{"success":true,"data":{"id":"d0614839-40e6-4a2e-8dfe-05ab2edda8c0","title":"'Antisemitism felt relentless' - Jewish students on life at UK universities","summary":"Site search News Business Technology Culture Arts Travel Earth Audio Video Live Documentaries 'Antisemitism felt relentless' - Jewish students on life at UK universities 2 hours ago Save Bethan Bushell BBC Wales Oliver Before graduating in July 2026, Oliver served as president of Cardiff University'...","content":"Site search \n\nNews\n\nBusiness\n\nTechnology\n\nCulture\n\nArts\n\nTravel\n\nEarth\n\nAudio\n\nVideo\n\nLive\n\nDocumentaries\n\n# 'Antisemitism felt relentless' - Jewish students on life at UK universities\n\n2 hours ago\n\nSave\n\nBethan Bushell BBC Wales\n\n![Image 1: Oliver Oliver, who has dark hair and short facial hair, is wearing graduation robes and a cap, standing beside a flower bed in a park, with other graduates in the background.](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/5f03/live/c51cb160-8935-11f1-84e8-6d3e4a4b3ade.jpg.webp)Oliver\n\nBefore graduating in July 2026, Oliver served as president of Cardiff University's Jewish Society\n\nSome Jewish students have said they feel antisemitism has become \"normalised\" at UK universities and they routinely hide signs of their identity for fear of abuse.\n\nStudents at more than 10 universities in England and Wales told the BBC they had faced hostility, and warned of a \"culture of antisemitism\" on campuses.\n\nA report into the issue by the Union of Jewish students in March 2026 called for new enforceable standards for how universities investigate and punish hate crime.\n\nUniversities UK, which represents more than 140 higher education institutions, said universities were working to improve support, reporting and campus safety for Jewish students.\n\nCardiff University student Oliver, 21, said being Jewish had always been a central part of his identity.\n\nHe described his first week at the university in 2023 as \"terrifying\", because it had coincided with the [7 October attacks](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyv7w3gdy2o) when Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking hundreds hostage.\n\nIsrael responded to the attack by launching a [military campaign in Gaza](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0qv0pdj18go), in which it is estimated more than 70,000 Palestinians have died.\n\n![Image 2: Aviva Aviva, a young woman with long dark hair standing in a garden surrounded by white daisies, with greenery in the background.](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/7cc8/live/e21f3090-8759-11f1-a0f1-fd76e1e0297b.jpg.webp)Aviva\n\nAviva says questions about her name can lead to uncomfortable conversations about her religion and identity\n\nLike many campuses across the UK, Cardiff University has seen pro-Palestine protests in recent years and Oliver said he believed some behaviour he witnessed crossed the line from criticism of Israel into antisemitism.\n\nHolding Jewish people responsible for the actions of the Israeli government is a form of antisemitism**,**according to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.\n\n\"That first year was absolutely terrifying,\" he said.\n\n\"You go home and think, 'do I carry on? Do I try to go to the next day?'\"\n\nOliver said he stopped speaking Hebrew outside his home, and hid his Star of David pendant when on campus.\n\nOver the following three years, Oliver said the antisemitic abuse he experienced at university became \"relentless\".\n\n\"I've been in clubs [or] just wandering around the uni and you hear these conversations and you see pamphlets being handed around where it's literally saying that your belief and your history is fake,\" he said.\n\n\"I've been at house parties where, when someone's found out I'm Jewish they started calling me Netanyahu behind my back.\n\n\"Like you found out my religion and you've decided I'm a bad person.\"\n\nOliver said when he had reported antisemitic incidents that had happened to him and others, he had felt they had been often \"swept under the rug\" by the university.\n\nAlthough he said some positive action had been taken, he feels more needs to be done.\n\nCardiff University said it was sorry that \"any student felt unsafe\" on campus and that it adopts a \"zero-tolerance approach to harassment and discrimination of all kinds\".\n\nIt said there was no place for antisemitism or hatred at the university and they have \"robust procedures\" in place for investigating allegations of antisemitism. Where it is found, the university said appropriate action would be taken.\n\nIt said it had reached out to the university's Jewish Society and reminded students to report incidents to them.\n\n## 'Hiding their identity'\n\nOliver is not alone in feeling this way.\n\nThere are about 9,000 Jewish students in the UK and reported antisemitic incidents on UK campuses rose by more than 400%, from 53 in the 2022-23 academic year, to 272 in 2023-24, according to the Community Security Trust, which monitors antisemitism in the UK.\n\nUniversities UK acknowledged antisemitism is a growing challenge.\n\nIts chief executive, Vivienne Stern, said her organisation was committed to tackling campus antisemitism and was actively working with Jewish students to bring about change.\n\n\"I think that Jewish students should be able to wear signs that they are Jewish,\" she said.\n\n\"They should be able to wear their Star of David necklace or their kippah, and they should be able to celebrate Jewish life.\"\n\n![Image 3](https://static.files.bbci.co.uk/bbcdotcom/web/20260723-115353-11d20ce153-web-3.15.1-1/grey-placeholder.png)![Image 4: Unknown Graffiti reading ‘Kill More Jews’ written over a pro-Palestine and anti-racism poster on the side of a bus stop shelter.](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/6319/live/dc9edd80-8684-11f1-b60e-a7e0943a9c78.png.webp)Unknown\n\nGraffiti reading 'Kill More Jews' was written on the side of a bus stop shelter outside a Manchester University campus in late 2023\n\nDaniel, the incoming Jewish Society vice-president at Manchester University, said Jewish students in the city had started \"hiding their identity\" after the 7 October attacks and later the [Heaton Park attack](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yvzp070vgo) in October 2025, when two Jewish people were killed after a car was driven into pedestrians outside a synagogue.