This week’s debate in the House of Lords about antisemitism on British university campuses is one of the most alarming I have ever participated in.
The House sat in hushed silence as it was hit by a relentless wave of traumatic testimonies from young Jewish students retold by more than a dozen Peers of all political persuasions. These brave Jewish students have defied their hateful tormenters by ensuring their voices feature in StandWithUs UK’s shattering new report. The report will act as a valuable historical record of the appalling antisemitic abuse and support for terror groups which has taken root at our universities.
Students who express support for Israel, who speak Hebrew, who wear symbols of their Jewish identity, are being harassed, vilified, and in some cases, physically threatened. The message is clear: if you believe in the right of the Jewish people to have a homeland, you are unwelcome. The testimonies come from universities in all corners of the UK and show that university staff are often as guilty as their students in their intolerance and vile racist distortions.
The pre-October 7th red lines of anti-Israel rhetoric have been long since superseded. Hamas may not be winning the war in Gaza but this report shows that their viciously distorted and fundamentally racist propaganda is helping them win the battle of ideas and the battle for hearts and minds on our campuses.
This moral nadir is perhaps best encapsulated by the fact that 18 student bodies have supported the legal efforts to decriminalise Hamas as a terror group. You don’t need me to point out how offensive this is.
Lord Shinkwin
The notion that this sort of activity is ‘anti-Zionism’ is laughable. These are not expressions of political debate. This is targeted abuse rooted in the demonisation of Zionism, an identity that, for many Jews, is not a political theory, but ancestral truth. This shouldn’t be controversial or complicated. It is, unmistakably, undiluted anti-Jewish racism. For the sake of our society, it must be robustly dealt with now.
The report makes a key recommendation: universities must explicitly recognise the link between anti-Zionism and antisemitism and incorporate that understanding into training, policy, and disciplinary frameworks. They must affirm the right of Jewish students to express ties to Israel without fear. This is an important step forward.
However, university authorities – cowered by the mob and seemingly conscious of valuable investments from terror-supporting states – are unlikely to reach this point out of their own goodwill.
The law is being broken in plain sight and yet university authorities continue to shrug their shoulders and wring their hands. This necessitates immediate Government intervention.
The time has come for the Government and the Office for Students to impose punitive financial sanctions on universities for failing to protect their Jewish students and rid their campuses of terrorist sympathisers.
The Prime Minister has spoken of his commitment to ridding university campuses of antisemitism. This is, of course, welcome but the real test remains unmet. We have long since gone beyond the point of empty rhetoric. It’s worth remembering that Jewish students aren’t looking for special treatment – they merely want dignity, the ability to enjoy their university years in safety, and to benefit from the same equality and protections that all other students from minority communities receive.
SWU UK’s report should leave us all holding our heads in our hands. Revelations of antisemitism on campus are nothing new, but it has entered a more hateful and threatening level in the 18 painful months since 7th October. As I said in the Lords this week, unless urgent action is taken, how long will it be before one of our students is killed for the crime of being Jewish?
- The Lord Shinkwin is a Member of the House of Lords
