One in five students would not or would never live with a Jewish student, according to a survey by the Union of Jewish Students (UJS), which says antisemitism has become “the norm” on UK campuses.
A UJS poll of 1,000 students “of all faiths or no faith” found that nearly a quarter (23%) had experienced attacks against Jewish students because of their religion or ethnicity, and nearly half (47%) had witnessed Hamas’ attack on October 7 being justified.
Half (49%) of students surveyed said they had heard chants or chants praising Hamas, Hezbollah or other banned groups, and 65% had their studies disrupted by protests.
The report, A Time for Change, said Jewish students also faced increasing social exclusion. “In one case, a group of non-Jewish students shared on social media that they had ‘only one rule – no Zios in the apartment,'” it said.
A quarter (26%) of those who took part in the poll said they know of or have personally experienced friendships with Jewish students becoming more distant or tense. Meanwhile, some of Britain’s 10,000 Jewish students described in testimonies being sent home, threatened, verbally abused and physically assaulted.
The report also noted an “indifference” to anti-Semitism. A quarter (25%) of respondents said they were not too concerned — or not at all concerned — about whether students were able to be openly Jewish on campus. Of those who witnessed anti-Semitism, 20% reported it directly, 22% reported it to the student union, and 23% reported it to the university.
“Jewish students face direct threats, verbal and physical abuse, and are isolated from their peers because of their views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” the UJS report said. “Ignorance about Jews is embedded in campus culture, and too little is done to address it.”
Karen Newman, deputy leader of the House of Commons for British Jews, said the report was disgusting to read. “Jewish students don’t have to worry that one in five of their peers won’t live with them because they’re Jewish, or that there’s widespread support for banned terrorist groups.”
A spokesman for Universities UK (UUK), the collective voice for 142 universities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, said: “We work with university leaders and the UJS, the Community Safety Trust and the Jewish Chaplaincy Service to address anti-Semitism, supporting university leaders to take action to prevent anti-Semitism and respond appropriately when it occurs.”
Related: Goldsmiths apologizes to Jewish students, staff over ‘culture’ of anti-Semitism
In a foreword to the report, Labor peer and former MP Luciana Berger said the experience of Jewish students today echoed hers 20 years ago, which led to her resignation from the National Executive Committee of the National Union of Students.
“Jewish students continue to be attacked by the same people year after year. When my own children, now only six and eight, reach university age, how will Jewish students feel on British campuses?”
Author and journalist Daniel Finkelstein said: “Bullying others because of their race, history or political views is completely unacceptable, and university administrations that ignore such bullying are remiss.”
Earlier this month, the government announced increased support for universities to tackle extremism and intimidation, including plans to develop a campus cohesion charter to reinforce respect and shared values in university life.
The Office for Students, the UK’s higher education regulator, said it will take action if universities fail to protect students from harassment or intimidation and has the power to sanction or deregister institutions that do not meet the conditions for their registration.
The UJS survey, conducted by JL Partners, surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,000 UK university students from 170 higher education institutions, weighted to reflect the demographics of the student population.