If Jewish students wanted to sue Oxford, they’d have a strong case

In May, a group of Jewish and non-Jewish Oxford academics, students and alumni sent an open letter to the university authorities listing 101 similar incidents of harassment, bullying and intimidation by academics, officials and students, which had created “a frightening climate” for Israeli and Jewish students.

The open letter was anonymous “to avoid victimisation”, in particular further “victimisation and hostility” towards complainants. That, no doubt, was also the reason why the Oxford student author of a Guardian article of November 16 entitled “Why is antisemitism so rife in UK academic settings” also remained anonymous. So bad was the atmosphere, she said, that an Israeli friend related to one of hostages had returned home as she felt safer there than in Oxford.

Israel’s war in Gaza raises strong feelings on both sides. But that can never justify harassment or discrimination by critics of Israel. Many criticise the policies of the Russian and Chinese governments, but we do not hear of Russian or Chinese students being harassed or discriminated against. Most Jewish students at Oxford are not Israelis; they have no vote in Israel and are in no way accountable for Israeli policy. The Oxford authorities seem to care little that there is a climate of fear at the university. Students expressing their worries to heads of programmes were simply advised to leave.

Israelis who complained were told to contact the police. As an Oxford alumnus and former professor at the university, I wrote two letters enquiring what measures are being taken to ensure the safety and wellbeing of Israeli and Jewish students. Neither letter received a reply.

In the United States, Jewish students are currently suing Harvard University for discriminating against them.

Oxford could well face a similar lawsuit since it may be guilty of institutional racism in breach of the 2010 Equality Act. Institutional racism was defined by Sir William Macpherson in the 1999 Stephen Lawrence Inquiry as “the collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture or ethnic origin”. Is Oxford providing such a professional service to Israeli and Jewish students?

Sadly, Oxford is not the only university to be suffering from antisemitism, a form of which is new in Britain. Until recently, it was almost unknown in higher education. It was, I suspect, legitimised by Jeremy Corbyn, who implied that a progressive must, by definition, be anti-Zionist, a position that can morph into antisemitism.

Corbynism had a particular appeal to graduates and students. Indeed if, in 2019, only graduates had been allowed to vote, Corbyn’s Labour Party would have won the election.

In the 1930s, the antisemitism of Oswald Mosley and his British Union of Fascists appealed primarily to marginal elements in society, the inadequate, ill-educated and unemployed. University antisemitism is far more dangerous since it appeals to future leaders of the country.

This is not an issue of concern only to Jews. For, as Jonathan Sacks once said, antisemites are never just antisemites.

It is not as if Hitler, Stalin, Hamas, Hezbollah and the ayatollahs loved or love everyone who is not Jewish. Far from it. Antisemitism is, in fact, the best warning sign we have of a wider threat to a free and tolerant society. If the universities will not put their house in order, the government must do it for them.

Sir Keir Starmer prides himself on having removed much of the antisemitism in the Labour Party left over from the Corbyn regime.

He should now summon university heads and tell them that public funding depends on their fulfilling their statutory duty to avoid discrimination against Jewish and Israeli students.

But I cannot help ending on a personal note. As a professor at King’s College London, and frequent speaker at schools, I am often asked by students which university they should apply to for further study. How can I recommend a university tainted with racism?

In the 1930s, Oxford had a proud record of providing a home for Jewish refugee scholars from Germany and Austria. It never occurred to me that I would come to feel so ashamed of my old university.

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Sir Vernon Bogdanor is Professor of Government at King’s College London. He was formerly Professor of Government at Oxford and an Honorary Fellow of The Queen’s College, Oxford