me their Vice-President Societies & Activities."

Liam O'Hare, the proposer of the motion and a leading critic of Ms Meehan, has attacked the trip as politically-motivated, characterising it as "essentially a free gift to Emma of hundreds of pounds from an organisation with a clear political agenda."

Mr O'Hare, the serving president of Edinburgh Students for Justice in Palestine, told The Journal: "It is right, morally and politically, that Student Council condemn Emma's involvement... and that she apologise for it."

"By condemning this through the existing democratic channels at EUSA, students can take a clear stand not only for human rights, but also for transparency and accountability in our students' association."

If the motion passes, Ms Meehan would also be mandated to write a public letter of apology to both the Edinburgh student body and the students' union of Birzeit University in Palestine, with which EUSA is twinned.

The Birzeit union has already written to EUSA, formally protesting her involvement in the trip.

It is understood that voting may to some extent fall along existing political fault-lines in EUSA, with members of the anti-cuts Defend Edinburgh bloc of "organised independents" leading the censure effort. Ms Meehan is expected, however, to rally support from members of the Edinburgh University Labour Club, who occupy a significant block of council seats. Sources in both camps have indicated this morning that the vote is likely to be close, with neither side willing to speculate on its outcome.

Ms Meehan's allies have echoed her concern that the motion threatens stifling on-campus debate. One council member, who asked not to be named, told The Journal that they fear the development of "a culture on Student Council which imposes a single intellectual orthodoxy upon reps, and seeks to punish them for exploring viewpoints with which it might not agree."

But SJP have dismissed those claims as unfounded, defending the censure motion as a democratic move to condemn what they say was "unacceptable" conduct by Ms Meehan. "The motion is clear," Mr O'Hare told The Journal. "It's asking that Emma apologise for bringing the union into disrepute.

"She has visited places which are in violation of international law, and met with representatives of an occupying army. That's unacceptable, and we're using the correct structures to make clear that that's unacceptable."