Staff Reports
Something is very wrong on Britain’s campuses. A new StandWithUs UK study, “The Voice of Students Report,” paints a grim picture of Jewish students facing harassment at levels that should shock every decent person. CBN’s Raj Nair spoke with Stephen Briggs of Israel Matters to bring the story into the light. If universities are meant to be places of safety and learning, they are failing students who are being targeted because of their faith.
Shocking findings from the StandWithUs UK report
The report documents widespread antisemitism on campus and shows Jewish students being harassed in ways that go far beyond rude comments. The phrase “horrifying levels of harassment” is not hyperbole. Students describe feeling unsafe, excluded, and pressured to hide their identity. These are not isolated incidents. This is a pattern that demands more than a lukewarm statement from a university PR office.
Universities are failing to protect Jewish student safety in the UK
Campus leaders talk a lot about inclusion. They love to put up rainbow banners and hold panels with fashionable speakers. But when Jewish students ask for simple protections or call out hate, too often they meet silence or weak disciplinary action. That hypocrisy is ugly. Administrators are supposed to protect students, not pick and choose which groups get protection based on the current campus narrative.
Double standards and dangerous silence
There’s a double standard at play. When some protest, they are praised for free speech. When Jewish students protest anti-Jewish abuse, their concerns are labeled “controversial” or “political.” That is not balance. It is bias. The report makes clear that silence from university authorities only encourages more harassment. If you let dangerous behavior slide, it spreads.
Practical steps colleges should take now
Universities must act. Start with clear definitions of antisemitism and enforce them. Fund security for vulnerable students. Discipline students who cross the line. Support Jewish societies and let them speak freely. And if campus leaders lack the spine to protect all students equally, government oversight should step in. Safety is not optional; it’s a basic duty.
This issue is about more than campus politics. It is about safety, fairness, and basic decency. British universities must stop treating Jewish students as a problem to be managed and start treating them as citizens worthy of protection. If they won’t, the rest of society should hold them accountable. And if campus spokespeople want to issue another statement, make it short: protect students, enforce the rules, and stop letting hatred hide behind the word “activism.”
