This is a guest post by Alex Dwek, Chair, Union of Jewish Students
Tonight I want to talk to you about the issues that our students face on campus, and the work that the Union of Jewish Students is doing in partnership with CST to combat these problems.
But before I start, I just want to paint a picture of life on our campuses today.
If you take everything you read in the press or hear around the Friday night dinner table at face value, you could be forgiven for believing that our universities are full to the brim with antisemites, Israel haters and junior jihadis.
But the reality – as usual- is a little different. Most Jewish students have a fantastic time at university, participating in all aspects of student life- thanks to the dedication of our Jewish Society leaders and the generosity of our community.
However, we cannot pretend that the problems on campus are rare or isolated. They are real, they are serious and they require a serious response.
In a nutshell, extremism is indeed thriving in a significant number of universities. This is led by the far-left and by radical Islamists and is fuelled by preachers of hate who are regularly invited to tour our campuses.
They incite hatred against minorities, proclaim their support for terrorism and argue against the very freedoms that have actually allow them to speak in our universities.
Amongst this general vitriol, extreme anti-Zionist rhetoric- underpinned by classic antisemitic conspiracies and libels – has now become commonplace.
As the students here from LSE tonight can testify, when Abdel Bari Atwan spoke on their campus in December they were subjected to a selection box of antisemitism.
He claimed that the Jewish lobby controls the Senate, Congress and the media. Atwan pointed at the Jewish students present and declared ‘you bombed Gaza’. This encouraged hostility and aggression from his supporters in the audience, who then accused Jewish students of being Nazis.
Criticism of Israel is one thing, but this is quite another.
Sadly this was not an isolated incident.
Take Abu Usamah, who spoke at Queen Mary in January. He believes that women are inferior to men, that homosexuals should be thrown off mountains and that apostates should be crucified and left to bleed for three days.
If this is ‘academic freedom’, then there is something very rotten in our universities.
This effect of all this is twofold.
Firstly, it contributes to a hostile atmosphere where antisemitic verbal and physical abuse is becoming acceptable.
Secondly, it provides the toxic conditions necessary for the radicalisation of impressionable young Muslims, three of whom have gone on to commit or plan acts of terrorism. The Detroit bomber Abdulmutallab, a student at UCL, and Asif Hanif and Omar Khan Sharif, who were studying at Kings.
At stake is not just the safety and security of the Jewish community, but the British way of life, our way of life.
Universities are regarded quite rightly by many in our community as the key front line in the battle against antisemitism.
Tonight, I’m here to tell you that – with the crucial support of CST – something is being done.
Guiding UJS’s work are two key principles.
Firstly, The student led approach- we believe that students must be empowered to tackle extremism themselves. With the help of CST, we are educating and training our students to identify and effectively challenge antisemitism wherever it occurs.
We have some extraordinary students who are leading the fight on their campuses.
Secondly, we understand we can’t do this alone.
That’s why UJS works so hard to build relationships with universities, Students Unions and the Government. And that’s why UJS works so closely with CST – they understand the issues we face better than any other organisation, and they know how the student world works.
We have already achieved a great deal together. Our campaign for tighter regulation of hate speakers on campuses is gaining ground. Despite the conclusions of the Universities UK report, we welcome recent indications from the Government that serious action will soon be taken.
We would like to see an extension of the guidelines implemented by Manchester University, who are now independently recording controversial speakers in order to hold students responsible for who they invite, and to prosecute if the law is broken.
Prime Minister, we students would like to see the Higher Education Minister endorse this across the country.
As you said in your recent speech, if right wing extremists were recruited at our Universities, the ‘academic freedom’ argument wouldn’t hold much water.
But there are many challenges ahead. Every year a new generation of Jewish students must be educated. Every hate speaker invited to campus needs to be challenged. Every incident must be followed up.
Your support has never been more critical. On behalf of UJS, I thank you for supporting the CST.
