UK Jewish Academic Network
We are a group of Jewish academics, educators, and intellectuals in the United Kingdom. We are concerned about antisemitism and its weaponisation in service of attacks on free speech, academic freedom, and student safety.
About Us
We are a group of Jewish academics, educators, and intellectuals in the United Kingdom. We formed this network out of a deep concern at the failure of our communal institutions to represent the breadth and diversity of opinion within the UK Jewish community, particularly around the ongoing situation in Israel-Palestine, and at the increasing dangerous and misleading tendency of public figures and university administrators to conflate criticism of Israel with antisemitism. We oppose both antisemitism and its weaponisation to attack free speech and political protest, a tactic that ultimately endangers both us and other minoritised groups across the UK.
Contact Us
Press Releases
Statements
2024-05-09
Not in our name: UK Jewish Academic Network forms to counter misuses of antisemitism
Formed in response to increasing threats against student pro-Palestine protests, the UK Jewish Academic Network aims to warn of the dangers of weaponising antisemitism, Jewish safety, and the memory of the Holocaust.
The UK Jewish Academic Network (UKJAN) unites intellectual and cultural workers from institutions across the country. They are alarmed by the weaponisation of antisemitism in ways that obscure genuine threats to Jewish people in the UK. Members refute the government’s demonisation of student encampments established in response to what the ICJ has called a ‘plausible genocide’ in Gaza, echoing the warning raised by over 800 scholars of international law and genocide as early as October 2023. They argue that the conflation of such protest with antisemitism does not protect Jewish students or staff. Indeed, it makes them less, not more, safe.As Sunak himself has argued, “university should be an environment where debate is supported, not stifled.” UKJAN is motivated by concern for the future of free speech and freedom of conscience in the universities and institutions where we work. In the words of one UKJAN member, “we as Jewish academics reject any attempt to use our experiences of antisemitism to delegitimise student free speech.” Universities cannot function with this kind of interference in freedom of speech and freedom of conscience. The weaponisation of antisemitism is further allowing the UK, the US, and the State of Israel to shut down speech that could expose their own crimes, violence that has little to nothing to do with the protection of Jews but instead serves long-standing western political and economic interests in the Middle East.The weaponisation of antisemitism paints a false picture of a Jewish community with a narrow set of opinions and beliefs about the violence in Gaza and the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The demand that all Jews should think the same way, which creates judgements about who is a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ Jew, represents a repugnant form of antisemitic thinking that distracts from the critical and urgent situation in Gaza.UKJAN are particularly concerned by the pressure placed on universities by the British government and subsequent widespread adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism. This definition conflates criticism of Israel with antisemitism and de-emphasises the continuing threat of antisemitic ideology, rhetoric and violence from other quarters, including the far right. Jewish history shows the far right is never an ally to Jews. Worldwide, far right forces at local and national levels remain the principal threat to Jewish safety today.Of particular concern to UKJAN is that the misuse of antisemitism and the memory of the Holocaust risks adding fuel to conspiratorial views of Jews. Using the spectre of antisemitic violence to shut down legitimate political discussion and protest while anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab and anti-Muslim prejudice and violence go unchallenged makes it difficult to take legitimate threats to Jewish safety seriously. Indeed, it may lend power to conspiracy theories about disproportionate Jewish political power that have historically proved deadly for Jews.
To conclude, UKJAN makes the following demands:1. That our universities should listen to students and engage proactively with their demands;
2. That the government and media should acknowledge the breadth of thinking in Jewish communities, including significant pro-Palestinian as well as anti-Zionist sentiment; and
3. That the government and media should treat anti-Palestinian racism and Islamophobia with the same seriousness with which they claim to treat antisemitism.
