According to Zamzam Ibrahim, 24, from Greater Manchester, the government’s counter-extremism strategy is “disastrous” and “racist”. Ibrahim was elected as NUS president at their annual conference, the union’s third female Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic president in a row. Her parents were Somali refugees to the UK.
The National Union of Students of the United Kingdom (NUS) is a confederation of students’ unions in the United Kingdom. Around 600 students’ unions are affiliated, accounting for more than 95 percent of all higher and further education unions in the UK. The NUS is the central organisation for all affiliated unions in the UK.
Under the hashtag #IfIWasPresident, she tweeted in 2012: “I’d oppress white people just to give them a taste of what they put us through!” She even included the urban expression “LMFAO”, which is the abbreviation for “Laughing My Fucking Arse Off”.
Responding to questions online about her favorite book, she noted: “The Quraan. We would have an Islamic takeover!”
NUS is also a member of the European Students’ Union.
Responding to earlier question about friendship between men and women, she said: “I’ve had this debate with many friends! Maybe in some cases but Islamically it’s incorrect for girls to be friends with a guy anyway!”
When questioned about her views, she claimed that her remarks should not be taken “out of context” and they were from a time when she was “struggling” with her view of the world.
She went on: “I was grappling with the deep injustices I could see around me and trying to figure out how I could make the world a better place. I said these things when I was young, impressionable and still developing my personality and opinions”.
Despite her outdated notions of gender equality, Ibrahim said: “I have been fighting for liberation, equality and against injustice throughout my time both within and out of the student movement.”
Ibrahim has taken over the leadership role of the NUS from Shakira Martin (28) a self-confessed drug dealer who did not attend university.
She is not stranger to controversy after having received received national media attention for the posts in her position at Salford Students’ Union in 2017, in which she complained about the “hate, rape” and “attempts to intimidate me out of the public discourse” there.
She criticised the media for portraying her as a “fanatical Muslim and a threat to British society” on the basis of her various hatefilled tweets.
“I have worked with interfaith, anti-racist and diversity organisations, bringing communities together to foster inclusivity and respect. This work will be at the heart of NUS going forward,” she said.
Ibrahim, who has been elected as president for 2019, has also pledged to lead a National Student Strike and a reintroduction of a post-study work visa for foreign students.
She recently tweeted that the heatwave in Europe was a clear sign of an Islamic Resurrection.
If this isn’t a sign of yomal qiyamah, I don’t know what is! https://t.co/XjOiE88IYR
— Zamzam Ibrahim (@ZamzamMCR) July 27, 2019