68 No. 73 JUSTICE separate questions, between three and four times the number of students reported being victim of physical or verbal antisemitic attacks on campus, in the classroom or online after October 7, 2023, as compared with before that date. There were three key findings: (1) There was an increase of up to 34 percentage points in the rates of antisemitic abuse in universities since October 7. These include physical attacks, threats of rape, violence, verbal abuse, harassment, and use of Nazi imagery. (2) Jewish students were withdrawing from all aspects of university life, including lecture halls and seminar rooms, online learning spaces, social activities, and entire areas of campus. More than half of the respondents reported being fearful of being on campus, and three-quarters reported being uncomfortable to be open about their Jewish identity. The consequential impact on their ability to participate in university life, let alone their mental and physical health, is profound. This is particularly striking given that the respondents to the survey are likely to be those for whom a Jewish identity plays a significant role in their life. (3) There was compelling evidence that some universities are failing in their responsibility to adequately safeguard Jewish students from verbal abuse and physical attack. Small, but concerning, numbers relate to personal experience of physical attack, rising from 1.8% to 5.2% since October 7 and fear for one’s safety on campus, rising from 17.1% to 53.9%. In other words, more than half of respondents fear for their safety on campus, meaning that they are not having anything like a normal experience of university life. Since October 7, respondents have been avoiding some student groups for fear of insult, harassment, or demonization at rates of 74%; some classes at 33%; some lecturers at 33%; some other staff at 31%; and some buildings or campus areas at 63%. Lastly, we highlight the following comparison rates of being comfortable about Jewish identity before and since October 7: while before, 78.9% were either “somewhat” or “very” comfortable about “being open about your Jewish identity,” only 21.7% were correspondingly comfortable since October 7. For completeness, the comparative figures for “somewhat uncomfortable” or “very uncomfortable” rose from 12.2% to 69.6%. In many ways, while emphasizing that they are indicative rather than representative, the survey results are unsurprising in that they confirm what many people in higher education have reported witnessing or experiencing in UK universities. The data demonstrate the scale of the problem, underscoring the pressing need to combat the surge in antisemitism over the past year across UK universities. The percentage of students who have personally experienced antisemitism across different spaces is up to 30 points higher than prior to October 7. The most worrying statistic is a rise to nearly 70% of students feeling uncomfortable about their Jewish identity – such high levels of discomfort help explain the patterns of spatial avoidance also reported here. Those experiences have been across all spaces. In this section we provide a few illustrative examples from the many hundreds of responses received. Students reported physical attacks, including violence, being spat at after leaving a Jewish religious event, being “chased by a man with a large glass bottle,” having rubbish thrown at them, being pelted by eggs after hearing the Chief Rabbi speak on campus, and having “Magen David” (Star of David – the universal Jewish symbol) necklaces grabbed from around their necks. Students also reported an increase in verbal threats of violence. These included threats being made from passing cars, passersby, or people known to the students. Respondents noted that they had reported these to the police, to the CST,38 and/ or to the university; some are still awaiting a satisfactory response.39 Verbal harassment was a significant theme in the free text responses to the survey, with many students giving examples of how this was manifested. Some harassment was evidently deliberately targeted at students known to be Jewish. One student reported that s/he was “called a child murderer because I said I was Israeli.” Another explained that “someone threatened to rape me and called me names because I was Jewish.” One student encountered protestors in her/his building who called her/him “a Zionist Nazi” as they tried to move past the protest. Others were opportunistic incidents aimed at students who were visibly Jewish, including antisemitic slurs when walking past encampments, “several occasions of complete 38. The Community Security Trust (CST) is a UK registered charity that protects British Jews from antisemitism and related threats, working in coordination with the police. 39. “It has led to me receiving threats that I would be physically hurt if I am seen at campus. I have not attended… campus and am taking a year out for my safety. I reported it via the student discipline process one and a half months ago but have not had a response, even after sending multiple follow up emails asking for updates.”
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