2024-05-09
Not in our name:
Weaponising antisemitism hurts us all
The UK Jewish Academic Network launched in May 2024 to warn of the dangers of weaponising antisemitism, Jewish safety, and the memory of the Holocaust. UKJAN comprises intellectual and cultural workers from across the UK who are increasingly alarmed by the reckless misuse of these terms in ways that obscure the genuine threat of antisemitic violence. In particular, we are deeply concerned by the bellicose language with which the government is referring to student encampments recently established in response to what the ICJ has called a plausible genocide in Gaza, echoing the warning raised by over 800 scholars of international law and genocide as early as October 2023. We argue that the conflation of such protest with antisemitism does not protect Jewish students or staff. Indeed, conflating criticism of Israel with antisemitism, and the discomfort such criticism undeniably causes some students, only makes it harder to address antisemitism when it occurs. And it ultimately risks seeding resentment against the Jewish community, making us less, not more, safe.As the UKJAN, we are concerned for the future of free speech in the universities and institutions where we work. Despite its own alleged concerns about free speech, resulting in the appointment of a ‘free speech champion’ to counter apparent “urgent threats to free speech and academic freedom”, the government has taken an aggressive stance towards pro-Palestinian speech, with Rishi Sunak threatening a police crackdown on Gaza solidarity encampments at universities due to the ‘toxic and hostile’ atmosphere they allegedly create for Jewish students. By describing pro-Palestinian speech in such a way and threatening violence against pro-Palestinian student activists, the government is attempting to intimidate political opponents into silence. However, as Sunak himself has argued, “university should be an environment where debate is supported, not stifled.” Universities cannot function with this kind of interference in freedom of speech and freedom of conscience. The weaponisation of antisemitism is further allowing the UK, the US, and the State of Israel to shut down speech that could expose their own atrocities, violence that has little or nothing to do with the protection of Jews but instead serves long-standing western political and economic interests in the Middle East.This is why we believe that we need to distinguish carefully between actual threats to Jewish safety and the discomfort that some Jewish members of our communities feel when faced with anti-Zionist rhetoric (Butler, 2024). Indeed, as Bernie Steinberg, a former executive director of Harvard University Hillel, argues, “one can disagree with any part of what these activists say, but they must be allowed to speak safely and afforded the respect their morally serious position deserves” (Steinberg 2024).The current weaponisation of antisemitism paints a false picture of a Jewish community united in its position about the violence in Gaza and the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In contrast to the logic of how the term “antisemitism” is currently being brandished, we know that Jewish opinion is not singular and that there is a great deal of dissent within Jewish communities, even as Sunak and his government aim to silence such voices. For instance, there is a long history of Jewish opposition to Zionism which refuses notions that the safety of Jewish people rests upon the oppression of the Palestinian people and the theft of their land.This homogenisation of Jewish opinion represents another significant threat to free speech. The expectation that all Jews should subscribe to one ideological position essentialises us. The incipient moral panic about Palestinian solidarity movements has grown so loud and frantic that we expect to be labelled “self-hating” or “fake” Jews for taking this position. We feel that we have no choice but to intervene in this extremely tense political situation because it directly threatens our wellbeing and the wellbeing of our students and our universities. The demand that all Jews should think the same way, which separates us into “good” and “bad” Jews, represents a repugnant form of antisemitic thinking. And, of course, this rhetoric serves to distract from the critical and urgent situation in Gaza.We are particularly concerned by the pressure placed on universities by the British government and subsequent widespread adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which conflates criticism of Israel with antisemitism and de-emphasises the continuing threat of antisemitic ideology, rhetoric and violence from other quarters. We have seen how the broad equation of antisemitism and anti-Zionism has given space to the far right, most recently in the violent attacks on the Gaza solidarity encampment at UCLA in California. Our history shows that the far right is not an ally to Jews and we reject any definition of antisemitism that masks the principal threat to our safety.Finally, we are worried that this misuse of antisemitism and the memory of the Holocaust risks adding fuel to conspiratorial views of Jews as demanding special treatment by “crying wolf” about our history and contemporary threats against us. Instrumentalising the spectre of antisemitic violence to shut down legitimate political discussion and protest while anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab, and anti-Muslim prejudice and violence go unchallenged makes it difficult to take legitimate threats to Jewish safety seriously. Indeed, it may lend power to conspiracy theories about disproportionate Jewish political power that have proved deadly for us historically. Put simply, we are alarmed to think that the current political discourse and the use of antisemitism as a political tool for a wide range of ends may create conditions that could result in Jews being targeted for future violence.
