‘Jet fuel can’t melt Jews’: Anti-Semitic messages left on Sussex’s ‘Before I Die’ wall

An anti-Semitic message has been written on Sussex’s ‘Before I Die’ board just 24-hours after its installation.

The message reported today read: “Jet fuel can’t melt Jews. Holocaust was an inside job”.

Vice-Chanceller Adam Tickell today confirmed on Twitter that the comment had been removed from the wall.

The aim of the ‘Before I Die’ art project is to let individuals reflect on themselves as well as exhibit common humanity and get a better idea of what it means to be human.

However, the chalkboard box on Library Square has been deface with anti-Semitic, pro-Nazi and pro-Holocaust statements.

This incident has raised a question of diversity and protection of Jewish students as it is the second hate crime that has occurred on Sussex’s campus in the past month following Nazi propaganda stickers appearing in campus buildings.

The art installation is mainly filled with messages of personal aspirations such as “Before I die I want to graduate” and a typically Sussex responses of “Before I die I want to smash the patriarchy”.

Unfortunately, the hateful messages have tarnished the positive aim of the project.

There has been reactions on social media which has triggered disgust and sadness among Sussex students on social media, with one comment picturing another message saying “Before I die I want to see end of Israel”.

There has been a recent surge of open anti-Semitism in universities and Baroness Deech, a member of the House of Lords has recently said some universities are seen as “no-go” zones for Jewish students.

Last month, a Swastika was carved into the doors and anti-Semitic messages were scrawled in some some of Exeter University halls, which was the second anti-Semitic act at the university this year after members of their snow sports society were pictured wearing t-shirts with slogans such as “the holocaust was a good time” handwritten on them.

The University of Cambridge has also had incidents, including Holocaust denial flyers being posted under windscreen wipers in a campus car park.

The original message has been removed by university staff, but the same space has been filled with a message saying “Make Köniysberg German again (and Pomerania)”.

The incident has been reported to the police who will work with the university to find the perpetrators.

More updates to follow.