BDS demonstration (file)
BDS demonstration (file)Reuters

The UK's official student body, the National Union of Students (NUS), has voted to boycott all Israeli companies and officially affiliate with the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement.

The vote was taken during a meeting of the NUS Executive Council on Tuesday.

Motion 518a - entitled "Solidarity with Palestine: Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions" - was tabled by the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). SOAS has been a hotbed of anti-Israel activities, and many Jewish students have complained that anti-Semitic harassment and bullying is rampant at the institution.

According to the Jewish Chronicle, the vote was conducted via secret ballot, and was initially due to be held at the NUS national conference in April, but postponed due to shortage of debate time.

The vote follows last year's decision by NUS to endorse the BDS movement and encourage students to participate in actions against Israel, triggering condemnation from the Union of Jewish Students (UJS).

Astonishingly, the same NUS last year rejected a motion condemning the brutal ISIS terrorist group, claiming that a motion by pro-Kurdish students to do so was "Islamophobic."