London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Aug 23, 2025

More UK universities ban criticism of Israel – report

More UK universities ban criticism of Israel – report

Following threats of government sanctions, over 200 higher education providers in England have adopted a controversial definition of anti-Semitism that places limits on criticism of Israel, a report has found.
According to the Office for Students (OfS), a total of 216 post-secondary institutions in the country have signed up to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism over the past year.

The higher education regulator released figures on Wednesday that showed 95 universities have now adopted the IHRA definition – a significant increase from the 28 universities who had signed on as of September 2020, according to Union of Jewish Students (UJS) research.

After the UJS stated that some 80 universities had no plans to adopt it, former Education Secretary Gavin Williamson criticised the “shamefully low” figures in October 2020 and warned that the OfS would take action – including freezing “funding streams” – if universities did not sign on by December.

In comments accompanying its report, the OfS again threatened “further action” if universities did not take steps to meet its “expectations for preventing and tackling harassment” during the current academic year. It also described the IHRA definition as a “useful way of understanding anti-Semitism.”

Referencing the “horrors of the Holocaust,” Universities Minister Michelle Donelan said the IHRA definition was a public commitment to “[rooting] out” this “insidious form of racism” by “helping to identify anti-Semitic conduct” across the higher education sector.

However, opponents have argued it stifles free speech, since it describes a number of examples of criticism of Israel as discriminatory – including accusations that the existence of the country is a “racist endeavour” and “drawing comparisons [between] contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.”

In 2018, then-Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn was accused of being an anti-Semite and racist after he called for an additional qualifying statement to the definition that would allow criticism of the “discriminatory impact” of Israel’s policies, the “circumstances around its foundation,” and “support another settlement of the Israel-Palestine conflict.”

While a 2016 report by the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee mentioned the need to maintain freedom of speech “in the context of discourse about Israel and Palestine,” UK MPs have more recently called on the government to take a tougher stance on campus anti-Semitism – like removing leaders and cutting funding. Earlier this year, senior Tory MP Robert Halfon likened the situation to 1930s Germany.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Bunkers, Billions and Apocalypse: The Secret Compounds of Zuckerberg and the Tech Giants
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
×