Jewish student in Bristol Uni encampment told to be ‘ashamed’ of their pro-Palestine views

A Jewish University of Bristol student involved in the encampment currently in place on campus was told they should be “ashamed” of their pro-Palestine stance.

The student encampment for Palestine on Royal Fort Gardens has reached its third week after starting on May 1st and has grown in size to over 20 tents, including a small library and de-stimulating area.

This week, a counter-protestor entered the camp where they “called everyone anti-semitic” and targeted one student in the camp who is Jewish telling her she should be “ashamed”

Ellie*, the Jewish student targeted, told the Bristol Tab: “I told this man I was Jewish and that my family were killed in concentration camps in the Holocaust and he said it was, ‘disgusting to see a Jew here, that the encampment reeks of antisemitism, and that we hid behind a mask of compassion’”.

Across the country encampments for Palestine at university campuses are growing in number and size by the day. In response to this Prime Minister Sunak called a meeting with all vice chancellors across the UK to tackle the “rise in antisemitic abuse on campus.”

In response, the UK Jewish Academic Network (UKJAN) has stated its fear over the “weaponisation of antisemitism” in the wake of student encampments, urging the government to protect freedom of speech. On the other hand, the Union of Jewish Students has called the encampments “campus extremism.”

UKJAN made a public statement citing: “Bellicose language with which the government is referring to student encampments recently established in response to what the ICJ has called a plausible genocide in Gaza, echoing the warning raised by over 800 scholars of international law and genocide as early as October 2023.

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“We argue that the conflation of such protest with antisemitism does not protect Jewish students or staff.”

The Bristol encampment group said: “There’s a big issue with saying Jewish students feel uncomfortable because it treats Jews as a monolith and there are Jewish students who are part of the camp.”

They believe reports saying Jewish students in general feel unsafe is homogenising and inaccurate and does not accurately reflect the divergence of views between Jewish students.

This aligns with statements from UKJAN who claim the UK government messaging  “paints a false picture of a Jewish community united in its position about the violence in Gaza.”

Last week vice chancellor Evelyn Welch sent a statement to students stating: “I will not make any further public statements on the Israel-Gaza conflict.” Stressing the importance of remaining “impartial” and the role of the university “to enable staff and students to express themselves freely.”

Chris Rossdale a lecturer in SPAIS has openly criticised the vice chancellor’s statement on Twitter by drawing parallels to the statement released in response to Ukraine. Last week he held a lecture at the encampment detailing the university’s ties to arms companies.

Bristol Uni, 2022: "We stand with Ukraine in these terrible times."

Bristol Uni, 2024: "Our principles of free expression and academic freedom require us to remain impartial as an institution."

It's always a choice.

— Chris Rossdale (@crossdale) May 8, 2024