34 No. 76 JUSTICE defended, and that even when challenged by academics the students refused to remove the content and instead insisted that the Jewish students leave the group. Others explained that their course mates deliberately intimidated and bullied them into not attending classes or lectures. One student described it as: “A deterioration since 7th October with anti-Jewish racism openly expressed in class which would never be tolerated against another racial group.” Exclusion and “deliberate isolation by my classmates” were reported to have impacted Jewish students’ ability to join groups needed for coursework, intimidated them from attending lectures and seminars, and impacted beyond those study spaces into their home and social lives. Many reported problems with their flat mates, with one “having to move house” because of antisemitism. Another reported being “excluded from my society” for being Israeli. All these forms of antisemitism contribute to the sense of isolation that was reported widely across the different universities. The most common theme among students relates to the hostile environment for Jewish students. This is not necessarily about specific antisemitic actions or speech, but rather the creation of an intimidating or abusive environment in which Jewish students are not able to study and live in UK universities in the way that other students are able to do so. It is more difficult to quantify the “hostile environment” than other forms of antisemitism. Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) and De-Zionizing Universities On October 7, 2025, students and staff in some UK universities demonstrated against Israel. While some universities − and indeed the UK Prime Minister17 − made clear how inappropriate and insensitive this would be and ultimately banned the students from doing so on campus, others simply allowed the protests to go ahead. The University of Edinburgh repeatedly ignored concerns raised by academics, students and communal groups about protests planned for that day. Hundreds of protestors, many masked, gathered in the square outside the university library, carrying placards and chanting in English and Arabic.18 This followed weeks of complaints to the university about posters supporting Hamas displayed prominently in buildings, which the university failed to act upon. The posters were only removed when a member of the public reported the issue to the Council, demanding action on grounds that they glorified terrorism. Police Scotland was called by the Council and they instructed the Head of School to take the posters down and keep them out of public sight. The end of the war ought to have seen a decrease in antisemitism. Instead, emboldened by institutions failing to take meaningful action against antisemitism, academics and students have increased their antisemitic activity. In November 2025, an academic was recorded teaching antisemitism in a classroom at University College London (UCL). Dr. Samar Maqusi told students that in 1840, Jews killed a monk in Damascus to use his blood to make food for Tabernacles.19 The antisemitic “blood libel” conspiracy theory has been used to torture, displace and murder Jews. The university authorities acted swiftly in banning the speaker from campus and reporting her to the police.20 They suspended the Students for Justice for Palestine society from holding further events.21 But of course this was an easy case for them to deal with as the academic was not employed by the University and the blood libel is widely understood to be traditional antisemitism. The same week that UCL featured in national headlines for the blood libel lecture, it also attempted, but ultimately failed, to cancel a talk by one of its own law professors about how “the existence” of Israel is the reason for all Palestinian suffering. Professor Ralph Wilde has spent much of his career regularly and publicly stating that 17. Stuart Lau and André Rhoden-Paul, “PM urges students not to join pro-Palestinian protests on 7,” BBC (Oct. 7, 2025), available at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ c1wgx5v90vyo 18. Nick Forbes, “Hundreds of Edinburgh University staff and students join pro-Palestinian protest, INDEPENDENT (Oct. 7, 2025), available at https://www.independent. co.uk/news/uk/home-news/keir-starmer-edinburghuniversity-arabic-palestine-english-b2841145.html 19. Robert Mendick, “UCL academic suggests Jews murdered monk and used his blood to bake bread,” THE TELEGRAPH (Nov. 13, 2025), available at https://www.telegraph. co.uk/news/2025/11/13/ucl-academic-jews-murder-monkblood-ucl/ 20. Press Release, “UCL statement in response to antisemitic event,” UCL (Nov. 13, 2025), available at https://www. ucl.ac.uk/news/2025/nov/ucl-statement-responseantisemitic-event 21. Press Release, “Responding to antisemitic incidents at UCL,” UCL (Nov. 18, 2025), available at https://www. ucl.ac.uk/news/2025/nov/responding-antisemiticincidents-ucl
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjgzNzA=