At 8pm on Saturday evening, on the campus of Vienna’s Alte AKH university complex, Jewish students will gather to watch the Eurovision final together.
In most European cities, this would hardly be remarkable. In Austria in 2026, however, the event is taking place only under heavy police protection.
For Britain’s Jewish community, the story from Vienna feels deeply familiar. The concerns described by Austrian Jewish students — fears about openly displaying Jewish identity, the need for extensive security, and growing anxiety on university campuses — increasingly echo the experiences of many Jews across the UK.
“We wanted to organise a public viewing,” explained Milli Li Rabinovici, co-president of the Austrian Union of Jewish Students. But for two weeks, the organisation was repeatedly told the event could not go ahead safely in a public setting.
Eventually, the students secured permission only after arranging a major police presence.
“It is crazy and scandalous,” said Lia Guttmann, the union’s second co-president, “to believe that in the year 2026 in Austria, Jewish students aren’t able to have a public viewing”.
The students ultimately organised both a rally and security coordination with police in order to ensure the event could proceed safely.
According to Rabinovici, the explanation they repeatedly received was simple and alarming: “It’s too dangerous to be openly Jewish and to have a normal public viewing.”
That reality has become increasingly familiar across Europe since October 2023. Guttmann explained that the union has repeatedly faced difficulties organising events because of security concerns.
“We want to show that we’re Jewish and we’re proud of it,” she said, “and don’t hide behind closed doors.”
The atmosphere described by the Austrian student leaders strongly mirrors concerns raised by Jewish students in Britain, many of whom have also spoken publicly about feeling unsafe expressing their identity on campus.
Guttmann said that antisemitic abuse has become part of daily life for visible Jewish student activists. Because of their political work and social media presence, hate messages arrive constantly. “It is part of our reality,” she said. “It is something in our life unfortunately.”
At the same time, both student leaders stressed that they are not opposed to democratic protest itself. “We are not afraid of demonstrations or protests,” Rabinovici said. “We live in an open democracy.”
What worries them more deeply, she explained, is the broader security climate facing Jewish communities in Europe. “The threat we are afraid of is attacks and terrorist attacks,” she said. “So it’s very scary.”
The interview also highlighted a quieter but equally troubling phenomenon: the growing reluctance of Jewish students to identify themselves openly at university.
“We heard from a lot of Jewish students who are telling us, we are afraid, we don’t want to say in university that we’re Jewish, because we’re afraid of what is going to happen,” Guttmann said.
For many British Jewish readers, that sentiment will sound painfully recognisable. Across the UK, Jewish students and communal organisations have increasingly reported concerns about intimidation, hostility, and self-censorship in academic spaces.
The setting of this story — Vienna — gives the interview additional historical weight. Asked how it feels to be Jewish in Austria, Rabinovici reflected on the country’s history while insisting on the importance of maintaining visible Jewish life.
“Even though of the history of Austria, we won’t go away and we’re still part of this society,” she said.
That determination runs through the entire conversation. Again and again, both women returned to the same principle: Jewish students should not be forced out of public life because of fear.
“We won’t back down and we won’t hide,” Rabinovici said while describing why the public viewing would still take place despite the security concerns.
The significance of their message extends beyond Austria. The interview paints a broader picture of a generation of Jewish students across Europe trying to balance visibility with personal safety, communal pride with growing anxiety.
Yet despite the fear they describe, neither student leader speaks in the language of retreat. Instead, both insist on remaining visible, active and present within wider society.
Their message is ultimately simple but powerful: Jewish life should not require extraordinary courage simply to exist openly on a European university campus.
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