By Samuel Weisz, JNS
The obstacles they face on campus are becoming unbearable.
The University of Exeter’s decision to decline an invitation to participate in a Kristallnacht commemoration in Krakow and Auschwitz this past November was not merely a missed opportunity. It reflected a deeper, more troubling trend: the systemic marginalization and lack of support for Jewish students on campus. While the university publicly champions inclusivity, my experiences and those of other Jewish students on campus, paint a starkly different picture.
At the start of the semester, as students returned to school and groups set up booths to attract new members, the school asked the Jewish society not to engage in Israel-related conversations or display Israeli flags. While the Jewish society faced intense scrutiny and preapproval for their materials, fliers from controversial groups like “Friends of Al-Aqsa,” known for openly supporting terror groups and contradicting the university’s stated principles, were distributed by multiple student groups, including some with no ties to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. University officials acknowledged that these fliers lacked approval but took no action.
I attempted to host a welcome event with CAMERA on Campus, a part of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, which is dedicated to combating misinformation about the Middle East. The event was flagged as “too controversial” by the university’s student guild. After contesting this decision, further bureaucratic hurdles were imposed, effectively obstructing the event.
Meanwhile, anti-Israel protests—organized by student groups on school grounds—are a weekly occurrence. At these rallies, one can hear chants calling for attacks on Jews via a “global intifada” and praise for terror attacks, such as “Yemen, Yemen, make us proud, turn another ship around.”
Regardless of whether the university is failing to adequately oversee campus activities or deliberately turning a blind eye to this extreme rhetoric while suppressing Jewish and pro-Israel voices, the result is the same: a clear and unacceptable disparity in the treatment of student groups. The administration’s selective enforcement of rules has created an environment where Jewish students feel stifled and targeted, unable to express their identity or engage in open dialogue without fear of reprisal or disproportionate restrictions.
All of which has led to a hostile educational environment with tangible and damaging consequences for Jewish students.
For example, last March, along with several other Jewish students, I hosted an information stall on campus about Jewish culture, Israel and the ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. We were quickly surrounded by more than 100 hostile students, many of whom we recognized from anti-Israel protests and groups. This organized mob hurled insults and conspiracy theories, yelling “You literally control the media” and “Go back to where you came from.” We were even accused of being spies for the Israeli government. The situation escalated as individuals tore up our materials, poured red liquid on our Israeli flag and belongings, and made violent threats.
Despite the presence of campus security and university staff, little was done to intervene. Jewish students were escorted off campus "for our safety," effectively silencing our voices and preventing us from expressing our beliefs. While investigations were supposedly launched, those of us who were targeted remain unaware of any consequences faced by the aggressors; some Jewish students were afraid to return to campus, fearing harassment if recognized.
It is not just student events that have been interrupted. When Yousef Haddad, an Arab-Israeli journalist, was invited to speak, anti-Israel agitators disrupted the event, which resulted in it being shut down.
At the University of Exeter, anti-Israel protesters are allowed to block pathways, shout down students, propagate extremist ideologies and support terrorism with impunity. Jewish students who complain are directed to seek help from “welfare services,” effectively framing their concerns as emotional distress instead of what they truly are—acts of intimidation, threat, violence and harassment.
The school has made it difficult for Jewish students to document these acts since they continually block Jewish students from filming anti-Israel protests where hate speech and/or support for terrorism was included. Not only were Jewish students told filming was prohibited, in some cases, university staff forced students to delete videos on the spot.
No action is taken, however, when Jewish or Israel-related events are filmed for propaganda, claiming that the events are in public spaces. Jewish society members have requested clarification on the filming rules but have received conflicting verbal responses.
Similarly, the school has not provided Jewish students with any recordings or written records of meetings about concerns by the Jewish and pro-Israel community on campus. This lack of transparency and accountability further erodes trust as Jewish students navigate endless risk assessments and meetings to hold even the most mundane events—a process that is seemingly singular to us—the sense of being singled out and unfairly burdened is palpable.
Despite adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, the University of Exeter has failed to put its principle ideas into practice. It appears to cooperate only to the extent that it can maintain a facade of doing a good job, in essence doing the bare minimum to tick the necessary boxes without enacting meaningful change.
The silence of university leadership in the face of antisemitic and anti-Zionist concerns is not an absence of noise. It is the willful disregard of the voices of Jewish students. From hostile mobs to arbitrary restrictions and unequal treatment, the university has demonstrably failed to create a safe and equitable environment for its Jewish students.
The university may prefer Jewish students to handle these issues quietly, but the obstacles we face on campus are becoming unbearable.
If the University of Exeter truly values inclusivity and dialogue, then it must confront these issues head-on. It must move beyond superficial gestures and take concrete steps to dismantle the biases that have been marginalizing Jewish students. The university must act now to break this silence, ensuring that all students—regardless of identity or belief—feel safe, valued and heard. The school’s continued inaction is not only a betrayal of its Jewish students but a fundamental contradiction of its own stated values.
