Yellow ribbons appear overnight at six campuses for hostage solidarity
UJS says 'Jewish students will not be silenced' after installations at Birmingham, Leeds, Cambridge, Sussex, Nottingham and Exeter universities
Yellow ribbons appeared overnight at six university campuses nationwide as part of a campaign to maintain awareness of the plight of the hostages held by Hamas.
The symbolic ribbons have been seen at the universities in Birmingham, Leeds, Cambridge, Sussex, Nottingham and Exeter.
One Jewish student, who chose to remain anonymous, said: “Coming onto campus this morning and seeing these ribbons made me so emotional. Seeing my campus as a place that recognises the plight of these hostages being held by terrorists makes me feel safer and more welcome as a Jewish student. Knowing now that this happened across lots of campuses, gives me hope. Thank you to those who did this.”

When asked for comment, Sami Berkoff, Union of Jewish Students president, said, “It is clear that Jewish students are not alone in fighting to keep the awareness and understanding of the plight of the hostages in Gaza present amongst the campus conversations about this war. We must keep campaigning and raising awareness until every hostage is returned home. This makes me proud, as the president of the Jewish student movement, that our students are stepping up and ensuring their voices are heard loudly and clearly!”
Arieh Miller, UJS chief executive said, “We can and should all be proud of this generation of students for undertaking this kind of non-offensive, non-disruptive direct action in support of the campaign to bring home the hostages from Gaza. It has been 485 days since they have seen or spoken with their families, their friends, irand their community. We cannot live in a world where their plight loses momentum until every one of them is home.”
He added: “It is unclear if other campuses will follow suit, here in the UK or globally, but it is abundantly clear that Jewish students will not be silent on the issue of the hostages.”
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.