\n\nHe said antisemitic slogans and swastikas had been daubed on walls and a swastika drawn on a fridge at a house party after partygoers had discovered the host was Jewish.\n\nDaniel said he was aware a Jewish student wearing a kippah had also been warned by staff not to enter an academic building during protests for fear of their safety.\n\n\"To be Jewish at university is to have an identity that is inherently politicised by everyone around you,\" he said.\n\n\"That becomes very exhausting because it's a very difficult place to navigate.\"\n\nA University of Manchester spokesperson said previous incidents of offensive graffiti on campus were removed promptly, with involvement from police.\n\nThey said the unversity took antisemitism \"extremely seriously\" and investigated it, and that the university has worked closely with civic and faith leaders to promote dialogue and understanding between communities.\n\nThey added: \"We are working with Jewish students, staff and community representatives to strengthen our response to antisemitism.\n\n\"There is however more to do, and we are working with the Antisemitism Policy Trust and other universities to share learning, identify effective practice and strengthen our collective response to antisemitism.\"\n\n![Image 5](https://static.files.bbci.co.uk/bbcdotcom/web/20260723-115353-11d20ce153-web-3.15.1-1/grey-placeholder.png)![Image 6: Daniel Daniel, who has dark curly hair and is wearing a purple suit stood outside with green bushes and red flowers in the background. ](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/5010/live/d6ea8990-8759-11f1-a0f1-fd76e1e0297b.jpg.webp)Daniel\n\nDaniel says that despite the challenges, Jewish students remain \"brave and resilient\"\n\nThe president of Swansea University's Jewish Society said she had to alert local counter-terrorism officers when organising routine activities for the society.\n\n\"I don't think anyone running, say, the Manga [Japanese comic books] Society has to consider whether there's a hate crime risk from having a stall,\" said Aviva.\n\n\"I'm a 20-year-old just going about university life. Getting calls from the police to tell me there isn't a terrorism risk isn't a normal experience.\"\n\nSwansea University said it supports students through dedicated wellbeing, academic and faith services, and is maintaining a zero-tolerance approach to harassment and discrimination.\n\n[A recent survey](https://assets.nationbuilder.com/ujs/pages/1126/attachments/original/1773576815/Time_for_Change_-_Online_Version.pdf?1773576815) of 1,000 students commissioned by the Union of Jewish Students, conducted by JL Partners between January and February 2026, said Jewish students were being \"isolated by their peers\" because of the Israel-Palestine conflict.\n\nThe poll suggested \"apathy\" towards antisemitism, with one in four (25%) students saying they did not care \"very much\" or \"at all\" if students are able to be open about their Jewish identity.\n\n![Image 7](https://static.files.bbci.co.uk/bbcdotcom/web/20260723-115353-11d20ce153-web-3.15.1-1/grey-placeholder.png)![Image 8: Lloyd Lloyd, who has dark curly hair and facial hair, is wearing a dark jumper and is standing by a stone wall at a coastal viewpoint, with ocean waves, cliffs, and a cloudy blue sky in the background.](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/fad8/live/ce0db540-8759-11f1-a0f1-fd76e1e0297b.jpg.webp)Lloyd\n\nLloyd says he is hesitant most of the time to tell people at university he is Jewish\n\nLloyd said he felt vulnerable for the first time after he had moved to Bangor University last year and witnessed students chanting \"you're a Jew, Jew, Jew\" at another student.\n\nLloyd said it was handled \"really well\" when he raised it with the society responsible.\n\nBut he said incidents like this could leave Jewish students feeling unsure about how and when to challenge antisemitic behaviour.\n\n\"I'm lucky. I'm a big guy, and I don't feel particularly scared for my physical safety,\" he said.\n\n\"[But] it's enough to make me very hesitant, most of the time, to say that I'm Jewish.\"\n\nBangor University said it had a zero-tolerance approach to harassment and discrimination, and any formal complaints would be thoroughly investigated.\n\nOliver has now graduated from university and said that, in his final year, he started wearing his Star of David again.\n\n\"I deserve to be here, I've earned my place, and I'm going to get the degree I've earned.\"\n\n[If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story, information and support can be found at the BBC's Action Line](https://www.bbc.co.uk/actionline).\n\nMore stories","source_name":"BBC News","source_url":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp8l050d18yo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss","url":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp8l050d18yo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss","author":"Unknown Author","author_name":"Unknown Author","published_at":"2026-07-26T20:52:38.000Z","publication_date":"2026-07-26T20:52:38.000Z","image_url":"https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/5f03/live/c51cb160-8935-11f1-84e8-6d3e4a4b3ade.jpg.webp","category":"world","topic":"world","tags":[],"political_bias":null,"bias_score":null,"confidence_score":null,"credibility_score":null,"factual_quality":null,"reading_time":8,"word_count":1477,"view_count":0,"breaking":false,"breaking_news":false,"ai_analysis":null,"fact_check_status":"unverified","archive_status":"hot","language":null}}