To conclude, UKJAN makes the following demands:1. That our universities should listen to students and engage proactively with their demands;
2. That the government and media should acknowledge the breadth of thinking in Jewish communities, including significant pro-Palestinian as well as anti-Zionist sentiment; and
3. That the government and media should treat anti-Palestinian racism and Islamophobia with the same seriousness with which they claim to treat antisemitism.
2024-10-01
Values Statement
The UK Jewish Academic Network (UKJAN) launched in May 2024 to challenge the widespread instrumentalisation of antisemitism and memory of the Holocaust to suppress legitimate political dissent. Increasingly, we have seen accusations of antisemitism used to shut down criticism of Israeli violence in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon. Such tactics ultimately endanger both Jews and other minoritised groups across the UK and beyond.As Jews and academics, we represent diverse areas of expertise and a wide variety of political, religious, and cultural viewpoints. Jewish opinion is not homogenous, yet as members of UKJAN, we assert the following shared values and principles:• We support the struggle for freedom, equality, and justice for all Palestinians and Israelis. We call on the UK government to end its complicity in Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza and to press for an immediate and permanent ceasefire. We refute the notion that the safety of Jews rests upon the oppression of Palestinians. We are committed to realising safety, dignity, and self-determination for all Palestinians and Israelis.• Universities must be free from political interference. As academics committed to academic freedom, we support the right of students and faculty to criticise Israel’s actions, to express support for Palestinian liberation, and to engage in nonviolent protest. The draconian disciplining of students and faculty for speaking out against Israel must be seen against the backdrop of broader partisan attacks on universities and efforts to restrain and criminalise protest and free expression.• We reject the conflation of criticism of Israel/Zionism with antisemitism. Based on specious theories of a ‘new antisemitism’ that manifests through criticism of Israel (Lerman, 2022), instruments like the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism have increasingly been used to discipline and criminalise legitimate political speech. In doing so, they create confusion around what antisemitism is and risk trivialising the real threats it poses to Jewish safety, especially by deemphasising antisemitism on the right.• We resist the assumption that UK Jews speak with a single voice on any issue, including on Israel or Zionism. Homogenising Jewish opinions on Israel is as much an act of erasure as is antisemitic stereotyping. So is conflating the interests of Jews worldwide with those of the Israeli state. We note the long history of pro-Palestinian and non- and anti-Zionist sentiment across Jewish communities globally and in the UK, as well as the accelerating fragmentation of public opinion on Israel in the Jewish diaspora, especially among young people – a diversity our communal institutions too often fail to reflect.• We promote ‘safety through solidarity’ (Burley and Lorber, 2024). We acknowledge our communities’ inherited traumas and antisemitism’s deep historical roots in British society. We advocate for compassionate, principled, and informed discussion of antisemitism and Israel/Palestine within the academy and in our communities. We commit to the struggle against Islamophobia and to combating antisemitism within the framework of broader anti-racist and decolonial liberation struggles and movements for social justice.
2024-10-11
UK Jewish Academic Network (UKJAN) releases 'Statement of Values' on social media
Group says conflation of criticism of Israel/Zionism with antisemitism is used to repress legitimate activism at universities
Date: 11/10/2024
Contact: [email protected]UK Jewish Academic Network (UKJAN) has released its Statement of Values this week on X and Instagram.UKJAN is a group of Jewish academics campaigning against the manipulation of discourse and the repression of activism at universities and in the United Kingdom more widely. UKJAN was launched in May 2024 to challenge the widespread instrumentalisation of antisemitism and memory of the Holocaust to suppress legitimate political dissent.‘As Jews and academics, we represent diverse areas of
expertise and a wide variety of political, religious and cultural
viewpoints. Jewish opinion is not homogenous, yet as members of UKJAN, we assert the following shared values and principles’:- We support the struggle for freedom, equality, and justice for all Palestinians and Israelis.
- Universities must be free from political interference.
