Abstract: For this report, the Union of Jewish Students has collated dozens of testimonies from students who have
experienced antisemitism on campus.
The UJS also commissioned polling of 1,000 students, across all faiths and none, to assess the
impact of campus protests and the rise of antisemitism. The findings reveal alarming levels of campus
antisemitism, significant disruption caused by protests, and perceptions of Jewish students marred by
hostility and intolerance.
Key Findings:
1.Antisemitism has become normalised on our campuses.
- One in four students (23%) have seen behaviour that targets Jewish students for their religion/ethnicity.
- One in five (20%) students would be reluctant to, or would never, houseshare with a Jewish student.
- Jewish students have told us they have faced physical and verbal abuse, social ostracisation and
widespread antisemitic attitudes.
2.Glorification of terrorism is prevalent and unpunished.
- Our research has found that student groups have explicitly called for violence against Jews, even justifying the terrorist attack at Bondi Beach in December 2025.
- 49% of students have heard slogans or chants glorifying Hamas, Hezbollah or other proscribed groups on campus.
- 47% have witnessed justification of the October 7th attacks, rising to 77% among those who encounter Israel-Palestine protests regularly.
3. Protests disrupt all students, and universities have a clear mandate from students to take firmer action.
-Protests have disrupted learning for 65% of students, and 40% have altered their journey on campus to avoid disruption.
- Universities where protests are more frequent have seen higher levels of antisemitism, and four in ten (39%) of students who witness regular Israel-Palestine protests have seen Jewish students harassed often.
- 69% of students disapprove of protests blocking access to learning, and 82% deem calls to 'globalise the intifada' to be antisemitic.
Abstract: This report from B’nai B’rith International, democ and the European Union of Jewish Students (EUJS) documents the surge of antisemitism on university campuses across Europe in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attack in Israel. Since then, Jewish students and faculty have faced harassment, intimidation and violence, creating a climate of fear and exclusion across campuses.
Universities that should safeguard open debate and diversity have instead seen antisemitic rhetoric, Holocaust distortion, glorification of Hamas and calls for “intifada.” Professors, radical student groups, and outside organizations have often fueled this atmosphere, while administrators too often failed to act.
Covering Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom, the report identifies repeated patterns: threats and assaults against Jewish students, antisemitic vandalism, incitement to violence, and weak or inconsistent institutional responses.
Topics: Antisemitism: Education against, Schools: Primary / Elementary, Schools: Seconday / High Schools, Schools: Non-Jewish, Main Topic: Antisemitism, Teachers, Surveys, Teaching and Pedagogy, University Students: Jewish Students, Interviews, Antisemitism: Jewish Perceptions and Experiences
Abstract: Since 7th October 2023, the date when Hamas perpetrated the worst and most murderous single massacre against Jews since the Holocaust, there has been a surge in antisemitism in UK universities. This report offers a summary of research by the Intra-Community Professorial Group (ICPG) about antisemitism at UK universities since the 7th October attacks, aimed at understanding and documenting problems on and off campus and proposing evidence-based solutions to address them.
Key findings include:
1. There has been up to 34 percentage points increase in rates of antisemitic abuse in universities since Oct 7th. These include physical attacks, threats of rape, violence, verbal abuse, harassment, and use of Nazi imagery.
2. Jewish students are withdrawing from all aspects of university life, including lecture theatres and seminar rooms,
online learning spaces, social activities, and entire areas of campus. More than half of respondents reported being
fearful of being on campus, and three quarters 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.
3. There is compelling evidence that some universities are failing in their responsibility to adequately safeguard
Jewish students from verbal abuse and physical attack.
Abstract: EUJS has published a report on the Rise of Antisemitism at European Universities as a result of the October 7 Massacre. For the compilation of this report, we received more than one hundred and ten (110) reports of antisemitic incidents across Europe. However, this in no way reflects the true magnitude of incidents that have taken place, as many have gone unreported.
This report has been sent out to the European Commission, Members of the European Parliament, major Jewish organisations, Heads of Jewish communities, our Partners, Universities, and the press.
The message we want to spread with the report is: Jewish students do not feel safe on their campuses. Jewish students have even stopped attending classes out of fear due to the extremely hostile campus atmosphere. In 2024, this is unacceptable.
The European Union of Jewish Students will continue to gather information and data on antisemitism from University campuses across Europe. We will continue to fight against all forms of antisemitism, be it on campus or online, and to protect our Jewish students. We will continue, throughout, to advocate for a world that will allow for Jews to showcase and celebrate their Judaism in a positive way. But for this, collaboration on a university, institutional, governmental, and societal level is needed
Abstract: This report, which focuses on the past two academic years, uncovers a much higher number of antisemitic incidents
on UK campuses than had previously been reported. It shows that in some instances, university staff, academics
and student societies were themselves responsible for antisemitism on campus, and that university complaints processes are sometimes inadequate. In one case reported to CST, a Jewish student at the University of Warwick was even subjected to disciplinary investigation after he complained that a member of academic staff had made an antisemitic comment in a lecture. This was later dropped with no action taken against the student.
