Uni expels student over image of Charedi man with Palestine sticker on mouth

Nottingham Trent University has expelled a student over a photo posted on Tinder of a Charedi man with a Palestinian flag covering his mouth who appeared to be asleep on the Piccadilly line.

They confirmed to Jewish News that first-year student, known as Jonathan, has been “permanently excluded” following a controversial social media post which emerged last month.

Screenshots of a dating profile picture, which shows an unidentified man posing next to the Charedi man, emerged online and sparked concern from other users.

A Nottingham Trent University spokesperson told Jewish News: “We can confirm that a student has been permanently excluded from the university, relating to offensive content which circulated on social media in September.

We launched an investigation the moment we were made aware of a screen grab which showed unacceptable behaviour from a student on their personal profile.

“The student – who had not yet started his first year at the university – was immediately identified, interviewed and suspended, and a university disciplinary panel was convened to decide upon appropriate action. During our investigation we were informed that a Palestinian flag had been super-imposed over the mouth of a man in the image.

“This behaviour was completely unacceptable and is not recognised as part of our university’s culture. We have a diverse, inclusive and global community of which we are proud, and we endeavour to create an atmosphere of mutual trust, harmony and respect.

“Any behaviour which deviates from this will not be tolerated at NTU.”

Binyomin Gilbert, Programme Manager at Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “We applaud Nottingham Trent University for swiftly suspending and now expelling this student for this grossly offensive act. This is what zero tolerance of antisemitism looks like, and other universities should learn from Trent’s example.”

Before being permanently excluded, ‘Jonathan’ told the Nottingham Tab: “That was indeed a terrible picture, absolutely insensitive and should not have been taken in the first place.

“I should also mention the fact that I am in no way antisemitic or have any kind of prejudice towards Jews.”