- We reject the conflation of criticism of Israel/Zionism with antisemitism.
- We resist the assumption that UK Jews speak with a single voice on any issue, including on Israel or Zionism.
- We promote ‘safety through solidarity’The full statement is accessed on UKJAN Values Statement.
Instagram: @ukjan_org
X (Twitter): @UKJAN_
2025-03-11
UKJAN Statement on Arrest of Mahmoud Khalil
As members of the UK Jewish Academic Network alongside Jewish scholars, researchers and academic staff from across the UK, we protest the arrest and detention by US immigration agents of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University alumnus and Palestinian activist, on the grounds of alleged antisemitism. This is chilling evidence of the Trump administration’s cynical weaponisation of supposed concern for Jewish safety to attack freedom of expression.We call for Khalil’s immediate release. It is especially abhorrent that Khalil’s whereabouts were unknown for days to his lawyers or his family, including his wife, who is eight months pregnant.We reject the Trump administration’s false claims to be combating antisemitism and protecting Jewish staff and students at Columbia University by arresting student activists. We condemn attempts like this to instrumentalise our communities, and we recognise them for what they are: racist, authoritarian divide-and-rule tactics that weaken academic freedom and suppress political dissent.Unfortunately, the US is not alone in facing these alarming trends. In the last few years, we have seen the ramping up of repressive policies and strategies at universities across the UK in relation to Palestine, including attempts to revoke visas or use lawfare to attack students and staff based on flimsy accusations of threatening public safety. This includes recent cases such as an unnamed Turkish academic whose visa was revoked in February and last year’s unsuccessful attempt to revoke the visa of student Dana Abuqamar.We implore our government and all people of conscience to demand Mahmoud Khalil’s release and to defend the rights of those calling for Palestinian, and indeed all human rights to be upheld.Sincerely,UK Jewish Academic Network
Signatories:Prof. David Feldman, Director, Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism
Prof. Neve Gordon, Professor of International Law, School of Law, Queen Mary University of London
Prof. Catherine Rottenberg, Professor of Feminist Media Studies, Goldsmiths College, University of London
Prof. Jacqueline Rose, Professor of Humanities, Co-Director, Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities
Prof. Michael Rosen, Goldsmiths University London
Prof. Richard Caplan, Professor of International Relations, University of Oxford
Prof. Nira Yuval-Davis, Professor Emeritus, University of East London, convenor of SSAHE (Social Scientists Against the Hostile Environment)
Prof. Neil Turok, Higgs Chair of Theoretical Physics, University of Edinburgh
Prof. Adam Sutcliffe, Professor of European History, Kings College London
Prof. Hagar Kotef, Professor of Political Theory, SOAS, University of London
Dr. Yair Wallach, Reader (Associate Professor), Doctoral Studies Convenor, The School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics, SOAS, University of London
Prof. Seth Aniszka, Mohamed S. Farsi-Lindenbaum Professor of Jewish-Muslim Relations, University College London
Prof. Avi Shlaim, Emeritus Professor of International Relations, University of OxfordMichal Nahman, Associate Professor, UWE Bristol
Sharon Gewirtz, Professor, King’s College London
Torr Fischman, Doctoral Researcher, University College London
Dr Samuel Rutherford, Lecturer in History, University of Glasgow
Nadia Valman, Professor of Urban Literature, Queen Mary University of London
Dr Lauren Ackerman, Research Associate, Newcastle University
Allison Koh, Research Fellow, University of Birmingham
Dr John Launer
David Mond, Emeritus Professor of Mathematics, University of Warwick
Michael Lomotey Doctoral researcher, University of Southampton
Mike Cushman, Research Fellow (retired), London School of Economics
Jeffrey Vernon, Faculty Senior Tutor, Imperial College London
Isabelle Darmon, Lecturer, University of Edinburgh
Lisa Stampnitzky, Lecturer in Politics, University of Sheffield
Dr Karen Adler, Metanoia Institute
