The leadership of Edinburgh University has been warned that it must take action against rising antisemitism.

UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) has written to the Vice-Chancellor and Head of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion at Edinburgh University, expressing serious concern that antisemitism is being allowed to take root on campus and that incidents of unlawful discrimination, harassment, and criminal offences have not been addressed in line with the University’s legal duties.

Further, the cultural shift signalled by the University’s reconsideration of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism and its uncritical adoption of its ‘Race Review’ risks entrenching a climate in which hostility towards Jewish staff and students is normalised.

Jewish students and staff report a marked decline in their quality of life at Edinburgh University since 7 October 2023. UKLFI has urged the University to comply with its legal obligations and take meaningful steps towards resolving these issues.

Concerns raised with the University point to a sustained pattern of threatening and disruptive activity on campus. Reportedly protesters have appeared masked, brandishing mock rifles, naming staff perceived as supportive of Israel, and disrupting classrooms, libraries, and offices with chants such as “From the River to the Sea” , “Globalise the Intifada” and “Down with Zionism”.

Access to key buildings, including the Main Library, has been obstructed through occupations and unauthorised banners. Reports suggest as many as 19 recent graduation ceremonies were disrupted by protesters.

Accounts suggest that Jewish students and staff have been directly targeted on the basis of their actual or presumed Jewish or Zionist identity. The University’s Justice for Palestine Society, in particular, has been accused of grossly offensive social media posts, including portraying a terrorist attack in a manner likely to cause offence and calling for Israel’s destruction with the statement, “Israel cannot be allowed to exist at all”.

Jewish students report feeling unsafe in accommodation, with some vacating residences, withdrawing from social life, or concealing their identity. Many feel the University has failed to apply its own Code of Conduct and policies, even when presented with clear evidence of antisemitism, leaving complaints inadequately addressed.

UKLFI has also raised grave concerns about the University’s recent ‘Race Review’, warning that its statements and recommendations risk undermining academic standards, entrenching antisemitism, and exposing the University to serious legal and reputational consequences.

The Race Review advocates divestment from “any interests supporting Israel’s dispossession,” reversal of the University’s adoption of the IHRA definition of antisemitism, and the establishment of a Palestine Studies Centre to provide space and funding focused on “educational activities and community engagement relating to the effects of imperial legacies on Palestine and dispossession”. These recommendations are founded on a series of inaccurate and partisan assertions.

The Race Review misrepresents the law, asserting that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found a plausible violation by Israel of the Genocide Convention in its Provisional Measures Order of 26 January 2024. On the contrary, as the then ICJ President confirmed, the ICJ “didn’t decide that the claim of genocide was plausible” – it merely found that Palestinians have a plausible right to be protected from genocide.

Further, the Race Review deliberately misrepresents key historical events, including the Balfour Declaration and the origins of the State of Israel, in a manner that is not only factually inaccurate and academically indefensible, but also appears calculated to delegitimise the world’s only Jewish state.

The authors then accuse the University of Edinburgh of an “ongoing entanglement with the contemporary dispossession of Palestinians” through investments allegedly “supporting the Israeli occupation of Palestine and ongoing human rights and international law violations in Gaza.”

They criticise the adoption of the IHRA definition of violating academic freedom by “framing any criticism of Israel’s policies of settler-colonial dispossession driven by state racism as a form of antisemitism,” allegedly creating an academic environment where such criticism is “highly limited.”

Their cumulative framing equates Zionism with colonialism, apartheid, ethnic cleansing, genocide, and crimes against humanity, and portrays Israel as uniquely illegitimate and criminal, vilifying not only the State of Israel but also Jews who identify or are identified with it.

The University’s so far uncritical endorsement of the Race Review fosters a campus environment in which antisemitism is normalised, excused, or even encouraged under the guise of academic discourse.

Other concerns raised with the University include their handling of the event ‘The Israel-Palestine Conflict: A Primer for Teachers.’ Prior to the event, UKLFI warned the University that it risked increasing antisemitism, encouraging breaches of teachers’ legal duties against political indoctrination, and inciting hatred towards Jews and Israelis.

The University declined to intervene, and reports from attendees indicate the content was biased, inaccurate, and propagandistic. When dissenting views were raised, they were deleted, censoring lawful expression, suppressing academic debate, and raising serious legal and ethical concerns.

Much of the conduct outlined above is liable to result in discrimination and harassment of Jewish, Israeli and/or Zionist students or staff in breach of the Equality Act 2010. In addition, the University appears to be failing to comply with its Public Sector Equality Duty under the Equality Act 2010 and the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012.

The University, as a registered charity, is also required to act within its charitable purposes and for the public benefit, and cannot lawfully promote political propaganda under the guise of education. By endorsing the partisan and inaccurate content of the Race Review, and encouraging teaching on Israel/Palestine to reflect the same partisan approach, the University may be in breach of its obligations under charity law.

The University is further bound by the Human Rights Act 1998 to comply with the European Convention on Human Rights, including the right to freedom of expression without discrimination on grounds such as race, religion, political opinion, or national origin. Endorsing one-sided narratives while failing to publicise alternative perspectives, and censoring lawful comments, suggest breaches of these obligations by discriminating against those with differing views and denying them equal participation in academic debate.

UKLFI has also cautioned that the protesters’ conduct may amount to criminal offences, including aggravated trespass contrary to the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994; racially aggravated harassment and stirring up religious or racial hatred contrary to the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021; breach of the peace at common law; and offences under the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010. These actions also appear to be in clear breach of multiple University policies.

UKLFI has called on the University to enforce its own policies and the law to address the surge in antisemitism fostered by its apparent inaction, its uncritical acceptance of the Race Review, and the hostile climate this has created. UKLFI warns that the University’s failure to act not only allows this atmosphere to persist but risks encouraging its escalation.

Specifically, UKLFI has requested the University to:

1. confirm the status of its IHRA review and antisemitism action plan;
2. reassess the Race Review, remove inaccurate or discriminatory content, and address antisemitic narratives;

• investigate the deletion of dissenting comments at the ‘The Israel-Palestine Conflict: A Primer for Teachers’ event and discipline those responsible;

1. initiate disciplinary processes against staff and students engaged in hate speech, antisemitic harassment, or disruption of lawful activity, and clarify what action has been taken to date;
2. strengthen protest and event protocols, making clear that incitement to violence, such as calls for “Intifada,” will not be tolerated;
3. proactively monitor protests and affiliated social media, engage the police where criminal conduct arises, and ensure anonymous reports are properly investigated;

• refer radicalised individuals to Prevent where appropriate;
• instruct staff to remain politically neutral in teaching and communications, and ensure teaching on controversial issues includes a full range of perspectives in line with charity law; and

1. provide staff training on Equality Act obligations, deliver compulsory antisemitism awareness training for staff and students with expert input, and offer a structured, professionally facilitated programme on non-violent communication.

A UKLFI spokesperson said: “The University of Edinburgh has a responsibility to foster a campus that is safe, inclusive and welcoming for all. We urge Professor Mathieson to confront the antisemitism that has been allowed to flourish and reconsider the University’s endorsement of the Race Review, whose inaccuracies and propaganda only serve to exacerbate an already untenable situation.”