University College London is being urged to investigate an ‘‘appalling torrent of anti-Semitism’’ that former students claim has swept the institution, which was the first to accept Jewish students when it was established in 1826.
More than 500 alumni including Nadhim Zahawi, the former education secretary, have written to Dr Michael Spence, the provost, demanding action after material was posted on social media appearing to glorify the Oct 7 attacks.
The strongly worded letter, suggesting that “morally repugnant” behaviour had “brought the university into serious disrepute”, comes after the UCL branch of the University and College Union (UCU) passed a motion calling for “intifada until victory” and a “mass uprising”.
Signed by senior judges, MPs, academics, lawyers, doctors and ambassadors, the letter claims that ‘‘the repeated calls” for ‘‘intifada’’ and ‘‘resistance’’ can “only be interpreted as glorifying the murder of Jews at the hands of Hamas’’ – and warns that ‘‘such language and behaviour has no place in any modern institution of higher education…and puts the lives and security of Jewish students and staff at risk’’.
The letter reads: “On Oct 7, Hamas terrorists violently murdered 1,400 civilians in Israel. Entire families were brutally killed and tortured. Children were burned alive and beheaded.