Oxford is Having a Cruel Laugh at the Expense of Jewish Students

Oxford bent over backwards to acknowledge heightened racial tensions during the recent riots, but this felt like a cruel joke to Jewish students, coming from a university that has never recognised the open targeting of Jews since October 7th, according to an anonymous writer in the Jewish Chronicle. Here’s an excerpt.

By the time this is published, two full weeks will have passed since Oxford University issued an urgent communication to its members. The email expressed a deep and justified worry for students and staff “particularly affected” by racism and Islamophobia. The university’s stance against “racism, discrimination or abuse” was clear, “regardless of race, religion or ethnicity”, and none other than the Vice-Chancellor signed off on it.

Yet, after the events of last year, this communication rang hollow. It felt like a cruel joke at the expense of Jewish students.

This last academic year, which started just two days after October 7th, was marred by a climate of racial abuse and discriminatory behaviour directed at Jews. You could witness it in classrooms, where Israeli students were subjected to invasive interrogations by professors in front of their peers simply because of their nationality.

It was evident in student groups, where a student declared they “refuse to sit with Zionists”, a thinly veiled euphemism for Jews. It surfaced in colleges, where a mob mentality took hold, targeting Jewish students who dared to voice their concerns over motions laced with antisemitic undertones – which passed with little resistance.

And let’s not forget the faculty members who could barely contain their pride over Hamas’s violent actions, or the welfare officers who blamed Jewish students for feeling abused when they were called Nazis.

Some of these incidents were documented in an open letter to the university’s administration, which contains more than 100 instances of antisemitic behaviour.

But what the public may not realise is just how deeply ingrained racial bias is within that administration – a bias made glaringly obvious by the so-called “urgent” communication.

First, while the university has issued sporadic and vague statements condemning antisemitism, neither in official communications nor in its interactions has it ever acknowledged the sharp and sudden rise in antisemitic rhetoric and behaviour at Oxford.

Imagine enduring an entire academic year in which Jewish students are openly targeted at other prestigious institutions – including your own – without a single word from your university acknowledging the prevalence or severity of the issue.

Second, even in those vague statements condemning antisemitism, whether in official letters about protests or about the war, it was never given the space to stand alone. Unlike the communication regarding the riots, antisemitism was always bundled together with Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian discrimination.

Anti-Israeli discrimination, which reached extreme levels throughout the year, wasn’t even acknowledged. 

Despite this year marking a new high for antisemitism, the university only agreed to consider adding a few sentences about the issue, and even then, only if paired with mentions of Islamophobia and other forms of racism.

The university’s unwillingness to acknowledge antisemitism as a standalone problem renders its Jewish members invisible. 

Worth reading in full.