“A campus of fear and intimidation” at Leeds University

JVL Introduction

A cartoon by Jewish American political cartoonist Eli Valley, widely circulated on social media, depicts the curious world we inhabit where pro-Israel activists abuse and attack pro-Palestinian protesters only to be portrayed as guileless Jewish victims of hate if they are challenged.

Students and staff in UK universities are facing a similar scenario, as the open letter below demonstrates. It is addressed to the Interim and Deputy Vice Chancellors of Leeds University and signed by a number of Jewish academics alarmed at the treatment of participants in a walkout for Gaza that has been taking place on and off since February. Protests escalated on May 1 as Israel geared up for an assault on Rafah and student encampments proliferated across US campuses.

Not only have Leeds staff and students faced racist harassment and abuse without repercussions for the perpetrators but, the letter says, peaceful protests have been reported as violent, their solidarity slogans labelled “hate speech” and accusations of antisemitism “weaponised to attack those who are critical of the Israeli government.”

“By failing to act on threats and intimidation committed against our Arab, Palestinian, and Muslim students and staff” the university has “created a campus of fear and intimidation.”

The letter is open for signature by Jewish students and staff in Leeds and also the wider UK Jewish community.

For an account of the disinformation being spread about US campus protests, see I Am a Jewish Student at Columbia. Don’t Believe What You’re Being Told About ‘Campus Antisemitism’ (zeteo.com)

NWI

Letter of Solidarity

May 2024

Dear Interim Vice Chancellor Professor Hai-Sui Yu and Deputy Vice Chancellor Professor Jeff Grabill,

We are Jewish students and staff at the University of Leeds, and the wider Jewish community in the UK and Ireland.

We are writing to you today in response to the pro-Israel counterprotest which took place on Wednesday, 1 May. Specifically, we wish to address the racism, violence, and intimidation of staff and students who supported the walkout for Gaza – supporters who were of a wide variety of backgrounds, including those who identify as Palestinian or Jewish.

We have heard reports from those who attended the walkout of harassment, physical assault, and racist remarks and chants from counter protesters. Students, staff, and community members who joined the counterprotest were overheard chanting racist slogans, sometimes over megaphones, including such phrases as “No one cares about Palestinians”. Individuals were racially profiled by the counter protesters. One individual reported having bananas thrown at them; another being grabbed and having their keffiyeh almost pulled off. Counter protesters referred to those at the walkout as terrorists or terrorist sympathisers; used racist, homophobic, and derogatory slurs; participated in chants which referred to Palestinians as “rapists” and “savages”. Palestinian speakers were drowned out by chants and the Israeli national anthem. Further, it was clear that individuals were monitoring those at the walkout by taking pictures and videos. Even Jewish students and staff reported feeling threatened and physically unsafe by the counterprotest, and those who supported it. One Jewish student reported confidentially that they were intimidated into not attending the walkout; that their actions were being monitored by those who attended the counterprotest.

That staff and students were subjected to this kind of abuse without repercussions is abhorrent. But to add insult to injury, we have watched with dismay as peaceful protests have been reported as violent; as slogans which show solidarity for those experiencing mass expulsion and potential genocide have been labelled “hate speech”; as antisemitism has been weaponised to attack those who are critical of the Israeli government. That last one is most egregious, as it is a form of antisemitism in and of itself. It homogenises the Jewish community, creating the narrative of the “good Jew” and “bad Jew”; it conflates Zionism and Jewishness, creating a discourse in which all Jews are responsible for the actions of the state of Israel; and it undermines acts of real antisemitism, by allowing people to dismiss it as a political disagreement over Israel.

Antisemitism absolutely does exist, including on the left. However, as individuals who have experienced antisemitism – sometimes violent antisemitism – we know that this weaponisation of antisemitism is beyond unacceptable. We understand the danger that this conflation puts our community in. And we know that equally, Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism are prevalent in our own community, as well.

We recognise the way in which our Palestinian colleagues, friends, family, and community members are being disparaged as they speak out about their oppression and experiences of violence. That their voices are being silenced, their experiences erased. Just as antisemitism exists, so too does Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism. If we are to find solidarity and ease the tensions that currently exist at the University of Leeds, and universities across Britain, we must offer equal weight to the harassment and violence experienced by our Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian students and staff.

