Mick Hartley

From the JC:

University College London (UCL) is axing the post of antisemitism officer – a move critics claim will make the campus “a more hostile environment for Jews,” the JC can reveal.

Jewish students fear that antisemitism complaints may now involve the university’s director of “equality, inclusion and care”, who is a trustee of a charity with alleged links to Hamas, along with the provost.

UCL student and leading influencer Dov Forman warned he has “no doubt” Jews at the university will be worse off due to the decision.

Anthony Orkin was appointed to the role of “antisemitism programme manager” in 2022, in what was the first position of its kind at a British university.

The post involved supporting Jewish students experiencing antisemitism, navigating the complaints process and delivering training across the university,

Last week, the leading university announced that the role would be discontinued.

And why an antisemitism officer was neede.

Last year, some Jewish students were physically prevented from attending a campus talk by an Israeli speaker on Jewish history after a masked group of pro-Palestinian activists stormed the building.

In a separate incident, around 70 masked protesters gathered on campus, chanting: “No more hiding, no more fear, Zionists not welcome here.”

Jewish students have also told the JC that they reported fellow students for making statements that appeared to justify Hamas’s actions.

It sounds like he was doing too good a job.

Jewish students told the JC that demand for the support provided by Orkin is higher than ever.

Forman said: “So many of my friends didn’t speak to anyone except Anthony about the antisemitism they faced, because they knew that anywhere else and with anyone else at the university, they’d be met with scepticism, bureaucracy and resistance. He was the trusted expert they had confidence in and could turn to.

“The demand for his expertise has, unfortunately, been overwhelming and sadly for good reason. UCL talks a good game on antisemitism, but when it comes to action, it has too often been lacklustre.

“Anthony is one of the few things they were genuinely getting right. I have no doubt that Jewish students will be worse off at UCL and will feel his departure immediately.” 

Heidi Bachram:

Grotesquely ironic about the mess at UCL is that the university was founded by Lord Isaac Goldsmid as a secular place that Jewish people and those of all faiths and none could attend. The first one that Jews could actually go to. Shameful.