Leading Student Respect member Fiona Edwards is standing for the position of Vice President Welfare and Block of 15 in the forthcoming elections at NUS National Conference in April.

Student Respect has joined Bellavia Ribeiro-Addy (NUS Black Students’ Officer), David ‘Daf’ Adley (NUS LGBT Officer) and a range of other progressive activists as part of a united slate to give students the NUS leadership they need.

Fiona has the full support of Respect Party Leader, Salma Yaqoob, who says: “Fiona will ensure that NUS puts progressive causes at the heart of its agenda. From fighting the fascist BNP to demanding free education and opposing cuts, Fiona is a candidate with a proven track record.”

Respect Party MP George Galloway has added: “A vote for Fiona is a vote for an NUS that stands in solidarity with the occupied people of Palestine – unlike the current leadership of the NUS which even refused to condemn Israel’s massacre on Gaza last year. Her record of joining me in breaking the siege on Gaza and as an anti-war activist speaks for itself.”

The united slate, ‘For a Strong, Campaigning and Democratic NUS’, is standing for an NUS that leads an uncompromising campaign against any cuts to education; which opposes all tuition fees and student debt; and calls on the government to increase investment to fund free education.

As racism continues to soars across society, NUS must prioritise campaigns against all discrimination and bigotry and lead the fight for equality. We stand for a vigorous defence of diversity and multi-culturalism – reaffirming NUS’ commitment to no platform for the fascist BNP and campaigning against the English Defence League’s violent and intimidating campaign against the Muslim community.

Whilst our government claims free education is unaffordable and introduces savage cuts to public services, it continues to waste billions of pounds on the war on Afghanistan and the replacement of nuclear weapons. We will continue to campaign for international peace and global justice and make sure NUS does too – troops out of Afghanistan – free Palestine – end dangerous climate change.

We also stand for a strong and democratic union which engages students at every level. We would reverse the decision to slash delegation entitlements which has made this year’s National Conference more unrepresentative than ever.

For a Strong, Campaigning and Democratic Union we urge delegates to vote Bell for President, Daf for Union Development, Mark for Higher Education, Assed for Society and Citizenship, Fiona for Welfare and Nikita for Further Education.

To read Fiona’s full manifesto, policies and experience please click here.

Leading Student Respect member Ian Drummond has been elected as Vice President of the University of London Union, representing well over 100,000 students at the 22 colleges and institutes of the University of London, on a campaigning, anti-cuts platform. This follows recent election victories by left wing candidates such as Ashok Kumar at LSE and Michael Chessum at UCL; and the President-elect of ULU, Clare Solomon, who stood on a similar left wing platform to Ian.

A final year student at the School of Oriental and African Studies, Ian has been involved in student activism since he arrived in university, and his campaigning record goes back to 2003 when he was involved in an anti war walkout at his school.

Ian’s campaign focused on turning ULU, which is often seen as irrelevant by London students, into a campaigning union to fight back against the education cuts and rising fees threatened by the main parties. With Ian, and Clare, in the driving seat, ULU’s campaigning budget and ability to launch united, progressive campaigns to defend education across London campuses can be put to maximum effect.

As the econimic crisis continues to bite reaction is thriving. Racism continues to soar, threatening all Black, Jewish, Asian and Muslim students across society and unfortunately our campuses are not immune. Opposing the racist offensive and celebrating London’s multiculturalism will be a central campaigning focus for ULU students in the year ahead under Ian and Clare’s leadership.

It was played up in his election campaign, and probably key to his success, that Ian was one of the 500 international activists who broke the siege on Gaza in the latest Viva Palestina convoy in January. Students in London have an impressive record of campaigning for peace and international justice; now the leadership of ULU reflects students’ commitment to stand up for the right to education across the world.

Another of Ian’s key campaign commitments included support for the London Living Wage campaign. With Ian in office from August, ULU is well on the way to fulfilling its progressive potential.

Read about newly elected ULU President Clare Solomon’s mandate for resistance here: https://www.counterfire.org/index.php/news/60-ulu-election/4104-mandate-for-resistance-clare-solomon-elected-ulu-president

If you are a student in London and would like to get in touch with Ian about how you can get involved with these campaigns next year please contact us: students@therespectparty.info

By Fiona Edwards (Birkbeck & Palestine Solidarity Campaign Student Officer) and Ian Drummond (SOAS)

Destroyed buildings, piles of rubble and bullet holes met us on every street as we drove our ambulance through Gaza City one year on after Israel’s murderous assault.

