Goldsmiths’ report published following antisemitism inquiry

Goldsmiths, University of London has today published a long-awaited report following an independent inquiry into antisemitism at the institution.

Below are just a selection of incidents that were quoted in the report:

• Graffiti on campus containing swastikas and the text, “Gas the Jews.”
• QR codes on campus with the text: “What you need to know about the Jews”. The QR code led to images of concentration camps.
• Two events were held on campus in 2022 to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day. The Jewish Students’ Community were not involved or consulted. There were no Jewish historians or Jewish speakers at the event. The events focused on other genocides, rather than the Holocaust.
• The Islamic Society allegedly posted a religious text which appeared to suggest that the Hamas attack on 7th October 2023 was “justified or a message from God”.
• One student reported that their flatmate at Raymont Hall used their kosher utensils to cook pork and then verbally abused them when they objected. The same student also found their mezuzah removed and desecrated, and faced antisemitic hostility from others, ultimately forcing them to leave the accommodation at significant personal expense.
• Welcome and induction meetings for students, in addition to the Freshers’ Fair, were held on Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) when most Jewish students would struggle to attend.
• Students told a Jewish student that their surname was a “Tory surname” before they spoke about how “all Jews are rich and own all the banks in the world.”
• A lecturer singled out the only Jewish student to “defend Israel” in a debate on the Hamas-Israel conflict. When the student asked for assistance, the lecturer replied, “You can’t, it is indefensible.”
• A Jewish student who was wearing a Star of David necklace was told by a fellow student that it was the symbol of a terrorist state and equivalent to a swastika.
• Jewish students had attended lectures at which Hamas was discussed without mention of antisemitism and it appeared that Hamas was being endorsed.
• A Jewish student was told that they “did not look like a Jew” and that Jews were “problematic” and that “they did not fit into the Goldsmiths image”.
• During a departmental meeting, a Jewish staff member who supported the International Definition of Antisemitism was told that it was “not for that participant (who is Jewish) to decide or speak” on the Definition. Colleagues launched into a vitriolic, disrespectful rant, which the participant described as “gruesome”, prompting the Head of Department to follow up on their well-being.
• A member of staff recounted how they found chants such as “Intifada ‘til Victory” and “from the River to the Sea” as triggering and that they were unable to enter an occupied area of the College “that is at the heart of [their] career”. Historically, Intifadas have been deadly terrorist campaigns against Jews. The genocidal chant ‘From the River to the Sea’, which is regularly heard at anti-Israel protests, refers to the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea, and, whether intended or not, is widely understood to represent a call for the destruction of the world’s only Jewish state — and its replacement with a Palestinian state. It is reasonably interpreted to be a call for the annihilation of half the world’s Jews, who live in Israel.
• A member of staff described that they had been prevented from teaching their students in the Stuart Hall building for a term due to a Gaza-related occupation by students. On one occasion during the occupation, the staff member had to walk through a group of students chanting “2, 4, 6, 8, Israel is a terrorist state,” which caused them to cry.
• One staff member cited their colleague’s social media post, which read: “If you feel unsafe as a Jew, then you must be a Zionist”.

In June 2022, Goldsmiths announced an “independent review into antisemitism at the College” after Prof. David Hirsh was reportedly called a “far-right white supremacist” by the then-Students’ Union President in a social media post.

Initially, the Students’ Union apparently refused to investigate Sara Bafo, its then President, following allegations of antisemitism, despite being requested to do so by the University.

Ms Bafo’s alleged post was said to have been written in response to a tweet from Prof. Hirsh, a prominent and highly-respected antisemitism expert, which said: “There is an antisemitic edge to official, institutional, university campaigns to ‘decolonise’ education.”

In response to the University’s request for the investigation, Ms Bafo tweeted that the University “has tried to get the SU trustee board to investigate me for a tweet I made in response to a Zionist Goldsmiths academic’s explicit racist history & his delegitimisation of ‘Decolonisation’ campaigns,” adding: “This was a dirty tactic from the institution to silence me further as I was leaving.”

However, notwithstanding the Students’ Union’s refusal to investigate on grounds of “free speech”, the University announced that an independent probe would take place into allegations of antisemitism on its campus more generally.

At the same time, the University announced that it would adopt the International Definition of Antisemitism, but “without the case studies”, referring to the eleven integral examples that form part of the Definition. The University also stated that it would also be adopting the Jerusalem Declaration, which is a wrecking document intended to undermine the globally-recognised Definition, owing to the fact that the University’s “academic community” favoured it. This deficient adoption of the Definition and the concurrent adoption of a competing document designed to sabotage the Definition did not achieve the University’s presumed aim of demonstrating a commitment to fighting antisemitism.

Separately, the independent inquiry got underway, led by Mohinderpal Sethi KC, but has taken three years to report.

Campaign Against Antisemitism submitted a dossier of evidence to the inquiry, incorporating the testimony of students and details of incidents, as well as recommendations.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “This report affirms what the Jewish community has long known: Jewish students and staff have been suffering antisemitism at Goldsmiths and the University has failed in its duty of care to them, so much so that the Jewish Society had to dissolve for safety reasons. This is an appalling dereliction of duty. Goldsmiths should be commended for launching this inquiry, and utterly shamed by its findings. The University must now accept that fundamental change is urgently required.

“Sadly, this report does not go nearly far enough. It does not name culprits, nor does it recommend structural changes to disciplinary enforcement or oversight of the SU. It attempts to redefine antisemitism instead of using the International (IHRA) Definition of Antisemitism. If you cannot properly identify antisemitism, you cannot tackle it. The report is far too reliant on and sensitive to the views of non-Jewish stakeholders, too many of whom may be motivated by a wish to ensure that their rhetoric and activism is not regarded as racist when in fact it is. It is outrageous that voices who have no regard for Jewish welfare should have had any input into an inquiry on antisemitism.

“The particular irony for Goldsmiths is that it has one of the world’s foremost experts on antisemitism in its faculty. Its refusal to be guided by his own research demonstrates that this is an institution that puts ideology first. That is a difficult hurdle to overcome. Nevertheless, we will work with Goldsmiths and judge for ourselves how earnestly it seeks to change course. The University must now, after years of allowing hatred to run rampant, prove that it understands how deep the problem of antisemitism goes and finally start uprooting it.”

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].