Peers grill minister over ‘terrifying’ rise in campus antisemitism

A Foreign Office minister faced sustained pressure in the House of Lords to explain the government’s approach to tackling campus antisemitism, as a damning new report by the Union of Jewish Students laid bare the scale of Jew-hatred at British universities.

Baroness Berger, who wrote the foreword to the UJS report and acts as an advisor to it, told peers the polling of 2,000 students found that one in five said they would be reluctant to, or would never, house share with Jewish students.

“There are terrifying case studies in the report, including the experience of Jewish students in Birmingham who were followed home and whose pursuers lingered outside for several nights and told passers-by to remember this address as ‘Jews live here’,” she told the Lords.

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Berger said the situation was “getting worse” and called for “urgent action to be taken to reverse these horrific findings.”

Lord Collins, the Foreign Office minister, said £7 million had been invested into tackling antisemitism, including through support for students and training of university staff, along with plans to strengthen the complaints system and the whistle-blowing procedure.

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“The government condemns all racial and religious hatred in the strongest possible terms and strongly encourages universities to take steps to foster cohesion on campus,” he said. “We make no apology for acting decisively to tackle the unprecedented rise in antisemitic abuse in universities, particularly since October 7, 2023.”

But Collins also drew a distinction between antisemitism and legitimate political debate, stressing that antisemitism “has been around a long time, and often events globally are an excuse — an excuse to exploit that antisemitism. But it doesn’t change the fact that people do have genuine concerns about what’s going on in the Middle East.”

He added:”People have a legitimate right to express views about Zionism and the State of Israel.

“They also have a right to express concerns about the government of Israel and some of its policies and plans. But what they don’t have, and what we’re absolutely clear about, is any abuse that attacks the individual, any physical incitement, or violence.”

The remarks drew a sharp rebuke from Liberal Democrat peer Lord Palmer, who said Collins was “linking the problems of the Middle East with antisemitism.”

“I am really disappointed, because they are really two separate things,” he said.

Collins pushed back: “I was not actually conflating the two. I think there has to be a very clear separation. I’ve been a strong supporter of the State of Israel for many, many years. I was an active supporter of Poale Zion. So my own views are very, very clear.”

He added that tackling antisemitism was more effective when it was called out for what Baroness Deech had described it as — “something that’s been around for 2,000 years and has got nothing to do with the situation” in the Middle East.

Conservative peer Lord Polak highlighted another finding from the UJS report: that 82% of students regard calls to “globalise the intifada” as antisemitic.

“I’m unsure what the other 18% are thinking,” said Polak. “Jewish students, the Jewish community, hear that phrase as a call for violence against the Jewish community.”