LSE is telling Jewish students: we do not care about you - The Jewish Chronicle

Here’s a thought experiment. Let’s imagine a book called Understanding Paedophilia and Why That Matters, a compilation of essays and interviews with academics who have spent years talking to and writing about paedophiles. They always stress that they are not, and never have been, paedophiles. They are merely “experts” in paedophilia, who argue that paedophilia is misunderstood and should not be condemned, let alone criminalised.

Would it be appropriate for a university – and not just any old campus, but one of the world’s leading centres of learning – to host an event celebrating its publication?

I’m not asking whether or not you think a university would actually host such an event. Of course they would. We have learned enough about academia in recent years to have every expectation that they would indeed be happy to do host a meeting celebrating something most people would find repugnant.

It’s, rather, that last word that I am concerned with: whether they should.

Which brings us to LSE’s March 10 event to mark the publication of Understanding Hamas and Why That Matters. Since October 7, universities have been flooded with anti-Zionist and antisemitic protests. Much of the coverage of what has happened on campus has concentrated on student encampments and harassment of Jews, but this has gone hand in hand with academics proselytising on behalf of Hamas, which is of a piece with views which they have promulgated widely over decades.

So no, there is nothing at all surprising about the LSE’s Middle East Centre hosting an event for a book describing Hamas as a political rather than a terrorist organisation which has been demonised in the West.

"Understanding Hamas and Why That Matters", published by OR Books, is the subject of an event at LSE on 10 March. (Photo: OR Books)[Missing Credit]

The book itself is said to look at Hamas’ “critical shift from social and religious activism to national political engagement”. I guess that is one way to describe rape and murder. It then examines Hamas’ “transformation from early anti-Jewish tendencies to a stance that differentiates between Judaism and Zionism”. Yes, I well remember the videos of Hamas terrorists – I’m sorry, political engagees – asking each of the 1,200 people they murdered if they were Zionists or the sort of Jews Hamas would be happy to share falafel with.

I am being flippant, but there is nothing to be flippant about. A survey last week by the University Jewish Chaplaincy (UJC) found that 89 per cent of Jewish students have encountered antisemitism at university. Nearly half experience incidents at least once a month. Last December the CST reported that antisemitic incidents at universities has increased by 117 per cent over the last two academic years.

And what are universities doing about it? Nothing would be better than what is actually happening. Because, as this appalling event shows, university authorities are not merely doing nothing – they are actively permitting meetings and events that make the lives of Jewish students intolerable.

It’s important to counter the fallacious argument that this is about free speech. There is no such thing as untrammelled free speech. No one has the right to harass someone. Defending an organisation that is committed to the elimination not just of Israel but of every Jew is surely a form of targeted harassment of Jewish students. And no one has the right to invite public support for a proscribed organisation; it is a criminal offence.

So unless it changes its tune, on March 10 LSE will effectively be telling its Jewish students that it couldn’t give a damn about them.

For most of the past 16 months the police have stood by and watched as hate marchers have demonstrated in support of Hamas. But if the LSE goes ahead with this meeting, the police should be ready to arrest anyone who expresses support for Hamas. The time long ago came to make a stand.

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