'Zero tolerance to antisemites' - 32,000 march in London against antisemitism after show of support for Hamas at Oxford University

Thirty-two thousand people marched against antisemitism on the streets of London on Sunday, after it was reported that police were investigating vocal support for Hamas in a recent speech at Oxford University.

Organized by the Campaign Against Antisemitism, the participants of the march called on the British government to give "zero tolerance to antisemites" and to "act against hate before it’s too late."

Jewish alumni of the prestigious Oxford University testified to hatred being leveled toward them and two Arab colleagues, while they were defending Israel against a union motion that the Jewish state is committing both apartheid and genocide.

Broadcaster Jonathan Sacerdoti, the son of a Holocaust survivor, maintained composure and politeness, while delivering his carefully researched speech, despite the vocal and aggressive hostility filmed in the university chamber.  

“The experience at the Oxford Union was deeply unsettling,” he told ALL ISRAEL NEWS. “The chamber was filled with an aggressive hostility that undermined any chance of reasoned debate, with interruptions and abuse aimed at pro-Israel speakers throughout."

“This wasn’t just a failure of the Union to uphold its standards – it was a stark reminder of how bigotry and hatred are creeping into spaces that should champion open and respectful discourse,” he said.

One of the speakers for the motion, Israeli Miko Peled, is being investigated by counter-terrorism police for calling the brutality and murderous actions of Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023, “acts of heroism.”

In addition to the police probe, more than 300 academics have signed an open letter to William Hague, the newly-elected Oxford chancellor, stating that the wording of speeches and lack of moderation during the debate violated the law.

Expressing support for a proscribed organization is illegal under Section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000, a point raised during the night by Sacerdoti in response to Peled: “I believe you should invite the police in. His depiction of the acts of Hamas on Oct 7 is, under UK law – the Terrorism Act 2000 – illegal.” 

The Union president and moderator of the debate, Egyptian student Ebrahim Osman Mowafy, who, himself, delivered an anti-Israel speech, responded, “I’m not legal enforcement.”

To illustrate the atmosphere in the room, Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of a senior Hamas founder, asked the question: how many people, if they had prior knowledge of Hamas's crimes on Oct. 7, would have reported it to the police? Only around 5% of the crowd reportedly raised their hands.

As a speaker for the opposition team, together with Sacerdoti, barrister and Oxford alumni Natasha Hausdorff and Arab-Israeli Yoseph Haddad, Yousef challenged the entire basis of Palestinian identity. This led to Yousef, a man with a Hamas death sentence on his head, being jeered and cursed as if he was the enemy. It later transpired that the union tried to stop him from speaking in the first place.

The Union edited the video of Sacerdoti’s speech before releasing it, omitting the hateful screams and curses of the student who was eventually removed from her seat. Sacerdoti later uploaded the unedited version himself.

Unsurprisingly, following the slurs, abuse, forced coughs and mockery, the motion which stated, “This house believes Israel is an apartheid state responsible for genocide,” passed by a vote of 278 to 59.

According to one audience member, and to Sacerdoti and Hausdorff, who failed to rally the Oxford Israel Society beforehand, when the Union declined to provide a room for that purpose, some Jewish students reportedly felt too intimidated to attend the debate.

“I was amazed at how many keffiyehs and hijabs there were and how hostile and toxic the atmosphere was,” James Marlow posted on 𝕏.

“The chamber of the Oxford Union, that once-proud institution, has been breached by the forces of bigotry, hatred, and mob rule,” Sacerdoti wrote after the event, in The Spectator.

The Oxford Union, founded in 1823, has a proud history. Its officers have included leading British statesmen. Although not a constitutional part of the university, and distinct from the students’ union, the members of the Union are predominantly Oxford students, academics or university staff.

“As for me, I am a proud Jew,” Sacerdoti bravely told the student gathering. “My late father was a Holocaust survivor. He was hidden by Catholic clergy in Italy from a regime that sought to deport him for extermination, simply because of his race and religion. That is genocide. That is apartheid, and it bears no resemblance to the lies being peddled against Israel tonight.” 

On the contrary, Sacerdoti continued: “You will find in the New York Times the minutes of ten meetings from Hamas and their Iranian backers and Hezbollah planning what they called the big plan. That is the genocidal attack that took place on the 7th of October, 2023." 

“In Rwanda in 1994, radio broadcasts directed civilians to murder their neighbors with machetes. 800,000 people were killed in 100 days. During the Holocaust, my family were subject to racial laws which discriminated against them, deported people for extermination. In Gaza Israel has no such aim, no such plan, no such action. Instead, Israel does go to extraordinary lengths to try to avoid civilian deaths,” Sacerdoti explained, before again being rudely interrupted. 

Over the weekend, the Daily Telegraph reported that antisemitism on UK campuses has reached a record high. 

The third biennial campus report of the Community Security Trust (CST) showed a record 272 incidents in 2023/24, more than triple that of previous years. Incidents include abusive behavior, threats, damage and desecration, and 10 cases of assault.

The CST recorded 4,103 incidents throughout the UK in 2023, the highest figure since it began monitoring in 1984. By May 2024, 36 pro-Palestinian encampments had been set up in UK universities. That same month, 16 students at Oxford were arrested for participation in a violent sit-in.