'No Zios in the flat': One in five British students 'reluctant' or unwilling to share home with a Jew, new poll reveals

The Union of Jewish Students (UJS) released a report on Monday about the severe levels of antisemitism taking place on British campuses, based on new research, together with a list of recommendations.

Between Jan. 26 and Feb. 4, a poll commissioned by JL Partners asked a representative sample of 1,000 university students from 170 higher education institutions about their experiences and opinions regarding antisemitism on UK campuses. 

Key findings included that one in five (20%) were reluctant or unwilling to share a house with a Jewish student, with an advert for a houseshare stating, “only one rule – no Zios in the flat.” The report explains that the word “Zio” is an antisemitic slur and a code word for Jew coined by the former Grand Wizard of the KKK, David Duke.

The poll discovered that 49% students had heard slogans or chants in support of terror groups on campus, and that 23% had heard these chants “very” or “fairly” often while walking to their lectures. A similar proportion (25%) said they didn't care “very much” or “at all” whether students can be open about their Jewish identity on campus.

A direct correlation was found between protest-heavy environments and the glorification of terrorism and higher levels of antisemitism. Four in 10 (39%) of students who witness regular Israel-Palestine protests have seen Jewish students harassed often, according to the report.

The average number of antisemitic attacks has doubled since Oct. 7, 2023, rising from 154 to 308 every single month, according to the Community Security Trust (CST). Students have been spat at, harassed, accused of supporting the genocide of children, and violently threatened, according to documented testimonies

There are approximately 10,000 Jewish students in the United Kingdom and testimonies from some of those students have also been collated by UJS and included in the report. A second-year student from the University of Bristol shared this encounter with a protester who supported Hamas.

“Outside the main students' union building, there was a group of protesters who had a poster saying 'Back the Resistance.' [One of the students there was asked,] 'Do you condemn Hamas?” She responded by saying “95% of the world doesn't proscribe Hamas as a terrorist organisation, but the UK does so, I can't say what I want. But, just know I come from a long line of resistance fighters”.

Slogans or chants justifying the Oct. 7 attacks have been witnessed by 47% of the sample, with the number rising to 77% among those who see Israel-Palestine protests regularly. However, a majority of students expressed frustration with the constant protests, with 65% reporting disrupted learning, 69% disapproving of protests blocking access to learning, and 40 saying they had adjusted their path on campus to avoid disruption by protesters.

“Almost one in four (23%) students reported hearing speech or seeing behaviour that targets students specifically for their Jewish religion or ethnicity. Students have been chased home, told they are “f*****g Jews” through shouts and graffiti, and told that satanic Jews run the world, the media, and the banks,” wrote UJS President, Louis Danker. “Far too often Jewish students in Britain have been villainised by opponents of Israeli government action, regardless of their citizenship or views,” he said.

However, it is not just students who have contributed to the toxic environment at British universities. In November, University College London banned Samar Maqusi, an academic who gave a lecture to the UCL Students for Justice in Palestine Society, for her remarks about the “Damascus Blood Libel,” which suggests Jews murdered a monk and used his blood to bake holy bread. She also shared conspiracy theories relating to “Zionist-controlled media.” Maqusi has been banned from the college for life and reported to the police.

“Jewish students' feeling of safety and sense of belonging has been directly undermined,” said Danker. “In February 2024, the Leeds Hillel House, a Jewish student centre, was vandalised with pro-Palestinian graffiti after its address was maliciously leaked on a protest group chat. One student described that “our once safe haven had been compromised, and Jewish students felt like they had nowhere to go.”

Danker described the ostracization Jewish students have faced within their friendship groups, alongside intimidation in lecture halls, harassment in dorms, and violent threats on social media. However, the report goes beyond documenting these issues, setting out six practical recommendations, including enforceable standards, guidance for police and universities, awareness training, and cross-sector coordination.

“When everyone is somewhat responsible, no one takes the lead,” Danker stated. “Most institutions demonstrably care, deeply, about these issues, but have lacked the speed and conviction of action required to stem the normalisation of antisemitism.”

The picture is also not completely bleak, with some encouraging statistics such as 82% students considering calls to 'globalize the intifada' to be antisemitic. In addition to allocating £7 million ($9.4 million) to combat antisemitism in education, the UK government launched an independent review on March 6 into how schools and colleges in England identify, respond to, and prevent antisemitism, according to the Jerusalem Post.

In his foreword to the UJS report, Lord Daniel Finkelstein wrote that addressing these issues was essential for society as a whole. 

“The evidence in this important report is not really just about the Jews. It is about civilisation, about the culture of liberal democracy and the country itself,” he said. “We aren't asking universities to act just in order to protect Jews. Though we are asking that. We are asking them to act to protect themselves, to ensure that they are all they can be and all they should be. We are asking them to act in order to prevent them from suffering physical and moral collapse.”

Finkelstein continued: “Bullying people because of their ethnicity or history or political views is completely unacceptable and a university administration that ignores such bullying is failing in its duties. It is failing to be a proper institution of learning. And it is clear from this report's content that such failure is widespread. It is not universal. It is not inevitable. But it is widespread. Pointing this out is a service to democracy and a free society.”