The outgoing Union of Jewish Students president has said the Jewish community is “in danger of talking ourselves out of a country”.
Speaking at the UJS State of the Union handover breakfast, Danker was responding to those who argue the Jewish community doesn’t have a future in Britain, following a surge in antisemitism since October 7.
He told fellow student and communal leaders: “On this idea that Jews don’t have a future in Britain, I want to be really blunt. I think we are at risk of talking ourselves out of a country, and we cannot do that.
“We do have a future in Britain, and the reason I am so sure of that is [because of] the thousands of Jewish leaders that I work with every day, young people who are proud of their Jewish identity, who are defiant against the things that they face.”
He added: “We are proud to be British and proud to be Jewish, proud to be part of a multicultural society here in Britain, and I think we need to really cling onto that as a whole community.”
Talking about his role as UJS president for the past year, which saw him travel up and down the country, visiting many of the 80 Jewish societies, Danker described Jewish life on campus as “the beating heart of a vibrant British Jewish future”.
At the same time, Danker said the main challenge facing Jewish students was “the normalisation” of antisemitism at universities. UJS’ report, Time for change on how to combat antisemitism on campus, found that one in five students would be reluctant to share a house with a Jewish student and that one in six felt that glorifying October 7 should be protected free speech.
But he challenged the notion that there was “a lack of care” among university and political leaders, pointing out that in the past year, UJS had attended 210 meetings with over 70 institutions, addressing concerns about antisemitism. “I get the impression that they do get it, and there has been action taken. Now, what we sometimes see is that action isn’t firm enough and isn’t fast enough.”
Under Danker’s leadership, UJS published 91 recommendations for what universities could do to support Jewish students and combat antisemitism. “There is good practice out there, we just need to see it rolled out far and wide.”
He praised the government’s community cohesion strategy, Protecting What Matters, published in March, which aims to tackle hate-speech and extremism. “It had some really good, solid policies to combat antisemitism and counter extremism on campus. What we need to see is a timeline.”
Danker added that while the first 18 months after October 7 had been characterised by “incident response” to antisemitism on campus, his time in office had been “about reclaiming agency over Jewish student life – making sure that Jewish students are the ones telling the Jewish student story, not the wider world out there.
“That’s been crucial for everything we’ve done this year, focusing not just on the need to protect, but actually what we are protecting – the vibrant Jewish communities that the students in this room have done amazing work to build.”
UJS chair of trustees Carolyn Bogush praised Danker for the “commitment, care and seriousness” he had brought to the role, adding: “you and your team have carried responsibility on behalf of your students at a time when that responsibility has been heavy.
“And yet, you have also balanced this with such a sense of fun, joy and good humour…so thank you.”
Danker was speaking alongside incoming UJS president Raphi Leon, in conversation with Kezzy Miller, co-president of Liverpool JSoc, which won the Jsoc of the Year award in March.
To get more from community, click here to sign up for our free community newsletter.