60% of UK Jewish students report antisemitic abuse at school

Fewer than half of students who witnessed antisemitism believed school authorities would act if incidents were reported.

By World Israel News Staff

Three in five British Jewish students have experienced antisemitism while attending elementary, middle, or high school in England, according to an independent review commissioned by the British government.

The review was launched after a visit by Jewish MP Damien Egan to a local elementary school was cancelled amid fears that his presence would prompt protests by pro-Palestinian activists. Its findings highlight widespread antisemitism in schools and concerns that teachers and administrators are failing to respond adequately when Jewish students are targeted.

The independent review is expected to recommend measures to combat antisemitism in educational settings, including encouraging teachers to avoid wearing explicitly pro-Palestinian symbols while teaching.

The findings also point to a lack of confidence in school authorities. Fewer than half of the students — both Jewish and non-Jewish — who said they had witnessed antisemitism believed that school administrators or teachers would take action if the incidents were reported.

Jonathan Frisher, a Jewish student from Cheshire, told Sky News that the findings accurately reflected the experiences of Jewish pupils across Britain.

“I was the only Jewish student at my school, and I experienced lots of antisemitic bullying,” Frisher told the outlet.

“There were lots of comments around gas chambers, people telling me that I belonged in a gas chamber,” he said, adding that “swastikas and Nazi salutes” were “normalized” at school.

Frisher said staff members failed to intervene, leaving him to address the abuse himself. The “burden was often left on me…to explain to my peers why this antisemitism was so wrong,” he said.

He called on the government and educators to take greater responsibility for addressing antisemitism in schools.

“The responsibility is on them,” he stressed.

Sir David Bell, who led the review, said that existing approaches to tackling prejudice often failed to recognize antisemitism as a distinct form of hatred.

“A general commitment to tackling racism or prejudice or hate has not properly identified antisemitism as a particular kind of hate,” Bell said.

“We do need to name antisemitism as a particular kind of prejudice and hate, because I think if you don’t name it, you don’t actually know what you’re tackling or what you’re going to be able to do to respond to it,” he added.