Family & Education

CST publishes booklet on campus race hate

September 10, 2009 13:55
1 min read

Five thousand brochures giving practical and legal advice on tackling antisemitism on campus will be distributed to thousands of students and university officers when the new academic year begins later this month.

A 68-page guide, compiled by the Union of Jewish Students and Community Security Trust, will be sent to every student union equalities and diversity officer in the UK.

It explains how to identify antisemitism, who to turn to for help, and how to tackle it through education and fostering better relations.

Mark Gardner, CST communications director, said: “It’s been quite obvious in recent years that Jewish students need to know their rights because the situation has been quite pressured and divisive on campus.

“We need to ensure that everybody has the means to deal with the situation and we hope the booklet will encourage Jewish students to overcome any antisemitism they may encounter.”

The booklet advises students that although antisemitism “will not dominate” their campus experience, “there are some occasions when it may become an issue”.

Leading lawyer Anthony Julius and his colleague Alexandra Fawcett advised UJS and CST on legal issues, including assisting the compilation of the sections on students’ rights.

Mr Julius has previously acted on behalf of University and College Union members to deflect threatened academic boycotts of Israel.

In 2008, CST received reports of 67 incidents involving students or academics: 41 took place on campus.

In one case, a Jewish student in Nottingham returned to her bedroom to find the word “Jew” carved into the door. A “keep campuses Nazi-free” sticker on a London student union shop was altered to read “keep campuses Jew free”.