British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will tell university leaders on Thursday to do more to combat anti-Semitism on university campuses, a sign of growing dissatisfaction within the government over the growing number of camps set up by students protesting the recent war in Gaza.
Vice-chancellors from some of Britain’s leading universities have been invited to Downing Street to discuss “escalating anti-Semitic abuse against Jewish students in the UK”, Sunak’s office said in a statement ahead of the meeting.
So far, there have been no similar riots in the UK. American campus. But recently, small, largely peaceful protest camps have emerged around several universities, including Oxford, Cambridge, Newcastle, Leeds and Manchester.
“Universities should be places for robust debate, but also bastions of tolerance and respect for every member of the community,” Sunak said in a statement ahead of the meeting. “The few who dare to speak out on our campuses are disrupting the lives of their classmates. and learning, in some cases, promoting blatant harassment and anti-Semitic abuse. “This must stop.”
The Prime Minister’s Office did not mention specific camps in its statement but cited concerns from the Jewish Students Union, which said it represents 9,000 Jewish students across the UK and Ireland. “While students have the right to protest, these camps create a hostile and toxic atmosphere for Jewish students on campus,” the group said recently.
Downing Street also cited figures from the Community Security Trust, a charity that aims to protect British Jews from anti-Semitism, due to be set up in 2023 182 university-related anti-Semitic incidents recordedthree times the number recorded in 2022. Tell mom, one government-funded groups The organization monitors incidents of Islamophobia and provides support to victims, and said it also noted recent rise Anti-Muslim incidents on campus.
Although British police have so far not intervened significantly to break up the student protests, they have been at the forefront of large-scale pro-Gaza demonstrations, particularly in London.
Last year, Sunak and former home secretary Suella Braverman urged police to ban a march, but it eventually went ahead. Ms Braverman was subsequently sacked after she described the tens of thousands of people who took part in regular pro-Palestinian protests in London on Saturday as “hate marchers”, “Islamists” and a “mob” despite the fact that the demonstrations Mostly peaceful.
Downing Street said government plans on Thursday made it clear universities must take immediate disciplinary action if any student is found to be inciting racial hatred or violence, and must contact the police if they believe a crime has been committed.
The talks will also aim to help develop new official guidelines for combating anti-Semitism on campuses. The government said the Office for Students, the higher education regulator, may also have the power to impose penalties if there is clear evidence that universities have failed to take adequate or appropriate action to address harassment, including anti-Semitic abuse.
Gavriel Sachs, co-president of the Cambridge University Jewish Society, said in a phone interview that the organization has increased its support for students by offering mental health activities and movie nights.
Sacks, 20, said anxiety among some Jewish students at Cambridge has increased in recent months, especially in the past week after the camp was set up on Monday.
But he said the encampment and the protests themselves were “largely peaceful,” and while people had reason to be anxious, he said he still felt safe on campus.
“We don’t want to exaggerate or make people more anxious,” he said.
Sachs said he was informed of some anti-Semitic remarks made at the rally directed at apparently Jewish people. He said two Jewish students on their way to morning prayers on Tuesday were called “pigs.”
“We do believe it represents a minority,” he said of the anti-Semitic rhetoric. But he said there were still concerns.
However, groups representing Jewish students at Cambridge and other campuses have also been involved in supporting pro-Palestinian camps. For example, the Jewish Society of SOAS, University of London, say on social media It’s “shoulder to shoulder” with classmates who set up camp on Monday.
“We will not stand idly by while the media cynically uses false concerns about Jewish safety to demonize our cause,” the group said.
Professor Deborah Prentiss, vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge, said in a statement that the university was “fully committed to the right to free speech and protest within the law”. She added that the university’s top priority remains “the safety of our staff and students.” We will not tolerate anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, or any other form of racial or religious hatred in our community. “