Yohai Hakak, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, Brunel University London
Rosalind Edwards, Professor of Sociology, University of Southampton
Sheina Lew-Levy, Associate Professor, Durham University
Clive Gabay, Reader in International Politics, Queen Mary University of London
Gavin Schwartz-Leeper, Associate Professor in Liberal Arts, University of Warwick
Kate Leader, Senior Lecturer, School of Law, Queen Mary University of London
Michelle Schneider, Learning Developer, University of Leeds
Ben Spatz, University of Huddersfield, University of Leeds, University of Oxford
Sam Solnick, Senior Lecturer in English, University of Liverpool
Dr Samuel Berlin, Teaching Fellow in Human Geography, Durham University
Gene Feder, Professor of Primary Care, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol
Dr Hannah Schling, Lecturer in Economic Geography, University College London
Dr Les Levidow, Senior Research Fellow, Open University
Prof Neil Turok Higgs, Chair of Theoretical Physics, University of Edinburgh
Ben Rogaly, Professor of Human Geography, University of Sussex
Dr Jill Daniels, Senior Lecturer, University of East London
Rachel Rosen, Professor of Sociology, University College London
Philippa Winkler, Adjunct Professor
Samuel Solomon, Associate Professor, University of Sussex
MT Oringer, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Archaeology, Durham University
Myka Tucker-Abramson, Associate Professor, University of Warwick
Donald Sassoon, Emeritus Professor, Queen Mary University of London
Alon Lischinsky, Senior Lecturer, Oxford Brookes University
Dr Katherine Lebow, Associate Professor of Modern History, University of Oxford
Dr Anne Caldwell, University of Leeds
Ruth Pearce, Lecturer, University of Glasgow
Dr Hamish Kallin, Lecturer in Human Geography, University of Edinburgh
Dr Sage Brice, British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow, Assistant Professor in Human Geography, Durham University
Matt Spitz Mahon, University of Glasgow
Adam Stock, Senior Lecturer in English Literature, York St John University
Pauline Kollontai, Professor Emeritus, York St John University
Neve Gordon, Professor of International Law, School of Law, Queen Mary University of London
Dr Ellie Armon Azoulay, Leverhulme Early Career Fellow, Durham University
Erica Burman, Professor of Education, University of Manchester
Hannah Jones, Professor of Sociology, University of Warwick
Dr Kyrill Potapov, Research Fellow, University College London
Katy Fox-Hodess, Senior Lecturer, University of Sheffield
Prof Daniel Katz, University of Warwick
Prof Yosefa Loshitzky, Professorial Research Associate, SOAS, University of London
Prof Rajmil Fischman, Emeritus Professor, Keele University
Prof Ben Geiger, Professor, King’s College London
Nina Lyndon, Artist fellow, Drama Department, Queen Mary’s University of London
Lynne Segal, Anniversary Professor, Emerita, Psychosocial Studies, Birkbeck, University of London
Philip Wadler FRS, professor, University of Edinburgh
Dr Rachel Lewis, Teaching Fellow, Warwick University
Dr Elian Weizman, Senior Lecturer in International Relations, London South Bank University
Aaron Winter, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Lancaster University
Mitch Rose Senior Lecturer, Aberystwyth University
Dr Nic Aaron Lecturer in Sociology
Dr George Wilmers University of Manchester, mathematics (retired)
Giovanni Picker Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor, University of Glasgow
Noam Leshem Durham University
Jeremy Dell Lecturer in African History, University of Edinburgh
Matt Spiz Mahon University of Glasgow
Dr A Haziz-Ginsberg, Lecturer (Department of Interdisciplinary Humanities), King's College London
Quinn Gibson Lecturer, University of Aberdeen
Marion Roberts Prof Emeritus, University of Westminster, School of Architecture and Cities
Henry Maitles, Emeritus Professor of Education, School of Education and Social Sciences, University of the West of Scotland
Dr Nathaniel Weiner, Senior Lecturer in Cultural Studies, University of the Arts London
Michele Aaron, Professor in Film and Television Studies, University of Warwick
Matthew A. Richmond, Lecturer in Political Geography, Newcastle University
YYYY-MM-DD
Statement or Press Release Title
Press statement (only) blurb
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.