Britain | Free speech and protest

Antisemitism is on the rise in Britain

But university encampments show how hard it is to define

A student encampment set up to protest Israel's action in Palestine, on the lawn outside Kings College, in Cambridge, England.
Photograph: Mary Turner/The New York Times/Redux/Eyevine
|OXFORD

Universities should be bastions of tolerance and respect, Rishi Sunak, the prime minister, told a group of vice-chancellors on May 9th. Inspired by their peers in America, students at more than a dozen British universities have now pitched “encampments” to protest against Israel’s brutal bombardment of Gaza. A “vocal minority” is causing disruption “and, in some cases propagating outright harassment and antisemitic abuse”. This “had to stop”, said Mr Sunak.

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This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “The first amendment”

From the May 18th 2024 edition

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