CST recorded a total of 58 university incidents in the 2018/2019 academic year and 65 university incidents in the
2019/2020 academic year, making a total of 123 antisemitic incidents during the two years covered by this report. The total for 2019/2020 is the highest total CST has ever recorded in a single academic year, despite the year being cut short as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Previously, CST had recorded university incidents by calendar
year, and logged 25 such incidents in 2018; 22 in 2017; and 41 in 2016. The significant increase in university incident totals since 2018 reflects a sustained drive by CST’s campus team to encourage students to report antisemitic incidents. This increase in the number of university incidents therefore needs to be seen within the context of increased awareness among university students of the need and importance of reporting incidents to CST, as well as the rising levels of antisemitism in the UK more widely. It is likely that more incidents
remain unreported.
Abstract: "Whilst being the home of the largest Jewish student community in the UK, Jsoc has been in fact struggling with attendance at many events for a few years. Jewish organisations, such as Chabad and Aish, now play a significant role in providing for and maintaining the needs for Jewish students. In March 2014, the Jewish Society created the first ever Nottingham Jewish Student Census. Led by Benjamin Carr, the aim of the project was to recalibrate the position of Jsoc on campus in order to attract larger numbers of students at its events and place it firmly in the centre of Jewish life on campus. With the guidance of the Union of Jewish Students and University Jewish Chaplaincy, an online survey was launched across social media encouraging students to have their say. This was also an opportunity to build a picture to find out exactly who are Nottingham Jewish Students. What part of the UK are they from? Do they keep shabbat at university? Do they live with other Jews? Issues of identity were not exclusively the remit of the exercise, practical considerations were also presented. How much would students be willing to spend on a Friday Night Dinner, if any? After 151 responses, the results were analysed by the Jewish society and provided direction for the future strategy of Jsoc. This research found that the general attitude towards the J-Soc in Nottingham was underwhelming, with many feeling that the absence of a Hillel House, or central Jewish building, had fragmented the Jewish organisations into competitors that had seen J-Soc take a less influential role. Furthermore, the survey highlighted that 58% of the sample felt that J-Soc could do more to be inclusive of all Jewish students, the highest of any Jewish organisation in Nottingham. It was also found that 66% of students were not willing to pay more than £5 to go to a Friday Night Dinner, a price which has since been addressed by the current J-Soc committee. Ultimately, this research provides rich data to explain how the Jewish student population in Nottingham felt that more can be done in the community to make it more inclusive, progressive and varied in what events are shown."
Abstract: This is an ethnographic study of student politics relating to Palestine-Israel within British universities. Palestine-Israel has been a focal issue within British campuses for over four decades, manifesting in intense, high profile conflicts, which have been subject to competing political and media framings. In this thesis, I identify this as a case of what Nancy Fraser (2008) describes as 'abnormal justice', a situation of incommensurable, spiralling conflicts over the 'what', 'how' and 'who' of political community. I show how students' engagement with Palestine-Israel raises spectres of entangled histories of the Holocaust and colonialism, and tensions over the national versus global boundaries of the polity. Moving beyond abstract portrayals of this as a conflict between discrete ethno-religious groups or autonomous moral actors, I attend to students' complex personal experiences of these political dynamics. My central argument is that PalestineIsrael exerts discomforting, at times irreconcilable, claims over participating students, arising out of violent histories, ongoing racisms, complex transnational attachments and " the rationalism of post-imperial British universities. I trace how unsettling ambiguities and a desire for moral coher.,e nce are enacted within this campus politics, analysing how institutional practices of containment and shaming lead to 'tragic' moments of passionate aggression, which then circulate in the media. Contributing to a cross-disciplinary turn towards affect, aesthetics and ethics in the study of public spheres, I stake a claim for responsive ethnography with ethical ambitions. I do so by drawing our attention beyond spectacular political conflicts, showing how students cultivate reflexive practices and express uncertainty, care and commitment within overlooked, 'ordinary' spaces of the campus. In these ways, I show how attending to intersubjective political experience provides vital insights into the motivations and desires at stake in justice conflicts, and operis up expansive possibilities for reflexivity and creativity within the public institutions of democratic societies
Abstract: This study, financed by the Union of Jewish Students (UJS) and supported by UJS and the United Jewish Israel Appeal (UJIA), is based on qualitative data gathered in focus groups held in early 2016 in several UK cities, and was designed to help UJS to refine its strategic priorities. It builds on the findings of the 2011 JPR study of Jewish students, the first in-depth look at Jewish student life in the UK.
The report highlights how key components of providing for Jewish students’ needs involve ensuring that the religiously observant are able to live full Jewish lives at university, and creating multiple frameworks for all Jewish students to explore what it means to be Jewish in an open, non-judgemental and thoughtful manner.
The report is published at a time of heightened concern about life on campus for Jewish students following violent protests at King’s College London and University College London in January and October respectively, and a reported increase in antisemitic incidents on campus in the first six months of this year.
