Pro-Palestine academics are contributing to anti-Semitism at the University of Oxford, a report has claimed.

The research by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) concludes pro-Palestinian sentiments among academics may be encouraging anti-Semitic abuse at the university.

The think tank also claimed there was a “lack of academic balance” in teaching on Israel and Palestine at the university.

It pointed to remarks by Prof Avi Shlaim, an emeritus fellow at St Antony’s College, in which he described the Oct 7 terror attack as a “powerful message” that showed “the Palestinian resistance is not dead”.

“Hamas is the only Palestinian group that stands for resistance to the Israeli occupation and by launching the attack on Oct 7, Hamas sent a powerful message that the Palestinians will not be sidelined [and] that the Palestinian resistance is not dead,” he said.

In July 2024, Prof Shlaim, who is British-Israeli, was filmed giving a speech at the pro-Palestine encampment at Oxford during which he wore a shirt bearing the phrase: “From the river to the sea.”

The slogan is viewed by many as anti-Semitic because it implies that the state of Israel should cease to exist.

Prof Shlaim told The Telegraph: “To say that the Hamas attack sent a powerful message in no way legitimises it. It is a simple statement of fact.

“By ‘from the river to the sea’, I mean that all the people who live in this space should enjoy freedom and equal rights. Is there any evidence that my presence in Oxford may appear to inspire anti-Semitism?”