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I Am a UK College Student; Antisemitism Is Surging All Around Me
Since the October 7th massacre committed by Hamas, antisemitic hate crimes in the UK have recorded the highest increases in modern history.
The radicalism of pro-Palestinian rhetoric has created a dangerous environment on college campuses. These groups are “crybullys,” who claim to champion academic freedom and “moral” virtue, while silencing and targeting Jewish students.
When hundreds of thousands of Muslims were murdered en masse in countries like Syria, Yemen, and Myanmar, campuses across London were empty. Yet, radical student groups in the UK are now protesting against Israel’s response to Hamas terrorism.
There is only one explanation for this: antisemitism.
Even university administrators have displayed anti-Israel bias. Two months after the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, my school’s administration (the University of Exeter) has not published a single statement acknowledging the suffering of their Jewish or Zionist students, or a gesture of solidarity for the pain of the Jewish community, let alone a statement that condemns Hamas for its brutality.
Considering that Hamas is a proscribed terrorist organization in the UK, this shouldn’t have been difficult to do.
Instead, Exeter has allowed antisemitic students to spread social media posts openly supporting the murder, rape, and butchery of Israeli civilians. This is not surprising, given that a professor at the university can openly state that he doesn’t think Hamas is a terrorist organization without any consequence.
As Jewish students witness calls for a global “intifada” — and explicit calls for an exclusionary Arab ethno-state in place of the world’s only Jewish state — academics across the political spectrum are suggesting that Hamas is not a terrorist organization, and that its atrocities against Jews were justified and legitimate.
On top of this complete administrative failure to protect Jewish students from direct and indirect threats of violence, they have allowed academics across the UK to publicly debate whether Israel’s attempt to stop future massacres is itself permissible. This is outrageous.
My friends and I are scared to express our beliefs in fear of being attacked. Our bigoted and ignorant peers have been allowed to freely chant blood libels and death threats at Jewish students. There have been physical attacks on Jews on college campuses in the US.
While Exeter has promised its Jewish students that they will increase protection and monitoring on campus, the need for such initiatives in 2023 is absolutely sickening.
Recently, I was denied the so-called “equal” opportunity to write in my campus paper, the Exeposé. Apparently, publishing pro-Israel content conflicts with their desire to appear “neutral.” However, letters calling for a ceasefire and articles that uncritically quote Al Jazeera — the Qatari state-owned, pro-Hamas media organization — are perfectly acceptable.
It seems that equality is only a right upheld for those who do not hold pro-Israel views.
One way that these immoral beliefs have gained credibility is through the prejudicial act of tokenism, where anti-Israel students use fringe Jewish groups to justify their views.
However, groups that claim to represent Jews, like Independent Jewish Voices (UK), US based Jewish Voice for Peace, and extremists Neturei Karta, can in fact be antisemitic.
Ultimately, the Jewish community knows that those who take to the streets every Saturday in the UK are not the majority in this country — but in the words of Elie Wiesel, neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Unfortunately, it seems as though a significant portion of Britain has chosen to do exactly that.
Rojin-Sena Cantay is a student at the University of Exeter, and a CAMERA Fellow for the 2023-2024 academic year.
The post I Am a UK College Student; Antisemitism Is Surging All Around Me first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.