'I stopped speaking Hebrew on campus,' 'I had to be escorted to the classroom,' 'my religion, identity and dignity were put on trial': These are just some of the testimonies of Jewish students at British universities, published in the new StandWithUs UK report into the unprecedented levels of antisemitism since October, 7, 2023.
The report, published on Wednesday, depicts the isolation, harassment and abuse of Jewish students on British campuses, as well as the ways in which university authorities have let them down.
It also contains a series of recommendations which were endorsed by 8 cross-party parliamentarians from both Houses.
These include recommendations for sanctions to be imposed on universities failing to comply with existing laws and guidelines, and for the government to launch an independent inquiry into the issue of antisemitism and extremism on campus.
Additionally, the House of Lords debated the report on Wednesday evening.
The students' testimonies
One of the most prolific features of the testimonies is outspoken student and staff support for proscribed terror groups, mainly Hamas and Hezbollah.
One student, from King's College London, recalled a Cold War lecture turning into a 50-minute discussion defending Hamas' actions on October 7, during which Hamas was called a "pioneer of change."
Another student, at City St George's, said one lecturer has publicly pro-Hamas views and yet "staff and campus security are turning a blind eye to open support for terrorism." A third student at the University of East Anglia said the Student Union's Campaigns and Democracy Officer had posted online material celebrating October 7 on the day of the massacre, and no disciplinary action was ever taken.
At the University of Exeter, a student reportedly claimed "If I was Palestinian, I would join Hamas."
On another occasion, an Exeter student set up a pro-Israel stall which was "surrounded by an aggressive mob."
"They screamed abuse at us, damaged our materials, and threw red liquid on our Israeli flag."
"No consequences, no investigation, no statement, no disciplinary process, just silence." These same words are echoed by almost every student in the report. The students report feeling failed and abandoned, as well as unsafe.
Some were encouraged to make complaints, such as one KCL student who was asked to lodge a report through the KCL Report and Support system, however "nothing changed."
The testimonies are not limited to rhetoric, and multiple students reported experiencing violence and physical threats. One student – 'T' – mentioned in the report spoke to The Jerusalem Post on condition of anonymity.
'T' experienced her first antisemitism on the first day of university in September 2024, when her degree course's group chat posted a lecture series about the conflict. One student said it was "an attempt to educate the Zionists." When T queried why a Zionist needed educating, the replies became aggressive. "Is there a f***ing Zionist in the group chat," and "we've fished out a Zionist," were just some of the messages sent in response to her message.
'T' told the Post that her peers called for the admin to "get rid of her."
"I was terrified to go into school the next day," 'T' told the Post. "My brother escorted me to classes, stood outside my lectures, I was literally scared that I would be attacked."
She added that most of her peers began to ignore her, and most stopped talking.
However, the situation escalated on 7 October 2024, the one year anniversary of the Hamas massacre.
"A pro-Palestinian walkout was scheduled for that day, followed by a rally outside. We organized a counter-protest with Israeli flags."
After the protest, 'T' went on her phone and found that the same group chat had posted pictures of her at the counter-protest calling her a "dirty Zionist," saying they wished she would "kill herself," and threatening that if security had not be present, "people would have thrown hands."
That evening, she saw that someone had anonymously posted pictures of her on a humorous KCL confessions page, asking "can we get names for these faces." Someone had tagged her in the comments section, after which she was flooded with threats.
"I was actually distraught, inconsolable," she told the Post.
From this point, her father and three men from the Jewish Society escorted her everywhere on campus, and sat in class with her to the extent of missing their own classes.
"I missed a load of classes because I felt so unsafe. There were rows of empty seats next to me, people talking behind my back."
She added that someone she thought was a friend was peer-pressured into no-longer speaking to her, and that students would discuss her in seminars.
"I was hate-crimed, doxed and threatened, alienated and ostracized," she said. "Has anyone been punished? Has the university done anything? Has the police done anything? No."
'T' spoke to everyone she could in management: the dean of the university, the dean of faculty, the vice dean of faculty, the department lead, but nothing was done.
