A new report by the London-based charity CST (Community Safety Trust), Campus Antisemitism in Britain 2020-2022, reports a 22 per cent increase in university-related antisemitic hate incidents reported to CST over the past two academic years. While CST provides training and other services to Jewish institutions such as synagogues and schools, it gathers details of incidents (in the physical world and online) and this is its second +report purely on the experiences of Jewish students and uni staff, on and off campus.
The report goes into some case studies at named institutions, and includes incidents arising from staff and student bodies’ representatives; and outcomes involving a uni’s disciplinary procedures. On universities’ complaints procedures, the report describes some as still ‘flawed and inconsistent’: “Whereas some institutions have provided strong support to Jewish students, others appear not to have investigated and adjudicated complaints about antisemitism fairly, objectively or quickly.”
When universities meet their duty of care to Jewish students who have specific concerns relating to antisemitism, the institutions can play a key role in making those students feel safe and welcome, the report adds. “When this does not happen, universities can compound the harm done by the antisemitism that the Jewish students feel.”
In 2020/2021, CST recorded 95 university related antisemitic incidents; the highest total recorded for a single academic year. Some 55 of these took place in a single month, May 2021, during unrest over Gaza. CST recorded then that national levels of anti-Jewish hate crimes increased, and university campuses were disproportionally affected, it said. For Jewish staff and students, online spaces were especially hostile during this time with three quarters of the incidents reported in May 2021 occurring on social media platforms or messaging apps. The 150 incidents reported to CST during the past two academic years included seven threats, three of which were death threats sent to Jewish students, and three physical assaults. The remaining 140 incidents were in the category of ‘abusive behaviour’, which includes verbal abuse, antisemitic graffiti on non-Jewish property, and online or offline written abuse. Some 82 incidents took place online, 47 incidents occurred on campus, and 21 off campus.
CST Chief Executive Mark Gardner said: “Antisemitism at our universities has been a running sore for decades and these new findings show that far too many Jewish students suffer hatred and bias. This study also reinforces last week’s National Union of Students’ own report into antisemitism, including the link between anti-Israel hatred and racist treatment of British Jews. Students’ Unions and university authorities need to better support their Jewish students, taking concerns seriously and acting against antisemitism, whether it comes from students or academics.”
For the full, 32-page report visit the CST website: https://cst.org.uk/.
