Why the Bell Review regarding antisemitism in education is so important

The Bell Review offers a transformational opportunity to change the experience of Jewish children in schools. After years of campaigning, I believe we are closer than ever to making that change a reality.

As soon as my peers at high school found out I was Jewish, I experienced antisemitic abuse. Fellow students told me I should be in a gas chamber, like members of my family who were murdered in the Holocaust. Someone threatened to vandalise my house with swastikas.

As the only Jewish pupil in my school, I had no community of Jewish students around me who understood what I was experiencing. At just 12 years old, I was left explaining why this antisemitism was so harmful. No Jewish child should have to educate their classmates about antisemitism after they have just been subjected to it.

I am not alone. I live in an area where Jewish people are a small minority, but across Britain Jewish children like me attend different schools but share experiences of being targeted for the same reason. Being the only Jewish pupil in a classroom can be profoundly isolating when those around you do not understand antisemitism.

I saw the difference this education can make. When my school taught pupils about contemporary antisemitism, attitudes began to change. Some students even apologised to me for their previous behaviour. That experience inspired me to campaign nationally: I have seen what education could achieve and want other Jewish children to have the same opportunity.

This education is just as important in schools with no Jewish pupils. They have just as much reason to teach about antisemitism, to prevent antisemitic views from becoming entrenched and persisting at university, for example.

This is exactly why the Bell Review matters so much: antisemitism is a national problem and requires a national response.

The publication of Sir David Bell’s review into antisemitism in schools and colleges is a landmark moment. Its recommendations address issues my campaign has spent years highlighting, including education about contemporary antisemitism, teacher training, and Holocaust education. After building a campaign supported by more than 40,000 people, I am incredibly encouraged that the case for change is now being taken seriously at the highest levels of government.

I am also delighted to be part of the group working on the implementation of the review. For me, this is a chance to help ensure that the lived experiences of Jewish pupils inform the changes schools make, so that the next generation of Jewish students don’t suffer what I did.

The Bell Review is not the end of the story; recommendations are only as good as their implementation, and they must translate into meaningful change in classrooms across the country. I want every pupil to learn about contemporary antisemitism as part of a consistent national approach, rather than this education depending on which school they go to. Holocaust education is essential, but it must be taught alongside how antisemitism persists today, such as through conspiracy theories, stereotypes, Holocaust denial and the dehumanisation of Jews.

The Bell Review gives us a real opportunity to change the status quo of antisemitism being normalised and accepted in schools across the country. For too long, the burden of tackling antisemitism in schools has fallen on Jewish students themselves. We now have a chance to change that, and I am determined to make sure we do.

I have experienced the problem. I have seen the difference education can make. And after years of campaigning, I believe we are closer than ever to ensuring that Jewish children across the country no longer have to fight this battle alone.

This is an opportunity for lasting change, and we must seize it.