Coventry University Dodgeball Team suspended over “Jews deserved it” and swastika antisemitic t-shirt decoration party
Coventry University Dodgeball Team is under fire for hosting a white t-shirt party in which students elected to emblazon their t-shirts with antisemitic emblems and the slogan “The Jews deserved it.” This follows prior incidents at Lancaster, Plymouth and Newcastle.
On 6th February, Coventry University Dodgeball Team was photographed at Empire nightclub at what appears to have been a white t-shirt party, a party in which participants don plain white t-shirts and write messages on each other’s shirts. In this case, some members of the team decided to scrawl antisemitic remarks and a swastika.
The team has been suspended by Coventry University Students’ Union, after being reported to the university by the President of Coventry University Jewish Society.
In a joint statement, the Jewish Society and the Union of Jewish Students said: “We expect appropriate action to be taken to demonstrate that such behaviour is unacceptable.” Tochukwu Ajare, President of Coventry University Students’ Union issued a response promising: “We do not tolerate antisemitism or any form of hate crime. We will fully support the university in any disciplinary action it may take.”
Coventry University has also promised action, telling The Independent: “We are deeply concerned about this matter. We are investigating and we will take disciplinary action against any student of the University who is involved.”
We commend the Students’ Union and University for their handling of this incident. Campaign Against Antisemitism is taking close interest in the outcomes of the investigation and hope to see the University live up to its commitment to show zero tolerance to antisemitism.
If any students are concerned about antisemitism on campus or need assistance, they can call us on 0330 822 0321, or e-mail [email protected].
Campaign Against Antisemitism has not obscured the faces of those in the photograph above; the photograph was already pixellated.
