3 May 2024
StandWithUs UK are appalled by the level of vicious anti-Jewish racism being promoted by anti-Israel tent “encampments” on a growing number of university campuses, most notably from today’s protest at UCL.
These encampments are the latest in a years-long onslaught of antisemitic and anti-Israel activity at universities across the country. We have now heard chants that ‘resistance is justified’ and ‘the State of Israel must go’. While StandWithUs UK unequivocally supports the right to freedom of expression, there is no place for promoting bigotry, discrimination or violence against any individual or group based on ethnicity, religion, national origin, or otherwise.
We call on university administrations nationwide to take all necessary steps to ensure a safe learning environment for all students.
To the students participating in these encampments, our message is simple:
On October 7th, 2023, Hamas terrorists murdered, raped, burned alive, dismembered, brutalised, and tortured thousands of people. They continue to hold 133 hostages in captivity, including a child and an infant who was kidnapped at 9 months old. These same terrorists are praising your protest. Make no mistake: if a genocidal terrorist organisation says you are helping their cause, you are on the wrong side of history. Your actions do nothing but fuel more division, hatred, and conflict on your campuses and in the Middle East.
To our incredible Jewish, Israeli, and Zionist students, faculty, and professors:
Stay strong. It is perfectly understandable to feel unsafe right now. We are facing hate like we have not seen since the Nazi era. Now is the time to come together, uplift one another, and stand strong in the face of ignorance and hate. Right now, we are the living embodiment of Never Again.
StandWithUs UK is proud to support Jewish, Israeli, and Zionist students and faculty across the country every day. We will continue to do so through legal action, supporting protests against hate, discrimination and violence on campus, promoting education about Israel, and much more. Should students need resources, educational materials, legal support, or anything else, they should reach out to uk@standwithus.com
Am Yisrael Chai.
About StandWithUs UK:
StandWithUs is an international, non-profit and non-partisan Israel education organisation that works to inspire and educate people of all ages about Israel, as well as challenge misinformation and fight against antisemitism. Founded in 2010, StandWithUs UK has become a recognised support system and leading resource for students on UK campuses. We empower and energise students and communities with leadership training and educational programmes on both school and university campuses. StandWithUs informs through social media, printed materials, digital platforms, film and newsletters. The StandWithUs flagship Emerson Fellowship programme seeks to raise students into future leaders, equipped to stand strong in the face of antisemitism and anti-Zionism. We believe in the right of the Jewish People to self-determination in their historic homeland of Israel. We educate the facts in an unbiased and holistic manner, with an open mind, reflecting on views from all sides of the political, social and humanitarian spectrum whilst promoting peace. StandWithUs UK believe the current discourse surrounding Israel on campus all too often crosses the line between legitimate criticism of Israel’s policies and the dangerous, mainstream, antisemitic rhetoric which stands contrary to the IHRA definition of antisemitism. We work to educate on that distinction, encourage civil discourse on legitimate criticism of Israel, and to fight antisemitism wherever it emerges.
