The Oxford University Labour Club (OULC) has become embroiled in a controversy concerning anti-Semitism after its co-chairman, Alex Chalmers, resigned when the club endorsed Israeli Apartheid Week.

Chalmers, a member of Oriel College, Oxford, issued a statement on Monday stating that he was going to step down, arguing that a large section of the student Left in the city and OULC “have some kind of problem with Jews”.

He added that the club was “increasingly riven by factional splits” and that “despite its avowed commitment to liberation, the attitude of certain members of the club towards certain disadvantaged groups was becoming poisonous”.

In a statement, Cambridge Universities Labour Club said it was “saddened by the allegations of anti-Semitism in the Oxford University Labour Club. Anti-Semitism has absolutely no place in the Labour movement – it is sinister, dangerous and morally degraded, and we hope that OULC will be able to stamp it out.”

The club’s decision to support Israeli Apartheid Week, which seeks to emphasise Israel’s “on-going settler-colonial project and apartheid policies over the Palestinian people”, has caused anger among some Labour MPs, who have called for the party to formally disassociate from OULC.

Ed Miliband has cancelled his planned address to OULC in reaction to the allegations. He was due to appear on 4th March, when OULC will hold its John Smith Memorial Dinner.

A spokesperson for the former Labour leader told the New Statesman: “Ed is deeply disturbed to hear of reports of anti-Semitism in the Oxford University Labour Club. It is right that the executive of the club has roundly condemned the comments and fully co-operates with the Labour Students investigation. Ed and the Labour Club have agreed that his talk should be postponed until the investigation is resolved.”

Oxford University’s Jewish Society (Oxford JSoc) likewise said it was “saddened” by the anti-Semitic reports, but said it “stands fully in support of Alex Chalmers’ decision to resign.”

The Society continued by saying that it was “unsurprised” by the news, and that it was not the first time anti-Semitic incidents had occurred within the student Left, adding that “it will not be the last.”

Noni Csogor, the remaining OULC co-chair, said that she was “deeply upset” with Mr Chalmers’s decision to step down, but said that he was “right to highlight growing anti-Semitic violence in the UK as a major issue”.

The Labour Party’s national student organisation, Labour Students, is launching an inquiry into the allegations of anti-Semitism that have arisen at the OULC.