Two Jewish students verbally abused at University of Leeds

Two Jewish students at the University of Leeds were verbally abused last week, The Jewish Chronicle reported earlier this week.

The two were on their way to the Leeds University Hillel House on Saturday when a van stopped abruptly near them and its driver asked the two whether they were Jewish. 

The students, wearing kippot, affirmed they were, following which the driver yelled at them, “You Jewish bastards, I’m going to beat the sh*t out of you.”

The students told the man that they would call the police only for him to respond he would do the same to them. The driver subsequently reversed his van to face the two students standing on the deserted street who feared he would ram the vehicle into them, The Jewish Chronicle noted. 

At this point, according to The Jewish Chronicle which quoted one of the students, the two ran in the opposite direction of the Hillel house, hiding behind a wall for some ten minutes until they could ascertain they had not been followed. Reaching the Hillel House they called the police who began an investigation into the incident which it has termed a hate crime.

Following the event, the university issued a statement which read, “We have also been made aware that two of our Jewish students were verbally abused and threatened off campus on Saturday. The University is currently providing welfare support to the students concerned. We are also assisting West Yorkshire Police in their investigations into these incidents.

“We must stress that harassment and abuse of any kind – including antisemitism, Islamophobia and racism – will not be tolerated on our campus or on social media.”

Incident comes amid rise in antisemitism on Leeds campus 

Leeds University said recently it would take measures to combat antisemitism. The statement comes amid the defacing of the Hillel House on campus with graffiti reading “Free Palestine” and the leaking of its address by James Dickins, an emeritus professor of Arabic. 

In early February, the Palestine Solidarity Group at the university protested the return of Rabbi Zechariah Deutsch to campus after serving in the IDF.