Blog Index

Last month, we reported on the serious allegations of antisemitism made against members of Oxford University Labour Club (OULC). At the time, we argued this problem was not isolated to one university or student society, citing our reports of antisemitism on campus over the years, and we have since released a briefing detailing further examples of ...

Last Friday, two men were arrested after they pulled off a Muslim student’s niqab outside the Strand campus of King’s College London (KCL). The men allegedly approached a stall run by the Islamic Society and started throwing leaflets from the stall on the floor, as well as directing racially abusive and threatening language towards the students ...

The Queen Mary University Palestine Solidarity Society is reported to have been banned from hosting events for eight weeks by the university. This comes after the society hosted an event on 26th January featuring, via video link, Ahmed Alfaleet, a Palestinian who served 20 years in prison for killing an Israeli in Gaza in 1992. Released in ...

The argument often used when extreme or intolerant speakers appear on campus is that it exposes their views to challenge from students, but in our experience this doesn’t happen often enough. Here, Gino Ragnoli, Treasurer of the University of Leicester Atheist, Humanist and Secular Society, details his attempts to do so when Hamza Tzortzis appeared on ...

Update 05/04/2016: The risk assessment carried out by YUSU, obtained by a Freedom of Information request, has been seen by Student Rights, and it is worrying that no formal assessment of the play’s content appears to have been carried out. The student union assessment does not factor in the allegations of antisemitism surrounding the play, or ...

In the years Student Rights has been logging on-campus events featuring speakers with a history of extreme or intolerant views, February has stood out as one of the busiest months. This appears to be in part due to the popularity of ‘Discover Islam Weeks’ during this month; the sheer number of events providing such speakers with ...

On Wednesday, I had the pleasure of speaking at the University of Newcastle at an event organised by the Atheist and Secular Humanists Society. It was a great opportunity to discuss extremism and free speech on campus, and to showcase our work. Since starting at Student Rights, I’ve travelled across the country, speaking to students about extreme ...

UPDATE 21/03/2016: Brahma Mohanty, the OULC Disabilities Officer has resigned his position, accusing the society of forcing members “to subscribe to a radical ideology of division and isolation”. Mohanty took on roles with the university club to promote “access and diversity”, but now believes this ethos is not shared by other OULC members. He cited the ...

On Monday, Goldsmiths College hosted the latest event in the National Union of Student’s (NUS) ‘Students Not Suspects’ tour, which aims to undermine the government’s counter-radicalisation strategy, Prevent. Once again, NUS Black Student’s Officer Malia Bouattia used the event to defend CAGE and shared a platform with the group’s Director of Outreach Moazzam Begg, despite NUS ...

Here at Student Rights, we have frequently criticised National Union of Students (NUS) officials when they have campaigned alongside groups like CAGE and MEND. This trend continued last Saturday, when NUS Black Students’ Officer Malia Bouattia spoke at an event organised by Middle East Monitor (MEMO) titled ‘Targeting Dissent: Israel’s Crackdown on Arab Citizens’. MEMO has published ...

Throughout 2014, Student Rights highlighted attempts by the neo-Nazi organisation, National Action, to target university campuses. While often only taking the form of poster drops, this activism was a worrying phenomenon, one exacerbated by the fact a member of the group was later convicted of attempted murder. While National Action appears to have had little success in ...

Earlier this week, Kingston University’s Department of Journalism hosted a panel discussion on the government’s Prevent Strategy. Last term, we saw a series of events where speakers from extreme groups went unchallenged as they condemned Prevent, spreading misleading and divisive information in the process. Monday’s event saw a rare and welcome attempt to provide an element of ...

Last Friday, Student Rights National Organiser Gray Sergeant spoke at the University of Exeter Debating Society on the motion ‘This House Supports No Platform Policies at University’. Here he outlines his opinion on the topic. On being invited to attend this debate, I spoke for the motion despite my increasing frustration with overzealous student unions banning ...

Following the events at King’s College London (KCL) on Tuesday, former KCL student and Student Rights blogger Emma Webb gives her take on the issue. All views are her own and do not necessarily represent those of Student Rights… The ‘Rhodes Saga’ has brought ‘safe spaces’ out from the shadows of student politics into the sight ...

UPDATE 20/01/2016: Following last night’s events, KCL, KCL Student Union (KCLSU), and KCL Action Palestine have all released statements. KCL has announced that Ian Creagh, Head of Administration and College Secretary, has been commissioned to “conduct an urgent investigation…to establish what happened and what action might need to be taken as a consequence”. The Principal of KCL, ...

Last week, it was reported that ‘Helping Households under Great Stress’ (HHUGS) had campaigned at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) during an event calling for the release of convicted terrorists. Journalists were given a card claiming Islamist terrorist Adel Abdel Bary was detained without charge, despite Bary’s 2014 conviction for his involvement in ...

Today, the Daily Mail published a four page investigation into extremist speakers on campuses, focusing on the pro-terrorist group CAGE’s campaign to undermine Government counter-radicalisation measures. The Mail reported that there were at least 13 on-campus events last term which featured officials from CAGE; most often the group’s Outreach Director Moazzam Begg. They argue that Begg has ...

A blog post published last week, and highlighted by Harry’s Place, has shone fresh light on concerning academic practices at the University of Bath. Addressing research by Hilary Aked, a PhD student studying the ‘Israel lobby’, the blog claims an article written by Aked attacking a recent Israel advocacy day “used information provided in confidence for…academic ...

The issue of extremism on university campuses has been part of the public debate since the 7/7 attacks, and comes under new scrutiny every time an individual involved in violent extremism is found to have studied at a UK university. In 2011, the revised Prevent strategy declared there was “…unambiguous evidence” extremist organisations targeted specific universities ...

On 21st September, a new statutory duty for universities to “have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism” came into force. This gave institutions a legal requirement to put policies in place to challenge on-campus radicalisation and guarantee compliance with the government’s Prevent strategy. While universities have broadly accepted the need ...

Following the ongoing controversy over the LSESU Palestine Society’s commemoration of terrorists, LSE student Liam Marc Robson reflects on the LSESU’s handling of the incident in this article cross-posted from The Beaver. All views are his own, and do not necessarily represent those of Student Rights. “What is terrorism?” It used to be so simple. A man ...

In late October, Student Rights reported on an exhibition memorialising dead terrorists at the London School of Economics (LSE) and criticised the Student Union (SU) for whitewashing the incident. The exhibition, hosted by the LSESU Palestine Society, commemorated “victims” of Israeli aggression, while failing to mention that some of those listed had in fact been killed ...

Following last week’s events at Goldsmiths College, Queen Mary student Tom Owolade has written on the failure of the Goldsmiths Feminist and LGBTQ Societies to stand with Maryam Namazie, and their expressions of solidarity with students responsible for the disruption. This article is cross-posted below, and all views are his own, and do not necessarily ...

Today, activists from the National Union of Students (NUS) Welfare Campaign and NUS Black Students’ Campaign are taking part in a “national day of action” against Prevent, the government counter-radicalisation policy. Part of an ongoing effort to undermine attempts to challenge extremism on campus, this follows a number of events on the issue which have seen ...

UPDATE 09/12/2015: Since the pledges of support for Goldsmiths Islamic Society (ISOC) from the Feminist and LGBT Societies, statements made by Muhammed Patel, the President of Goldsmiths ISOC, have come to light in which he refers to homosexuality as “a disease” and uses the phrase “fag lovers”. Following this, a statement has been released by the ...