UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) has written to Dr Michael Spence, Provost of UCL, expressing thanks and praise for the university’s swift response to a lecture at UCL containing what UKLFI calls “appalling antisemitic” content.

According to UCL’s statement made on 13 November 2025, UCL promptly launched an investigation into the matter, banned the student group from further on-campus events pending the outcome, and banned the lecturer from campus. The university also reported the incident to the police.

The lecture was delivered by Dr Maqusi as part of a series on “The Birth of Zionism” organised by a student society called “Students for Justice in Palestine”.

During the lecture, Dr Maqusi said:

“So he [Napoleon] decides to call out to the Jews is in Asia and Africa, because at that time, as many of you also know, a lot of the financial network, a lot of the banks, a lot of the financial infrastructure was owned by a lot of Jewish families. The Jews pretty much controlled the financialisaton structure. And he promised them in return that if they give him the money, they fund the battle against the British and the Ottomans, that in return he pledged that he would erect the Jewish kingdom. In his words, the revival of the Jewish kingdom in Palestine under French patronage.”

She continued with a retelling of the “Damascus blood libel” of February 1840:

“Now 40 years later in about 1838, there was something called the Damascus Affair. What happened is there was a Christian Priest called Thomas. He disappears in Damascus during what is called the Feast of Tabernacles. This is a Jewish feast and the story goes. Again, these are things that you read. Again, do investigate. Draw your own narrative. But the story is that during this feast they make these special pancakes or bread and part of the holy ceremony is that drops of blood from someone who is not Jewish, which the term is gentile, has to be mixed in that bread. So the story is that a certain investigation was undergone to try and find where Father Thomas is. He was found murdered and a group of Jews who lived in Syria admitted to kidnapping and murdering him to get drops of blood for making the holy bread.”

The allegations against the Jews of Damascus were false. They were based on mediaeval libels originating in England that Jews make the unleavened bread, matzah, for the Jewish festival of Passover with the blood of murdered Christians. These libels fuelled centuries of persecution and violence against Jewish communities.

In fact, a few days before his disappearance on 5 February 1840, Father Thomas had a dispute with a Turkish muleteer, who had heard him blaspheme Mohammed. The Turk reportedly yelled: “That dog of a Christian shall die by my hand”. However, the notoriously antisemitic French consul in Damascus, on advice from local monks, accused the Jews, whose leaders were tortured and “confessed”.

Even though Dr Maqusi told her audience to “draw [their] own narrative,” she repeated the blood libel uncritically, presenting it as something students should investigate, and describing it as part of Jewish religious practice. This created the appearance that the claim had legitimacy and helped to revive and normalise a conspiracy theory that is explicitly recognised by the IHRA as a form of antisemitism.

Dr Maqusi’s description of Jewish ritual practice was additionally misinformed. Although the Damascus affair was in February 1840 she claimed that it occurred during Tabernacles (Sukkot), a Jewish festival in autumn involving no special bread. She also failed to acknowledge the numerous rules designed to remove all traces of blood from food for it to be kosher under Jewish law.

Dr Maqusi’s further assertion that Napoleon promised the “revival of the Jewish kingdom in Palestine” in return for Jewish funding reinforced conspiratorial narratives of Jewish manipulation and control and suggested they are relevant to the present day.

In its letter to Dr Spence, UKLFI has emphasised that one of the key lessons from this incident is the necessity of comprehensive antisemitism awareness training at universities.

Jonathan Turner, UKLFI Chief Executive, explained “It is important to address both traditional antisemitism and contemporary forms of antisemitism connected to Zionism and the State of Israel. As shown by this lecture these forms of antisemitism cannot be effectively separated.”

The exemplary action taken by UCL in this case contrasts with some other UK universities that have insisted they cannot intervene when false, antisemitic allegations are made by lecturers.

In some cases universities restrict recording of lectures and seminars. If students rely on recordings to show what was said, they are at risk of being disciplined themselves. And if they do not rely on recordings, their complaints can readily be dismissed, for example on the basis that the lecturer was just discussing differing views.

Jonathan Turner said “We are very concerned that some universities prevent scrutiny of antisemitic content in lectures and seminars by invoking copyright and GDPR. This risks enabling antisemitic indoctrination that is liable to make the UK an inhospitable place for Jews in the years to come.”