This is vital, especially as staff and students in support of Palestine at the University of Leeds have been experiencing increasing intimidation and violence since October – sometimes by the university itself. Several examples of instances that have been reported: In October, at a vigil for the hostages, the term “evil” was applied as justification for individuals to support the State of Israel’s retaliatory behaviour. Or the more than one instance in which a queer student was told that if they went to Gaza, Hamas would rape them.

Both examples of anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab dog whistles and racism – examples many of us who study this conflict are very familiar with. Nor has the university done anything to address the anti-Palestinian dog whistles that Rabbi Deutsch sent around to a student WhatsApp group – videos which were reported by a Jewish student who made clear that these videos made them feel unsafe. Rather, the university allowed the rabbi to return to his post within the chaplaincy, leading to an unsafe environment on campus for both students and staff. The university failed to participate in discussions with students or staff who have raised concerns over his return.

When students used their freedom of expression to occupy the Parkinson Building, the university placed them in danger by blocking exits and entrances. This put one student in a potentially life-threatening situation, when she was unable to access her insulin. It has more recently been reported that pro-Palestinian students were physically assaulted by university security and staff, and threats were made by the university to fence off the current encampment.

The university has participated in painting the pro-Palestine students and staff on campus as hostile, increasing the already surging anti-Arab, anti-Palestinian, and Islamophobic environment in Leeds and the UK. They have refused to engage in open and honest discussions with either the students who are protesting, or with UCU, furthering tensions and creating an unsafe environment for everyone on campus.

Through only addressing concerns over antisemitism on campus, by painting peaceful protests as a threat to campus security, by failing to act on threats and intimidation committed against our Arab, Palestinian, and Muslim students and staff, it has failed in its duty of care. It has created a campus of fear and intimidation. It is denying students a proper education, one which includes uncomfortable conversations that happen in respectful and academic spaces. One where they can create their own spaces to have these discussions without intimidation by the university.

We have watched in horror as universities in the States have reacted with violence against peaceful protests. How they have allowed others to commit acts of violence against these protestors through their own rhetoric and actions. We are concerned that a similar environment is being created here at Leeds.

We recognise that there are a wide variety of views among us. However, in this moment we wish to make clear the actions and views taken on campus by some within our community do not reflect the actions and views of all Jewish people in Leeds or in the UK, nor do the actions and views taken by the University of Leeds create a safer environment for us, as a community. We the undersigned demand that the university take seriously the violence and intimidation experienced by students and staff, regardless of background or political affiliation. That it work in earnest with students, staff, and community members of all faiths, of all political leanings, to create a campus where students and staff can safely express themselves without the threat or intimidation of others, or by the university.

Signatures:

Dr Anja Komatar, University of Leeds

Dr Anne Caldwell, University of Leeds

Dr Liev Cherry, University of Leeds

Solomon Russell-Cohen, University of Leeds, student
Yara Lowe, University of Leeds

Keziah Berelso, University of Leeds Alumni

Marc Neal, Jewish University of Leeds alumni
Ellie Rose Amit, University of Leeds student

Dr Clive Gabay,  Queen Mary University of London

Dr Quinn Gibson, University of Aberdeen

Miranda Bauer, University College Dublin and Jews for Palestine – Ireland

David Cahn
Prof Ludi Simpson, Professor of Population Studies, University of Manchester

Robert Cohen, PhD student Kings College London

Dr Mor Cohen, University of Sheffield

Katie Clarke

Simon Cohen, Author and musician
Dr Adam Stock, York St John University

Gillian Mosely, Jewish Briton

Benjamin Plafker, SOAS Jewish Society President
Serena Roth

Zakhar Lukyanovich Zaikin, Aberystwyth University

Elan Zuckerman
Dr Lauren Ackerman, Newcastle University
Mike Cushman, LSE

Ros Edwards, University of Southampton

Malia Rock-Joffe
Yosh Kosminsky, Occupational Therapist
Dr Lisa Stampnitzky, University of Sheffield

The letter is open for signature by Jewish students and staff in Leeds and also the wider UK Jewish community.