A leading UK university is conducting an investigation after a swastika and a “Rights for Whites” sign were found in halls of residence, raising concern about antisemitism and racism on campuses.
The incidents at the University of Exeter follow reports last term that students were pictured wearing T-shirts with handwritten antisemitic and racist slogans at a sports club social event.
According to the university’s student news website Exeposé, the swastika had been carved into a door in on-campus halls Birks Grange, while the “Rights for Whites” sign decorated with a union flag was spotted on the door of a student room in Llewellyn Mews.
According to the Guardian newspaper the incident follows a claim by Britain’s first higher education adjudicator, Ruth Deech, that some Jewish students are avoiding certain universities because of concerns about antisemitism. Deech, who is now a crossbench peer, told the Daily Telegraph that hostility towards Israeli government policies went so far in some instances as to constitute antisemitism.
The Union of Jewish Students (UJS) said the discovery of a swastika at the University of Exeter was concerning.
According to the UJS, similar leaflets have also been found at three other universities – University College London, the University of Edinburgh and the University of Glasgow.
