KCL student says she was ‘scared’ to go to university after calling herself a Zionist

A student from KCL said she was ostracised and “scared” to go to university after calling herself a Zionist.

This came from a report released earlier this month by the pro-Israel charity StandWithUs UK. The “Voice of Students 2024/25” draws upon confidential interviews and written testimonies from Jewish students across multiple UK universities. Through the report, the charity aims to “highlight a truth too often ignored: That anti-Zionism and antisemitism are inextricably linked.”

The report included six testimonies from KCL students, who say they experienced antisemitism during their time at the university. KCL had the most testimonies out of all the universities involved in the report.

An anonymous King’s student told StandWithUs UK and The Times about her experience in a class group chat. Comments came after discussing a lecture series on the Middle Eastern conflict.

“After I said I was a Zionist, everyone started ganging up on me. Students were asking why I was on the chat, saying they ‘fished’ out a Zionist and that I should be removed,” she said.

The student was “left in tears”, asking her brother to walk her to class the next day. On 7th October 2024,  the student and other Jewish peers stood with an Israeli flag in response to a pro-Palestine walkout held that day. This prompted the group chat to “explode” with messages, including one saying: “You’re not the messiah you think you are.”

The student filed formal complaints with King’s College London and the police, but claimed she had no response from King’s. The police informed the student that officers “could not identify any messages that would meet the threshold for an offence under current hate crime laws”.

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Additionally, another student from the report claims their fears of being unsafe were “shut down” by a lecturer, who told the class Hamas was “anti-Israel, not anti-Semitic”.

“In a course focused on terrorism and security, I was told that my experience of living in fear wasn’t relevant,” they explained.

Therefore, they said as a result, Jewish students are “systematically sidelined – not by policy but by the sheer power of numbers and pressure”.

A third student who said they’d faced issues on campus, also added: “We’re not asking for special treatment. We’re asking to feel safe, respected and heard at the university we call home.”

A King’s College London spokesperson said: “We are in contact with the student who has submitted a complaint about verbal abuse and have offered support while investigations are ongoing, including individual support through our wellbeing services and increased safety measures.

“There is no place at King’s for racism, antisemitism, abuse, incitement, harassment and bullying, and any reports made to Report and Support (our reporting system), are taken very seriously and are investigated in line with our robust policies and procedures.

“We are engaged with our Israeli, Jewish and wider student societies on a regular basis, and have provided extensive pastoral support and have enhanced security measures, both in person and via our SafeZone app, to keep our community safe on campus.”

Featured image via Pexels