University of Bristol lecturer reportedly authors antisemitic article

A lecturer at the University of Bristol has allegedly been caught by one of his students writing an antisemitic article. The student, writing anonymously in the student newspaper, The Epigram, said that the article accuses “‘government elites’ of ‘manipulating’ the Holocaust” and claims that “we are discouraged from ‘critical…thinking’ about it” and that society is “privileging” the Holocaust.

According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” is antisemitic. Additionally, according to the expert legal opinion commissioned by Campaign Against Antisemitism, contending that either Jews, Israel or the West have “manipulated” the Holocaust to generate sympathy for Jews or for Israel or prevent criticism of them is an allegation “chosen to be emotive and upsetting to Jewish people and to generate hostility towards them.”

The student claimed that the article was published “in one of those magazines which regularly (and proudly) publishes pieces by Holocaust deniers, ‘Jewish lobby’ conspiracy theorists, and 9/11 truthers.” As soon as we heard about the matter, we contacted The Epigram’s editor who conveyed a message to the student, but the student refused to allow The Epigram to pass details of the lecturer’s article to us, preferring to raise the issue of how the Holocaust is discussed, rather than name the lecturer and make the matter about them.

In response, the University of Bristol has offered to investigate, but like us they are unable to because the student has refused to identify the article to anybody but the editor of The Epigram on condition that the article is not disclosed to others.

Regrettably, rather than the student sparking an impactful debate, there has been precious little debate, and now the lecturer is able to continue to teach unimpeded.