An Israeli flag was torn down from a photography student’s working area in the Royal College of Arts (RCA), and at a subsequent Photography Department faculty meeting, a tutor called the flag a symbol of hate and genocide.

This comes against the background of many students at the RCA in all departments wearing keffiyehs and Palestinian flag badges.

Many other photography students have decorated their working areas with a flag, symbol, work of art or other item relating to their ethnic or national identity.

At the faculty meeting, one tutor said that the Israeli flag was a symbol of hate and genocide and that putting it up was a deliberate provocation. The faculty members proposed that Israeli flags and related objects should be banned to keep the studios “safe”.

Jewish students who sought to express their views were shouted down, told to shut up and threatened. The meeting ended with the faculty members saying that they would escalate the issue to the administration to see about Israeli flags being banned.

UKLFI has now written to Professor Christoph Lindner, President and Vice-Chancellor of the RCA to set out what happened to the Jewish photography students, and to explain that the insults levelled at them and at the Jewish State by the tutors were false and highly offensive.

UKLFI explained that the ICJ did not decide that there was a plausible case of genocide in Gaza, as confirmed in a subsequent BBC interview and Palestinian casualty figures produced by the Hamas-run Ministries have been manipulated.

UKLFI also pointed out that several lectures at the RCA have been extremely biased against Israel.  This included one by Elliot Bourne regarding his work for the organisation Forensic Architecture, which consisted primarily of anti-Israel propaganda and also accused Israel of genocide.  Another extremely biased lecture in the School of Architecture given by Professor Nadia Abu El-Haj on 14 November 2024 examined “Israel’s genocidal intentions”.

The RCA School of Architecture had also demonstrated partiality by promoting joint events with the Palestinian Society, which is discriminatory and undermines Jewish and Israeli students.

The biased lectures, discriminatory events, and flag incidents have promoted an extremely hostile atmosphere for Jewish, Israeli and Zionist students,.

UKLFI explained that under the Equality Act 2010, Jews, Israelis and Zionists have protected characteristics of ethnicity, religion and/or belief.

Under section 91(2) of that Act, RCA must not discriminate against students because of any protected characteristics by subjecting them to any detriment.

Under section 91(5) of that Act, RCA must not harass students. Harassment is defined in section 26 of the Act as engaging in unwanted conduct related to a relevant protected characteristic that has the purpose or effect of violating their dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for them.

Under section 109 of the same Act, RCA is liable for the conduct of its staff, unless it shows that it took all reasonable steps to prevent that conduct.

UKLFI pointed out that if RCA bans Israeli flags or other items related to the national or ethnic identity of Jews in students’ workspaces, but does not ban other national flags and items, it would discriminate against and harass Israeli, Jewish and Zionist students, contrary to the above provisions. RCA must allow either all or none of these items.

UKLFI has asked the RCA to confirm it will not adopt a discriminatory policy in relation to the display by students of national flags or other items related to their national or ethnic identity, and to conduct a disciplinary investigation of racist remarks by faculty staff.

UKLFI has also called upon RCA to end its School of Architecture’s practice of co-hosting meetings with the Palestine Society, to remind all students and staff that there must be no discrimination and no harassment related to ethnicity, religion, nationality or belief, and to ensure greater balance in lectures and teaching relating to the Middle East.

Jonathan Turner commented: “The RCA must stop discrimination against and harassment of its Jewish and Israeli students. Hostility of other students is no excuse, especially when that hostility has been promoted by extremely biased, anti-Israel lectures, which have very little, if any, connection with the RCA’s objects.”