Despite everything she experienced, 'T' told the Post that she chose to become louder and more outspoken in her activism: "If they are going to hate me before I even open my mouth, I may as well open my mouth," she said.
'T' was not the only KCL student reporting threats of violence; a different KCL student wrote in the Stand With Us report that they hosted an event that was "stormed" by pro-Palestinian students.
"The situation escalated quickly. Campus security later told me it was the worst violence they had seen since the encampments last year. I was nearly physically assaulted."
Similarly to 'T', the student reported the incident to multiple people in upper management, but "not one person has been held accountable."
The student also said that there is no room for dissenting voices in the student union, as it is "openly known hat to win the vote, you must secure what is referred to as 'the Muslim vote.'"
After October 7, a University of St Andrews student said they returned to their university room to find all their Jewish and Israeli students thrown on the floor.
"This flat will not support an inhumane government or the terrorist activities of the IDF," their flatmate told them.
A University of Manchester student was reported for Islamophobia after calling out peers celebrating the Hamas attacks. The student was then "harassed, doxed and publicly vilified."
Other testimonies range from being told "Hamas is anti-Israel not antisemitic," by a lecturer to finding a swastika carved into a desk.
House of Lords debate
“Page after page [of the report] is littered with examples of loud and virulent support for Hamas and Hezbollah," said Lord Cryer (Labour), the House of Lords discussion on the matter on Wednesday.
"These are both proscribed as terrorist organisations, and expressing support for proscribed organisations should be met with the full force of the law”
“Example after example across many universities in this country. Including threats, intimidation and physical attacks of Jewish students," he said. "Jewish students being ostracised by other students. While in many cases university authorities stand idly by or actually sort of vaguely tacitly side with the aggressors”
Lord Leigh of Hurley referenced Stand With US's 2024 survey which found that only 33% of British students described Hamas's attacks as terrorism.
"We are in trouble," he said. “The SWU UK report confirms the terrible state that we have come to where high-levels of antisemitic abuse seem now to be normal on campus."
Baroness Deech drew attention to the fact that 18 student bodies have decided to support the legal action to decriminalise Hamas.
“We need implementation and enforcement. No more handwringing. No more robotic statements from Vice Chancellors," she said.
She added that the government at the Office for Students should "not hesitate to fine universities that tolerate this hate and break the law. Staff and students who behave like this should be expelled or suspended. Universities funding of student unions should be leveraged to ensure legal behaviour”
Lord Gold suggested the UK Government to “withdraw visas from international students who incite racial hatred” in a similar way to what the Trump administration is currently doing on US campuses.
Baroness Altman said “UK universities are no longer feeling like safe places or inclusive spaces for the 9,000 Jewish students on our campuses" adding that "Islamist groups have infiltrated our universities at all levels."
“To Jewish students and most Jews the suggestion that Hamas is not a terrorist group is truly frightening. After the actions it perpetrated – beheading, rape, kidnapping and ongoing terror – it is I believe the duty of many of our universities to wake up to the threats that are all around them.”
“We the taxpayers fund our universities to the tune of £24billion a year and yet we are expected to turn a blind eye to what is happening," said Baroness Foster of Oxton.
Recommendations for combating campus antisemitism
The peers shared similar solutions to the Stand With Us report, which gave six recommendations: recognition, accountability, expulsion, inquiry, oversight, and inclusion.
Firstly, the report calls for anti-Zionist rhetoric to be recognized as a form of antisemitism, and suggests that universities receive training on the intersection between the two.
Stand With Us also said that universities should be held accountable by the UK Government when antisemitism occurs in their institutions. This "zero-tolerance" policy should also involve consequences and public condemnations when needed.
On a similar vein, the report called for a government-backed public inquiry into systemic failures resulting in the proliferation of antisemitism in UK universities.
Similarly to the ongoing US crackdown, the report urged universities to discipline students who promote violence on campus or in some cases, expel them. "Universities must enforce clear and consistent consequences for those who promote hate speech, glorify terrorism, or engage in antisemitic harassment."
It also asked universities to oversee union activities, and engage Jewish students in the creation of inclusion policies.
