Student Rights has long argued that antisemitism at UK universities remains a serious problem, and our latest briefing, ‘Antisemitism on Campus’, highlighted the various manifestations this form of racism can take, from incidents at on-campus events to activity on student society social media.
Today, the Jewish Chronicle has reported “recurring incidents” of antisemitic graffiti at Goldsmiths College, with one piece of graffiti reading: “Goldsmiths it’s the symbol of world Jewry!”
In November 2015, a swastika was drawn on a sign on campus, followed by the words “Burn it down”.
However, this was not made public until now as the university did not want to give the perpetrators the limelight.
Goldsmith’s Jewish Society President thanked the estates staff for removing the “hateful graffiti within hours of its discovery” this week and called on students to unite against racism.
The Students Union has released the following statement condemning the graffiti, which goes on to say:“We are taking this case extremely seriously and have raised it with university senior management…We endeavour to be an inclusive environment where all staff and students are secure from discrimination and will do all that is in our power to ensure this is the case.”
Unfortunately, these types of incidents aren’t isolated.
Last year, Student Rights reported on anti-Muslim graffiti at the University of Birmingham which read: “Kill Islam before it kills you” and “Islam must die”.
At the same institution, we also saw the police investigate the distribution of posters stating “Hitler was right”.
Student Rights has also been documenting the on-campus activity of National Action, a neo-Nazi group whose members promote antisemitic conspiracy theories, share Nazi imagery, and have expressed violent antisemitic rhetoric.
Following these latest reports, Student Rights echoes calls from the student union for students at Goldsmiths to report further incidents and urges the university to review its security in light of these incidents.
No student should feel marginalised or isolated while studying, and universities must remain vigilant in the face of antisemitism on their campuses.