University societies are glorifying Hamas and spreading antisemitic messages, fuelling campus tensions to the point that Jewish sixth-formers are now attending workshops to prepare for potential abuse.
The higher education regulator has warned universities that free speech does not extend to the harassment of Jewish students or support for terrorist groups. Its intervention follows revelations that student activists have been sharing material sympathetic to Hamas.
An investigation by The Times found that student groups have praised terrorist “martyrs”, including the architect of the October 7th attack that left over 1,200 dead, and engaged with social media posts depicting Hamas fighters. Societies at Russell Group universities have also circulated antisemitic tropes.
In response, training workshops are being held for Jewish sixth-formers preparing for university, equipping them to deal with antisemitism on campus. Robert Halfon, a Conservative former universities minister who participated in a workshop, described the levels of intimidation as a “shocking stain on our university system”.
The Times has the full story:
A series of student societies have posted material that appears to be in breach of their university’s code of conduct promoting respect and prohibiting offensive and intimidating behaviour.
At the University of Leeds, the Students Against Apartheid Coalition liked a post which referred to “messages from the resistance” and showed a photograph of Hamas fighters on a stage during an Israeli prisoner exchange. The series of posts said that oppressed Palestinians would defeat “the Nazi Zionism”, a common antisemitic trope.
Action For Palestine at Queen Mary University in east London, shared a post that praised terrorist “martyrs” including Yahya Sinwar, who masterminded the October 7 attacks, and Hassan Nasrallah, a Hezbollah leader in Lebanon killed in an Israeli airstrike.
In January, Cardiff Students For Palestine shared an image of Hamas fighters surrounding Israeli hostages, with the caption: “Glory To The Resistance.” The account also shared and liked images of fighters from Hamas, which is a proscribed terrorist organisation, celebrating on the streets of Gaza. One showed a Hamas fighter surrounded by children with the caption “the resistance will never die”.
At Cambridge University, students used Instagram to spread a conspiracy theory about Israel stealing and trafficking the organs of Palestinians.
The analysis found numerous other examples at universities across the country where student societies shared Hamas propaganda.
A spokeswoman for the Office for Students, the independent regulator in England, said: “Universities and colleges should take steps to uphold free speech within the law for students, staff and visiting speakers. But this does not, and cannot, include discrimination against, or harassment of, Jewish students or staff, or any other conduct prohibited by law, including unlawful support for a proscribed organisation.”
She said universities should have effective policies in place to prevent harassment.
The Community Security Trust, which highlights instances of antisemitism, said that such online behaviour required “urgent, clearly defined disciplinary action”.
There were also tensions at King’s College London this month when Gaza protesters hijacked an event titled: “From Conflict to Connection: Israelis and Iranians in Dialogue.” The event moderator, a 21-year-old Jewish student, who asked not to be named, said he hid in a nearby room after the event was mobbed by protesters.
“It was a legitimate panel discussion that was focused on dialogue,” he said, “so it is quite telling that it got shut down by the very people who say they don’t want violence.”
He said that Jewish students were made to feel unwelcome by some students on campuses and that “antisemitism is disguised as anti-Zionism”.
Worth reading in full.
While The Times’ analysis highlights the alarming spread of Hamas propaganda and antisemitic rhetoric on campus, a recent report provides a more comprehensive, data-driven picture of the impact on Jewish students across Britain.
According to research from the Intra-Communal Professorial Group (ICPG), Jewish students are increasingly “withdrawing from all aspects of university life, including lecture theatres, online learning spaces, seminar rooms, social activities and entire areas of campus” due to rising antisemitism amid the Hamas-Israel conflict.
The ICPG report found that more than half of Jewish students surveyed felt unsafe on campus, while three-quarters were uncomfortable being open about their identity. Some reported feeling pressured into avoiding Jewish events or wearing anything visibly Jewish.
Before Hamas’s 7th October attacks, 79 per cent of Jewish students felt at ease disclosing their faith. That figure has since plummeted to 21.7 per cent, with reports of antisemitic abuse rising by 34 percentage points. The abuse ranges from physical assaults and threats of rape and violence to verbal harassment and the use of Nazi imagery.
The report also identified a “small but concerning” rise in physical attacks against Jewish students, with the percentage reporting such incidents increasing from 1.8 per cent to 5.2 per cent since 7th October. These attacks include students being spat at after attending a Jewish religious event, “chased by a man with a large glass bottle”, pelted with eggs after hearing the Chief Rabbi speak on campus, having rubbish thrown at them, and having Star of David necklaces ripped from around their necks.