Today, Israel’s war on Gaza is continuing, using its brutal and illegal blockade to collectively punish 1.5 million people by denying them access to food, safe water, medicine and all basic supplies necessary for human survival.

Plans are underway to make life for Palestinians trapped in Gaza even more intolerable. A steel underground wall is being constructed on the Rafah border between Egypt and Gaza. Sinking as deep as the water table, the wall will cut the people of Gaza off from their principal lifeline - the network of over 1,500 under ground tunnels which ensure the people of Gaza have sufficient food, water, medicine and other basic necessities which they currently smuggle in from Egypt; without the tunnels the Palestinians would starve to death.

We went to Gaza to raise awareness about the growing humanitarian crisis the Palestinians are facing, to show our solidarity and deliver millions of pounds of medical and humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.

On 6th January 2010, alongside 500 humanitarian activists from 20 countries across the world, we succeeded in our attempt to break the siege on Gaza. The Viva Palestina Convoy, which was co-organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and backed by the NUS Black Students’ Campaign, travelled for more than three thousand miles through Europe and the Middle East, picking up tremendous support, extra aid donations and volunteers in many countries along the way.

After one month on the road and tense negotiations with the Egyptian government we were granted permission to deliver our aid and stay in Gaza for 48 hours. Even this short stay proved long enough to witness the devastating impact of ‘Operation Cast Lead’.

In Gaza we had the privilege to meet lots of young Palestinians, who shared stories of the trauma and suffering they had endured during the war and on-going siege on Gaza. We met two students from the Islamic University of Gaza who had lost both of their legs during the war last year. Another student, Yousef Abdul Jabbar Al- Mughrabi, who is 21 years old, was blinded and paralysed on the right side of his body following an explosion of a drone bomb outside his home. The lost of his sight has meant that he could not complete his degree in Civil Engineering and he has been forced to start a new degree in Islamic Studies from scratch.

During last year’s war Israel extensively used chemical weapons including white phosphorus, a substance that burns intensely on contact with oxygen. A student told us of the horror she witnessed first hand, when the white phosphorus shells were raining down:

“The whole world was celebrating the new year with fire crackers in the sky. I thought Gaza was no exception when I looked at the sky! It was grey with a frightening light that looked like a ball of fire. We have never seen this before. Then, we started to hear the news on the radio and we knew that those balls of fire are called phosphorus shells.

Some were targeting the houses and others exploded in the middle of the streets. We tried to extinguish the fires with water. Suddenly, we found that this was not a normal fire. We were suffocating. The smell, the smoke, and the unknown chemicals were all life threatening. We had to put pieces of clothes that were soaked in water on our faces to breath through them. It was a nightmare that I don’t like to remember.

Some people got burnt with the phosphorus shells before the eyes of their loved ones. Most of those died on the spot. We could see their flesh dissolving with such weird chemicals and bombs. We stood helpless and hopeless.”

The immense suffering that these students have endured is an experience they share with all of the young Palestinians in Gaza. In the war many schools, colleges and universities, including the Islamic University of Gaza and the American School of Gaza, were damaged or destroyed. Over 1,400 Palestinians were killed, one third of which were children and many more young people were amongst the dead. The on-going siege means that Gaza’s educational infrastructure remains in ruins as no cement or building materials has been allowed in since the war. The siege also means that educational equipment such as paper, stationery, desks, books and other necessary materials are in very short supply. Electricity is routinely cut off for several hours a day in Gaza by Israel who controls the supply.

What is truly inspirational is that life goes on and that Palestinian students are absolutely determined to continue their studies, to gain an education, in these appalling circumstances.

The evening before we left Israel’s F-16s started to bomb Gaza. Several Palestinians lost their lives. The same evening we visited a tunnel in Rafah where we watched tunnel workers as they smuggled in refrigerators, which would help to keep the short supply of food in Gaza fresh. Thirty minutes later, as we were driving towards Gaza City we heard an explosion. Later we discovered that the same tunnel we had visited was bombed and two tunnel workers were spoke to had been killed.

Whilst much of what we saw and heard in Gaza was upsetting, the steadfastness and resolve of the Palestinian people to rebuild their society after Israel’s brutal attack last year was totally inspiring. Now more than ever we must redouble our efforts to demand an end to the siege on Gaza and for peace and justice for Palestine.

