Cambridge University has faced criticism for declining to suspend students who allegedly made death threats against a fellow undergraduate following his visit to Israel.
Bradley Smart, a 21-year-old third-year student at Homerton College, participated in a trip organised by the Pinsker Centre think tank, which brought Oxbridge student leaders to meet both Israelis and Palestinians to gain insight into the Gaza conflict.
Upon his return to college, Mr Smart, who is not Jewish, claims identifiable students posted threatening messages in a group chat, including phrases such as “I’m going to kill him” and “he needs to die”.
After reporting the threats through official harassment procedures, the college reportedly advised him to contact welfare services or consider relocating to different accommodation.
The group chat messages also contained slurs, degrading language, and antisemitic material, drawing comparisons between Israel and Nazi Germany, according to Mr Smart.
Fearing for his personal safety, he vacated his Homerton accommodation approximately one month after the incidents began.
Mr Smart told The Telegraph: “As a Cambridge student, I expected my university to be a place where opinions could be refined through dialogue.
“The reality, however, was that this trip was enough to trigger a campaign of cancellation, including explicit death threats and being banned from a college club.”
Cambridge University has declined to suspend students who allegedly made death threats against a fellow undergraduate following his visit to Israel
|
GETTY
When he approached police about the matter, Mr Smart claims officers informed him it constituted an “academic matter” and declined to pursue an investigation.
Lord Walney, who previously served as the Government’s counter-extremism tsar, condemned the institution’s handling of the situation.
He said: “It is entirely unacceptable that students at one of our leading universities would threaten to kill one of their peers for visiting Israel.
“The college’s response is wholly inadequate, and sets a dangerous precedent that intimidation and threats of political violence will be tolerated. Cambridge must do better.”
Bradley Smart, a 21-year-old third-year student at Homerton College
|
Ben Freeman, executive director of the Pinsker Centre, warned: “Jewish students and their allies are in fear for their lives.
“After recent attacks, this fear is all the more justified. Threats of violence cannot be normalised. We cannot allow intimidation to shut down dialogue.”
Gabrielle Apfel, president of the Cambridge Israel Society, described the university as having become “a lion’s den with regard to Israel and Zionism” over the past two and a half years.
Ms Apfel added that the Cambridge Israel Society has hosted progressive speakers, including former Labour MPs, yet still considers it necessary to keep event locations confidential.
Bradley Smart participated in a trip organised by the Pinsker Centre think tank, which brought Oxbridge student leaders to meet both Israelis and Palestinians
|
REUTERSShe said: “Jewish and Israeli students feel like they have to keep their connections to Israel and their identities to themselves. No student should feel unable to be themselves because of their background or identity.”
The allegations emerge amid escalating anti-Israel sentiment across Britain’s elite universities.
An Oxford student faced charges last year for inciting racial hatred after leading chants calling to “put the Zios in the ground”.
Violent incidents targeting British Jews have also risen sharply in recent months, with two Jewish men stabbed in Golders Green, north London, last week.