“Why might senior Jewish academics write to the Secretary of State for Education objecting to the decision of the Union of Jewish Students (UJS) and the Board of Deputies to support her move to “pause” the implementation of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act, signed into law a year ago?”, ask a group of eminent intellectuals in an important intervention published in The Jewish Chronicle. They continue:
No, we are not a huddle of radical-left haters of Israel, though our views of what is happening in Israel and Gaza vary. We include four fellows of the British Academy, the national academy for the humanities and social sciences; and eight Oxbridge professors.
We believe that the UJS and the Board have made a catastrophic error in supporting a decision that will hinder, not help, the already difficult position of Jewish students on campuses. Why does the Board of Deputies think it speaks here for the whole Jewish community, or for Jewish academics?
The naivety of those who support the pausing of the Act – a decision that is being challenged at law by the doughty warriors of the Free Speech Union – is made plain when one realises that a smokescreen has been created. Still embarrassed by Corbynista antisemitism, the Labour government is trying to flatter Jews, while calculating that it must also win back votes from another, much larger, community.
[The Education Secretary] Bridget Phillipson has emphasised that universities must do more to address antisemitism. Vice-chancellors need to recognise that universities, institutions created to encourage the open exchange of ideas, have been corrupted by antisemitic hate speech in public and in private.
The aim of the Act is to ensure that the claims of activists can be openly countered by, for instance, speakers who wish to defend Israel or discuss other contentious issues such as biological gender or the history of colonialism; and the Act provides that the university, not the organiser, has to cover the cost of security, making it impossible to argue that an event was cancelled because of security concerns. Universities that fail to uphold these principles will be subject to fines.
The Act is intended to help universities recover their role as places where open discussion is practised in search of the truth, in a climate where mutual tolerance is expected.
Cataclysmic ignorance about why Israel came into existence, not to mention the often fraught history of the Jews, has spread like wildfire.
Yes, ignorance as well as knowledge can spread, and the Act provides a platform for those of us who wish to speak for the Jewish community and for Israel. Jews can only flourish where there is free speech.
Worth reading in full.
The Free Speech Union has launched a legal challenge against Bridget Phillipson, threatening her with a judicial review if she doesn’t reverse her decision to suffocate the Freedom of Speech Act, which we think was unlawful.
This is likely to prove expensive, so please, if you can, make a donation to our legal fighting fund.