We have launched a national ‘End the Siege on Gaza’ student tour to report back our experiences from Gaza to campuses across Britain. For more information about the tour, including how to organise a meeting on your campus please contact the Palestine Solidarity Campaign at students@palestinecampaign.org.

Last month students from across Britain joined the Viva Palestina international aid convoy. The Convoy succeeded in breaking the siege on Gaza and delivered vital medicine and humanitarian aid to the besieged people of Gaza on the first anniversary on ‘Operation Cast Lead’, Israel’s brutal 22 day assault on Gaza, which resulted in the deaths of over 1,400 Palestinians.

The national ‘End the Siege on Gaza’ student tour will include exclusive footage from the journey to Gaza, eye witness accounts from students who broke the siege and heartbreaking stories about the young Palestinians students they met in Gaza.

The tour will be travelling to universities and colleges across Britain including Birmingham, Bradford, Coventry, Essex, Huddersfield, Kent, Leicester, London, Nottingham, Sheffield, Teesside and many more.

For more information about the tour, including how to organise a meeting on your campus email: students@palestinecampaign.org or call 020 7700 6192.

More info at: www.palestinecampaign.org

Organised by Palestine Solidarity Campaign, NUS Black Students' Campaign, Viva Palestina, Let Palestinians Study

Respect Party Leader Salma Yaqoob will join a range of speakers including Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams, Ken Livingstone, leading trade unionists, politicians, academics and others from Britain and Ireland at a major conference in London, Putting Irish Unity on the Agenda.

The conference, hosted by Sinn Fein, will discuss the issue of a united Ireland in the context of the Good Friday Agreement -- which enshrines the right to self determination, should a majority agree it in Ireland.

The importance of Ireland, and understanding Britain's role historically and today is a crucial issue for progressive people. Moreover, there are many common issues in relation to Ireland and the current struggles for self determination in other countries around the world today, such as Palestine and in Latin America.

The new situation in Ireland and the peace process has positively changed the situation and this conference will be a key event to discuss issues - such as the prospects for Irish unity and independence, how the economic, political and demographic developments are impacting, opening a dialogue with unionism, and the role of the Irish community in Britain -- many of whom of course are students.

Student Respect encourages people to come along to this important event, which takes place on Saturday 20 February at the TUC Congress House, starting at 10am. All are welcome, and registration in advance for students is £4.

You can register by emailing londonconference@sinn-fein.ie

With the General Election just around the corner, Respect Party leader Salma Yaqoob has launched a blogsite where she will be discussing current affairs and making the case for global peace, justice and equality. The site is updated daily and can be found at www.salmayaqoob.com.

It is also the place to find out the latest on Salma's campaign to be the first Respect MP in Birmingham.

Student Respect urges progressive students from across the country to join our General Election campaign in Birmingham and East London where we are fighting to win 3 Parliamentary seats.

Salma’s general election campaign is well under way. She needs all the support she can get. If you would like to volunteer your help in any way, or make a financial donation online, please ring her on 078 121 72885 or email Salma at campaign@salmayaqoob.com.

The timing of a conference this weekend outlining policies and action to bring about a more progressive London could scarcely be better. This week the official figures confirm what those of us in east London can see with our own eyes: that class inequality has increased to Victorian levels even as tens of billions of pounds of public money has gone into banks which remain in private hands.

The result is gold-dripping Croesus characters in Canary Wharf and the City eyeing every council estate and bit of spare land in the East End as a possible development or pied-a-terre, with the current inhabitants an encumbrance to be uprooted and dumped further east. This class gulf is combined with racial inequalities, poor health and other forms of deprivation into a toxic cocktail.

It is set to get worse – and much, much worse if the Old Etonians of the Tory party are to get the chance, as they did in the early 1980s, to unleash their Thatcherite dogmas. And no one should forget – as one representative after another of Blair's war camarilla is hauled before the Iraq inquiry – that Cameron and the Tories backed each and every one of those bloody adventures.

Yet despite the deadening consensus in parliament, on many issues there is a progressive majority – particularly in London. At one point there appeared to be flickers of realisation in the Brown circle that this is so. They flirted with the idea of fighting an election contrasting Tory cuts to necessary public investment. But a peashooter across the bows from the Blairites in the New Year put paid to that.

