Students who have raised concerns over anti-Semitism at Oxford University have been told they should leave, a letter from staff and students claims (Telegraph).
The letter, sent to Prof Irene Tracey, the university’s vice-chancellor, as well as deans and proctors, claims that there has been a lack of aid and sympathy for Jews, who face harassment and a hostile environment on campus.
The letter, whose signatories wish to remain anonymous, also accused the university of promoting “conspiratorial narratives”, as well as failure in reporting procedures in the past seven months.
They claim the university is becoming a “no-go area” for Jews and Israelis and that when some individuals raised concerns to their heads of programmes, they were “simply advised to leave Oxford”.
The letter states: “We have felt isolated, unsafe, targeted, stressed, disappointed, angry and hopeless. Many of us have faced all manners of anti-Semitic slurs.”
It also details a list of 70 incidents that are alleged to have occurred since the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel on Oct 7.
The letter says a group of students told a Jewish student that “the Jews control the American government”, “Jews are everywhere”, and that they had “a Jewish nose”.
In another incident, the signatories said: “In vigils for the [Israeli] hostages, university members, mainly students, shouted at us, told us we are kid murderers, that we are spreading conspiracy theories and ‘Zionist propaganda’, and they vandalised our displays for the hostages. In fact, almost every time we did such a display, it was vandalised by organised groups from the university.”
They also claim that calls for violence are constantly heard in pro-Palestinian protests in Oxford, such as calling for the elimination of the Jewish state, “Palestine from the river to the sea”, “Intifada”, “the resistance is justified”, “globalise the Intifada”, “Israel is a terror state”, “From Oxford to Gaza: long live the Intifada”, “Israel, Oxford, USA, how many kids did you kill today?”.
The letter, which was sent last week, states: “Those places at the university, sometimes during working hours, became a no-go area for most Israelis and Jewish for seven months now.”
A University of Oxford spokesman said: “The University is unequivocal in its position that there is no place for anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, or unlawful discrimination of any kind directed towards any faith, race, nationality or ethnic group at the University of Oxford. All complaints related to harassment or discrimination of any kind are taken seriously, and formal complaints are always investigated if they are considered to have taken place within the university context.
“We are in active conversation with the authors of the open letter about their concerns and to offer them further support. We have also written to update all staff and students this week about the university’s wider approach to the ongoing crisis in Gaza. This includes guidance on reporting cases of discrimination and harassment, and guidelines to ensure that student protests are conducted lawfully and safely for all members of the university’s community and the public.”
Since Israel’s military response to Hamas’s October 7th terrorist attack on its southern Kibbutzim, the FSU has regularly been asked where the legal line between free speech and ‘hate speech’ is drawn, specifically in the current context.
In response, we’ve produced two comprehensive set of FAQs on the issue for our members.
One relates to freedom of expression, the other on campus — outlining the relevant laws to be aware of and shedding light on that difficult ‘grey zone’ where the boundary is between lawful free speech and speech that may be construed as stirring up hatred or inciting violence. Click the button below to read the FAQs on the legal limits to online freedom of expression.
And the FAQs on the limits to freedom of expression on campus are below.
To join us and get access to these and the many other, similar documents we prepare for our members, click the button below. Without your support we wouldn’t be able to do the work that we do, standing up for the free speech rights of our members in the workplace and the public square. Membership starts from just £4.99 a month, and includes regular newsletters, FAQs and briefings, exclusive online content and free or heavily discounted tickets to our regular live events — link is below!
