'Extreme violence' against Jews reported at UK universities for the FIRST TIME as campus antisemitism surges 14 per cent

From the Newshound archive · first published 1 October 2026.

Two incidents classified as "extreme violence" — defined as life-threatening attacks capable of causing grievous bodily harm — were recorded at universities in Edinburgh and Leeds during 2024/25, the first time such cases have appeared in university figures, according to the Community Security Trust. The charity logged 95 campus antisemitism incidents in the 2025/26 academic year, up 14 per cent on the previous year and 79 per cent above pre-October 7 levels. Education Secretary Lucy Powell called the findings "deeply troubling." CST warned that anti-Zionist language is "frequently deployed in conjunction with hostility towards Jews."

Incidents included threats to run over identified Zionist students and the words "Jude" and "die" scrawled in what appeared to be blood on a Jewish student's door.

Abusive behaviour — verbal abuse, online comments and antisemitic graffiti — made up 84 per cent of the 178 incidents recorded across the two academic years covered by the report.

CST chief executive Mark Gardner warned Jews are "still facing a very serious campus antisemitism" problem despite numbers falling back from the 272 incidents recorded in 2023/24.