Now we are to face an election with the three parties pushing various permutations of cuts that threaten to plunge the economy into a second slump even as it flatlines from the first. My party, Respect, will be standing in carefully targeted seats in opposition to that. And we will be working with those who also seek to promote a progressive answer to class inequality, war and racism. If we can win in the three seats where we are best placed – Poplar & Limehouse and Bethnal Green & Bow in east London, and Hall Green in Birmingham – we believe we can make a major contribution to shifting the terms of political debate.

We know, of course, that that will not be enough. That's why we are engaging across the board with those who want to defend traditional Labour values. The argument is overwhelming. We are told that the state needs to be cut back. But it is only thanks to the largest ever state peacetime state intervention in the economy that the world has avoided a greater slump than the 1930s, at least for now.

We are told by one general after another that we will have to be in Afghanistan for five, 10, or even 15 years. Yet scepticism about the war has grown and is set, along with Iraq, to provide a backdrop to this year's general election as it did in 2005. The shrill cries of racism, bigotry and Islamophobia are amplified by the media and all too many politicians, giving credence to the hate-mongers of the BNP. Yet more and more people are living and mixing alongside one another in council wards, schools and workplaces across Britain.

The London elections in 2008 saw a progressive coalition emerge. But it was defeated, not because it was too radical, but because it was dragged down by the failure of New Labour in office. As I said to those on the left who appeared indifferent, or even hostile, as to whether Ken Livingstone would remain mayor of London, quoting Joni Mitchell, "You don't know what you've got 'till it's gone." How many people must now bitterly realise that now that Boris Johnson is busy paving, if not paradise, then certainly over one poor community after another in the capital.

The same should not be allowed to happen now nationally. Those who want a fairer and more just society need to band together and stand on principle. We can do that it movements for peace, social justice and against racism. But we should do it where we can at the ballot box too.

• George Galloway is speaking at the Progressive London conference on 30 January at Congress House, Great Russell Street WC1H, 10am-5:30pm. To register in advance go to www.progressivelondon.org.uk

This article first appeared on The Guardian’s Comment is free on Friday 29th January.

Respect Party MP George Galloway will join Ken Livingstone and a wide range of leading writers, commentators, campaigners and politicians at a conference to discuss 'A Progressive Agenda to Stop the Right in 2010'.

The conference on 30 January in London will bring together leading figures to discuss the most important issues for progressive politics in 2010, nationally, internationally and in London.

Other speakers include Professor Tariq Ramadan, Anas Altikriti of the British Muslim Initiative, Speech Debelle, Jon McClure of Reverend and the Makers, Dr Karma Nabulsi, Nizam Uddin (President of the University of London Union), Bellavia Ribeiro-Addy (NUS Black Students’ Officer), Daf Adley (NUS LGBT Officer) and Samuel Moncada the Venezuelan Ambassador to Britain.

Sessions include:

Young People and the Economic Crisis

Gaza 1 Year On

One Society, Many Cultures

Investment not Cuts

Stopping the BNP – no concessions to the far right

There is no progressive imperialism

Other discussions will include culture, climate change, women’s liberation, LGBT rights and defending public services.

Announcing the conference Ken Livingstone said:
“Progressive political forces must seize back the agenda by offering policies that ensure that the majority of people are not made to pay for a crisis they did not create.

The Progressive London conference will look at how we resist cuts to public services, pensions and pay that would hamper economic revival, work together to continue to achieve social progress, take radical steps to protect the planet from climate change and halt the BNP in its tracks by ending the self-defeating cycle of concessions to the far right.”

The Viva Palestina Convoy broke the siege on Gaza in a historic act of solidarity.

Despite being attacked by Egyptian riot police at the port of Al Arish, the 'strong willed' convoy of humanitarians from all over the world carrying much needed medical aid to the people of Gaza reached their final destination and was greeted with cheers from hundreds of well-wishers carrying flowers, warm smiles and chanting Viva Palestina!

Viva Palestina convoy leader Kevin Ovenden said: “We are all emotional to see that all of Gaza are out to greet us! - Our Viva Palestina convoy is symbolic! It shows the Palestinian people just how much the people of the West do care. We come in peace to deliver humanitarian aid and we hope that our convoy (and convoys like ours) will help to build pressure on the Israeli government to break the siege.”

