Oxford Israel Society President in crisis

The newly reinvigorated Oxford University Israel Society has run in to some teething issues, as the President bars members from attending meetings and removes others from the society for “publicly attacking [his] leadership.”

Richard Black of Lincoln College, President of the Oxford University Israel Society, has managed to upset a few of his members by operating with a ‘one warning policy’, whereby members who question him are removed unless they publicly apologise.

Richard Black – Hot Stuff.

Black appears to have:

• Censored comments for disagreeing with him,
• Restricted attendance of the Society’s elections,
• Removed members from the group for refusing to apologise to him for questioning his leadership.

Richard Black, much like Eric Cartman (pictured) just wants to have his authority respected. 

The society’s (as of yet unratified) constitution affords the President the privilege to ‘expel any member who breaks the rules of the Society.’

One member was removed for “questioning [Black’s] leadership and the character of the society.”

Another was removed despite Black admitting that they had “not broken any rules.”

The bottom of Richard’s  700 word rant that literally would not fit on our screen. Read at your own peril.

However, some members expressed dismay at the removal of some of those in the group, with one commenting: “Richard, you have made a mistake kicking [member] out of the group. Let go of your pride and fix it.”

In a correspondence with The Tab, Black  also denied access to the General Meeting of OUIS, explaining that “Seeing as you are a recent member…. and are employed by the Tab… I have to decline your request to join our General Meeting.”

“I cast you out from the land of OUIS.”

Richard Black also went further, explaining: “[OUIS] is based around open and frank discussion…”

He went on to accuse the Tab journalist (of Jewish descent) of “utter contempt for the State of Israel and Jews more widely.”

Luckily, he did go on to explain that “What is and is not in the Constitution does not hinder me.”

This is what “open and frank discussion” looks like.

Other members of the Israel Society have voiced their concern over the group’s direction, saying: “The sentiments expressed by Richard in that email do not in any way represent the wishes or views of all society members.

Refusing access to the General Meeting in this way is a wholly inappropriate way of running a vibrant, diverse and multifaceted Israel society. Constitutional motions were already in the offing to restrict the powers of the president before now.”

When contacted for comment, Black claimed that “What I said in that email was purely done in a personal capacity…”

Black then repeated his claims of anti-Semitism, and went on to say “As for the General Meeting, I reserve my right at discretion to vet individuals who want to attend.”