Jewish students are too frightened to go out on campus – cops MUST move in to stop antisemitism, blasts Labour MP
BRITISH Jews are living in fear and cops have been too slow responding to hate, Steve Reed blasted today.
The Shadow Environment Secretary called for police to intervene in university Palestine protests where students are intimidating and antisemitic.
And on Sun show Never Mind The Ballots, the Labour MP for Croydon North warned of a creeping sectarianism in British politics.
You can watch The Sun’s Political Editor Harry Cole grill MP Steve Reed on Never Mind the Ballots on The Sun’s YouTube channel and thesun.co.uk.
Mr Reed said: “I don’t think all of the protesters are antisemitic – I think it’s a minority in there.
“But there is a hard core and the antisemitism that they’ve been mouthing has made Jewish students frightened to go on campus.
“They should not be intimidated in that way and I’d like to see the police go in and put a stop to it when it happens.”
Mr Reed added: “I think the police should have intervened earlier and more strongly at any sign of antisemitism in these demonstrations and in these protests.”
The Greens are opening the door to unsavoury characters
THE Greens are letting antisemitic far-left activists into their party, Steve Reed said today.
The Shadow Environment Secretary admitted that extremists kicked out of Labour over anti-Jewish racism have found a new political home in the Greens.
He warned the party to get to grips with issues around sectarianism before it’s too late.
Mr Reed said: “I set up a group that identified antisemites who had entered the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn so we could expose them and expel them.
“What is really disturbing to me and distressing is some of those people have been let into the Green Party and it looks like some of them have got elected onto councils.
“I really would call on the Green Party to get these people out of your party.”
He added: “There should be no place for antisemitism or any other form of racism in mainstream politics.”
It comes as Rishi Sunak will this week order uni chiefs to stop pro-Palestine demonstrators spreading anti-Jewish hate on campuses.
The PM will discuss safety of students facing antisemitism with vice-chancellors at No10.
The bosses must take action — including calling police — if students campaigning against Israel’s bombardment of Gaza incite hatred against Jews.
The Union of Jewish Students has criticised the “toxic environment” faced by Jewish students across the UK.
Goldsmiths, University of London, caved in to demands by students who had barricaded themselves in its library.
And last week students forced Trinity College Dublin to shut the Book of Kells exhibition — a top tourist attraction.
Gaza protest camps have been set up in top institutions including Cambridge, Oxford and Bristol.
Pro-Palestinian protests in universities across the US have led to thousands of arrests.
'Jewish young people are being called pigs in the street by protesters at Cambridge Uni' - student
ALSO featured on The Sun’s Never Mind The Ballots was Naomi Bernstein, a Cambridge University student who is part of the university’s Jewish Society.
Questioned on whether there is violence and hate at the large-scale campus anti-war protests rocking some of the UK’s most prestigious universities, she said: “These encampments are peaceful”.
However, Bernstein admitted she had faced hate on her campus and had seen fellow Jewish students called “pigs” by pro-Palestinian protesters.
In response, she called for more respect, dialogue and consideration between Jewish students and pro-Palestinian protesters.
Entering the debate, ex-Israeli spokesman Eylon Levy called it a “violent psychosis” that has “overtaken American campuses” and argued it “must not be allowed to infect British universities as well.”
He stated that the ‘Gaza solidarity’ university encampments taking place across the US and UK are part of a “broader anti-Semitic awakening” – a claim Pro-Palestinian commentator Narinder Kaur brandished as “mad”.
Mr Reed said: “I know from speaking to Jewish friends that many of them are frightened to go out on the streets sometimes because of what’s going on.
“That should never have been allowed to happen in this country.
“This is an open, diverse, tolerant country – it has to be free for everybody.
“So people can make their protests but not in ways that intimidate and terrify.”