Mick Hartley

Only two issues seem to arouse our brave young students to action nowadays. Supposed evidence of transphobia is one, of course. And the other…

Masked demonstrators at Cambridge University burned flares and screamed Hamas slogans during the Israeli ambassador’s visit on Tuesday – prompting outraged government ministers to demand action.

The shameful scenes at one of the country’s top universities came in a torrid week on British campuses. At Sheffield Hallam University, Jewish students branded the institution a “hostile environment” after it employed Palestinian activist Shahd Abusalama to teach a course on “post-colonial media culture”, despite her praise for terrorists and provocative statements about “Zionists”.

And a report by the Community Security Trust revealed a record 128 antisemitic incidents at British universities in 2021.

The 100-strong mob gathered outside Cambridge Student Union on Tuesday, chanting “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”. Last month, Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi told the JC that universities must alert police if they hear the chant. But in Cambridge, officers looked on.

Demonstrators also called Israel an “apartheid state,” echoing last week’s inflammatory claims by Amnesty International. The crowd lit flares, blew whistles and beat pans to intimidate Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely and drown out her speech.   

Andrew Percy, chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group Against Antisemitism, said he would raise the incident with university officials. 

“Cambridge University needs to investigate the use of this to determine if any of their students were involved and, if so, what action they plan to take against students using a slogan so beloved of terrorists,” he said.

[Photos: John Nguyen]

Back in November the same Israeli ambassador, Tzipi Hotovely, was met with violent protests after she spoke at LSE. Demonstrators tried to smash her car windows – a nice touch, on the exact anniversary of Kristallnacht. 

Here's the story about Palestinian activist Shahd Abusalama at Sheffield Hallam.