The convoy aimed to cross the Rafah border into Gaza on 27 December 2009, to mark the first anniversary of the beginning of Israel’s 2008/9 land and air assault on Gaza, which killed 1,400 Palestinians in three weeks. The Convoy finally made it to Gaza on January 6th 2010.

Get Involved - National Student Speaking Tour throughout February and March

‘End the Siege on Gaza – Student Eye Witnesses from Viva Palestina Convoy’ national speaker tour will be taking place at universities and colleges across the country throughout February and March.

If you would like to host a meeting on your campus please contact: students@palestinecampaign.org

The tour is organised by Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Viva Palestina, NUS Black Students’ Campaign and Let Palestinians Study.

A report from Students on the Convoy about their experiences in Gaza will be coming soon.

The Viva Palestina convoy is now on the thirtieth day of its mission to deliver vital humanitarian aid to Gaza. After departing from London and travelling through Europe then down through Syria, the convoy was denied entry to Egypt across the Gulf of Aqaba, instead remaining in the Jordanian port of Aqaba. Following many days of protracted negotiations with the Egyptian authorities, the convoy was forced to accept a lengthy and unnecessary detour. This has delayed the aid from arriving at its destination and resulted in some of the convoy members having to return home without reaching Gaza.

The new route saw the convoy head back north to Syria, arriving in the Mediterranean port of Lataika on New Year’s Eve. Yesterday, the vehicles and a handful of the convoy members embarked on a seventeen-hour boat journey to the Egyptian port of El-Arish, which lies just twenty miles west of the Rafah crossing into Gaza. Shortly after midday (GMT) today, the Viva Palestina delegates moved out of the Palestinian refugee camp that had been their home for the last few days and headed for Lataika airport to be shuttled across to El-Arish.

The vehicles have cleared customs and the delegates are ready to fly. The Rafah crossing opened yesterday, so everything appears to be falling into place for the aid to be delivered tomorrow.

Viva Palestina delegate Fiona Edwards has sent the following report from the road to Gaza:
"Whilst many of us on the convoy are very frustrated and disappointed that Egypt has delayed the convoy from entering Gaza in time for the first anniversary of 'Operation Cast Lead' on 27th December to deliver our vital humanitarian aid, spirits are far from low.

For the past four days, the convoy has been hosted by a Palestinian refugee camp in the town of Lattakia, Syria. It has been a great privilege to spend time with refugees who were forced out of their homes in Palestine over 60 years ago and have been prevented from returning ever since.

One Palestinian family generously offered a few members of the convoy, including myself, dinner on New Year's Eve. As fireworks filled the Syrian night sky, I was reminded of the horrors inflicted on the population of Gaza by Israel this time last year; the only thing raining down from the sky in Gaza on 31st December 2008 were burning balls of white phosphorous.

Meeting and staying with Palestinian refugees, who are denied the right to visit their relatives and friends in besieged Gaza, over the past few days has made the convoy more determined than ever to reach Gaza with our aid and solidarity. Long live Palestine - Viva Palestina!"

Ian Drummond, another student on the convoy, commented:
"It has been frustrating that the Egyptian government has deliberately delayed the convoy and sad to see some convoy members have to leave before reaching Gaza as a result. But the overwhelmingly positive response we have received from people along the way, and especially the hospitality and generosity of the Palestinian refugees we've been staying with for the past few days, has raised our spirits and inspired us to see this through to the end.

The reception we've had in Syria (both times we've been here) has been phenomenal. When I went to a poetry night in Damascus in my Viva Palestina t-shirt, I was invited by the compère to make a speech about the convoy! One of the great things about Viva Palestina is that it shows the world that whilst the British government supports Israel's siege on Gaza, ordinary people in Britain have organised and raised money to relieve the suffering that the siege causes. I just hope this delay won't cause any more needless suffering and death in Gaza - because our aid did not reach the people of Gaza who needed it in time."

National Speaker Tour - End the Siege on Gaza

with eye-witnesses from the Viva Palestina convoy

If you would like to organise a meeting on your university or college campus with speakers from the Viva Palestina convoy in February or March, please contact students@palestinecampaign.org.

The convoy's progress can be followed online at:
www.palestinecampaign.org or www.vivapalestina.org.uk
You can also follow the convoy’s progress on Twitter @Pal_S_Campaign or @viva_palestina