University tents symbolize a fault line between pro-Palestinian and Jewish students UK news

While pro-Palestinian students at the University of Leeds want to make their camp as inclusive as possible, Jewish students are finding it hard to make their voices heard.

Opposite the University of Leeds student union, a growing number of tents on the lawn speak of a fault line opening up not just on campus but in wider society.

Some of the tents are draped with Palestinian flags, while the entrance is plastered with a piece of cardboard explaining the group’s demands.

Among those demands, the student protesters are demanding that their university sever ties with Israeli universities while ending connections with BAE Systems, a weapons manufacturer that supplies the country’s forces.

As the students fly through the camp, Nico, a second-year music student, explains their actions and intentions, telling me the movement is “overwhelmingly peaceful.”

“I can’t speak for everyone, but we are a very diverse group of people and we all have our own experience with different kinds of oppression.

“I think Palestine it’s an issue that a lot of us care about because it resonates with a lot of us and it’s just not part of our student movement.”

Nico is joined by Issy, an English and classics student, who says the protest, which sees around 20 to 30 people in an overnight camp, is meant to be open to all.

“To students who might feel intimidated by the space we’ve created. I would remind them that we are a welcoming space. We are an educational space. We want to bring people into the fold and make the community here as inclusive as we are. possibly it is possible”, she says.

Jewish students want to make their voices heard

Later in the afternoon, a few steps across the street came a reminder that middle ground is hard to find on many campuses across the country.

Joel, a kippa-wearing Jewish student, arrives dressed in the Israeli flag. He says because of the increasing number of anti-Semitism he has experienced on campus and in the city, he wants to make his voice heard.

He says he has had his flat vandalized in recent months when his details were shared online and also claims to have heard anti-Semitic chants and tropes on campus.

When I ask him if he tried to start a dialogue with the group camped across the road, he says it was a struggle.

“Every time I or my friends try to have an open dialogue with them, a group of them come and go away,” he says. “Every time they can’t answer your question, they just walk away.”

Joel’s sentiments are shared by Emma Levy, the president Leeds The University’s Jewish Society, who a few months ago said she hoped to open a dialogue on campus in her position as head of a student society.

Now, sitting in the sun with the camp behind her, she feels the answer must come from those in power in both universities and government.

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“It’s really hard, because we’ve tried to set up these dialogue groups. And every time we do something, it shuts down. I hope that when the war calms down, it calms down on campus, because there’s always a direct correlation she said.

“I would tell (those in power) to take control. Vice-chancellors at universities have a responsibility to look after all students.”

In response to concerns raised by both Jewish students and pro-Palestinian protesters, a University of Leeds spokesperson referred us to a statement from Universities UK (UUK), which represents the higher education sector.

UUK chief executive Vivienne Stern said: “Universities have taken the rise in anti-Semitism on campuses seriously since 7 October and will continue to work hard to ensure the safety of Jewish staff and students.

“The current conflict has raised tensions in many communities and we have been clear that there is no place for intolerance on our campuses.

“In line with the sector’s clear commitment to freedom of expression, it is important that universities enable and support students and staff to debate and discuss this crisis and the challenging issues it raises, but within the law and with respect and tolerance”.