The research finds that Jewish students rarely encounter traditional antisemitism at Britain’s universities, but notes that discourse about Israel and Zionism on campus can often be aggressive, intimidating and toxic, leaving some Jewish students frightened, angry and confused. It also includes some evidence of Jewish students being cautious about revealing their Jewish identity in public, and particularly any connections they may have with Israel. Nevertheless, it indicates that their general interactions with non-Jews on campus are typically positive, with open interest and even a desire to be included in Jewish events not uncommon.
The study highlights the importance of community in Jewish student life, and the role that Jewish Societies play in providing a home from home. It argues that JSocs should see themselves as surrogate Jewish communities, working year-on-year to create models of community that are warm, engaging and non-judgemental.
Abstract: During the 1990s, Jewish communal leaders in Britain reached a consensus that Jewish education, in the broadest sense, was the principal means of strengthening Jewish identity and securing Jewish continuity. This belief motivated considerable investment in communal intervention programs such as Jewish schools, Israel experience trips, and youth movements. Twenty years on, it is pertinent to ask whether, and to what extent, this intervention has worked. The Institute for Jewish Policy Research’s (JPR) 2011 National Jewish Student Survey contains data on over 900 Jewish students in Britain and presents an opportunity to empirically assess the impact such intervention programs may have had on respondents’ Jewish identity by comparing those who have experienced them with those who have not. Regression analysis is used to test the theory based on a set of six dimensions of Jewish identity generated using principal component analysis. The results show that after controlling for the substantial effects of Jewish upbringing, intervention has collectively had a positive impact on all aspects of Jewish identity examined. The effects are greatest on behavioral and mental aspects of socio-religious identity; they are far weaker at strengthening student community engagement, ethnocentricity, and Jewish values. Further, the most important intervention programs were found to be yeshiva and a gap year in Israel. Both youth movement involvement and Jewish schooling had positive but rather limited effects on Jewish identity, and short-stay Israel tours had no positive measurable effects at all.
Abstract: This report summarises the findings of a survey of Jewish students conducted by NUS between November 2016 and February 2017. It aimed to take stock of the experience of Jewish students in higher education at a time when the number of recorded antisemitic incidents has increased, both on and off campus, and because it is critical that NUS, students’ unions, universities and the wider higher education sector understand the needs of Jewish students.
Some 485 self-defining Jewish students responded to the survey. The vast majority of the respondents were in full time education (96 per cent), aged 17-24 (91per cent), studying at undergraduate level (86 per cent) and were UK citizens (87 per cent).
The key findings of the report can be summarised as follows:
Provision:
• A plurality of students reported there was no kosher food on or near campus (42 per cent)
• The majority of students surveyed disagreed or strongly disagreed that their university avoids scheduling classes and exams during Sabbath and Jewish religious festivals (59 per cent).
Academic coverage of Judaism:
A plurality of students surveyed either agreed or strongly agreed that:
• They feel comfortable with the way in which issues relating to Jewish people/Judaism are covered in class (36 per cent).
The majority of students surveyed either agreed or strongly agreed that:
• They have not experienced negative issues in classes related to Judaism (57 per cent).
Engagement with Students’ Unions:
• Respondents showed a high level of engagement with their students’ unions including being members of a society
or a sports club (69 per cent) and voting in student elections (75 per cent)
• Almost half of students felt they were always or usually able to participate in student politics (47 per cent).
A plurality or the majority of students surveyed either disagreed or strongly disagreed that:
• As a Jewish student they felt their SU understands their needs (43 per cent)
• As a Jewish student they feel represented by their SU (51 per cent).
• Their SU policy reflects the views of Jewish students (45 per cent).
Engagement with NUS:
• Almost half of students surveyed either disagreed or strongly disagreed that they would feel comfortable attending NUS events (49 per cent)
• Two fifths either disagreed or strongly disagreed that they would feel comfortable engaging in NUS policymaking processes (42 per cent)
• The majority of students either disagreed or strongly disagreed that NUS would respond appropriately to allegations of antisemitism if they arose (65 per cent).
Israel/Palestine:
• In an academic context, over half of students surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that they felt comfortable engaging in debate on Israel/Palestine (55 per cent).
Either a plurality or the majority of students surveyed disagreed or strongly disagreed that:
• As a Jew they felt confident to voice their opinions on Israel/Palestine in class (45 per cent)
• They felt comfortable engaging in debate on Israel/Palestine in their SUs or in a society context (54 per cent)
• They felt comfortable engaging in debate on Israel/Palestine on campus (50 per cent)
• The vast majority of students whose Students’ Union had a BDS policy or campaign did not feel comfortable or comfortable at all with it (68 per cent).
Hate Crime:
The majority of students surveyed:
• Were not very or not at all worried about being subject to verbal abuse, physical attack, vandalism, property damage or theft because of their Jewish belief (73 per cent)
• Had not experienced any crime whilst they have been students at their current place of study (65 per cent)
• Over a quarter have experienced personal abuse through social media or other communication (28 per cent)
• Of those who had experienced crime the majority believed these incidents were motivated by the perpetrator’s prejudice
towards them based on their Jewish belief (66 per cent).
