Thomas Wilson is a student at Cardiff University and a researcher at the Senedd
On the morning of the 9th October I began the commute to my morning lecture on historiography. Cladded with a copy of E.H Carr and a fountain pen in tow, I walked past the Arts and Social Studies Library to be confronted by a pair of greying men hoisting copies of the Socialist Worker newspaper – the front cover exclaiming “Victory to the Resistance”, in a display which acted to showcase the sheer depths of depravity human beings were capable of.
When I inquired as to how appropriate their sinister headline was in light of the barbaric actions of Hamas on October 7th, I was aggressively labelled a “genocide enabler” – as well as a handful of unprintable profanities. Despite being a student of history, I had played the ignoramus in believing flagrant antisemitism had been, largely, consigned to the textbooks. My illusion was swiftly shattered in one fell swoop on the morning of the 9th of October.
Unfortunately, the incident was not an isolated one. As campuses across the West began to succumb to the scourge of antisemitism, Cardiff was no exception. A month later, a pro-Palestinian demonstration was due to be held in front of the student union. Following the conclusion of my seminar aptly focused on the antisemitic policies pursued by the Slovakian dictator Jozef Tiso, I ventured down to witness it.
The atmosphere was ugly and the air was thick with chants of “intifada revolution.” As I meandered my way across the pavement, I witnessed a Palestinian activist fiercely berating a Jewish student – signified by his wearing of a Kippah. The message from the activist was clear: Hamas were justified.
It is a troublesome task to comprehend the emotions that befell me at seeing such a sight, but the overriding feeling was one of shame that such scenes were playing out in 21st-century Britain. Feeling a sense of duty to challenge the activist, I questioned him if the rape of women was justified ‘resistance’ by Hamas. His response was unequivocal and cutting. “Yes.”
Rallies of this nature continued to take place throughout the academic year; each one mirroring the last in its toxicity. Whilst the extremist elements at the rallies took front and center, be they the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign or the Socialist Worker activists, conversations that I engaged in with peers who had begun attending rallies suggested many attending the demonstrations were labouring under a key misapprehension; Israel and its people are ‘European colonisers.’
When it comes to the libellous categorisation of Israelis as ‘European colonisers’, the statistics speak for themselves. In the years after the foundation of Israel, 123,000 came from Iraq, 300,000 came from Morocco, 50,000 came from Algeria and 50,000 came from Yemen – to name just a few examples of Jewish emigration from non-European nations. If the point is not exemplified enough by statistical evidence, upon boarding the plane set for Israel soon after its foundation, a group of Yemenite Jews lit a bonfire on board the plane to prepare food – much to the dismay of the pilot. ‘European Colonisers’ – they were not.
The issue of antisemitism is a pressing one for the incumbent Labour government; with Kier Starmer keen to rid the party of its image under Jeremy Corbyn who presided over the Labour Party falling foul of the Equality Act 2010 following an investigation by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
Despite the banner of ‘Change’ Starmer has draped the Labour Party in, many of its backbenchers have for months espoused worrying beliefs and maintained the party whip, such as Apsana Begum, the MP for Poplar, who in January spoke warmly of turning to writer Ghassan Kanafani for “hope.” For reference, Kanafani was a spokesperson for Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine who claimed responsibility for Lod Airport massacre of 1972 which saw the deaths of 26 Israeli citizens.
Unfortunately, Begum is not a lone case. Zarah Sultana, the MP for Coventry South, is on record as stating she supported “violent resistance” by Palestinians. The MP for Leeds East Richard Burgeon egregiously stated at a rally in 2014 that “Zionism was an enemy of peace.” Whilst these MPs are currently serving a 6-month suspension of the whip, only time will tell if they are allowed to once again sit in the Commons representing the Labour Party.
As the Israel-Hamas war raged on and activists became evermore emboldened in the face of little opposition, in April students at Cardiff University would make national news as a group, entitled the Welsh Underground Network, assaulted Jacob Rees-Mogg after he had attended an event on campus organised by the Cardiff University Conservative Association.
Tweeting a few hours after the event, the Welsh Underground Network demanded that “no politician be allowed to speak on campus”, or even “allowed on campus.” To many, this epitomises the problem of growing unchecked extremism on campus – as well as the persistent plague of cancel culture in universities.
From the venomous assaults levelled at Kathleen Stock , forced to resign from the University of Sussex over defence of biological sex in 2021 , to the disinvitation of Jo Phoenix by the University of Essex in 2019 for expressing similar beliefs, universities have begun to become obsequious to the wishes of an extreme few; rather than foster the spirit of freedom of speech that ought to act as a key pillar to any educational institution.
Unfortunately, the Voltairean ethos once enshrined in our universities appears to be set to suffer further degradation as a result of the decision of Bridget Phillipson to repeal the Higher Education Act – an Act which would have put ramifications in place for universities breaching academic standards of freedom of speech, the appointment of Arif Ahmed as an overseer of free speech issues in universities and would have served to quell the issue of disinvitations of speakers on campuses.
The reaction has been swift; with Toby Young of the Free Speech Union fearing that “it is a sign of much worse to come,” and Tom Tugendhat MP accusing the Government of having “caved into” universities who have proved themselves “unable to stand up for freedom of expression.”
As the year drew to a close, universities such as Cardiff are left with the dilemma as to how they can assure students that campuses will be free from extremism when they return in September. If they fail to change their laissez-faire attitude to extremism, there shall be, as Edmund Burke put it, “no law left but the will of a prevailing force.”
