Jewish students in London are experiencing a sharp and alarming rise in antisemitic incidents, including frequent harassment in schools that has become “routine,” according to a report cited by the British newspaper The Times.
At one school, a class Snapchat group was renamed “F*** Israel, Heil Hitler,” and students recorded voice messages accusing a Jewish pupil of being a pedophile “who thinks he can get away with it just because he’s Jewish.” Students at the London high school also spread antisemitic conspiracy theories claiming Jews were responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks. They additionally made baseless accusations that Jews control the world’s money and kill babies.
“My son lost faith in his teachers,” Sarah, a pseudonym used to protect her identity, told The Times of London after her son endured repeated taunts. “He reached the point where he felt there was no point reporting this behavior because nothing was done to stop it. We eventually had to remove him from the school. Things are better now, but bullying on this scale is horrifying. My son went through an emotional roller coaster.”
The report said that although most documented incidents involved hostility between students, many schools simply do not understand how to address such problems or what their legal obligations are in maintaining a politically neutral learning environment.
The report was published anonymously and did not identify the schools involved in order to protect the students who were subjected to abuse. However, Parents Against Antisemitism, a British parent advocacy group established to combat antisemitism and expose hate incidents targeting Jewish students in the education system, conducted interviews to verify the accounts.
Tessa, another pseudonym, said her children, who attend a London high school, have faced antisemitism on a daily basis since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. The hostility from other students included verbal harassment such as chants of “Jew, Jew” and “F*** Israel.” Swastikas were sprayed on school walls, and one student reportedly said during class that “Jewish blood is toxic.”
A young man threatens to behead Jews
(Video: Shomrim, London)
In another incident, a teacher opened a lesson with a photo of released Israeli hostages and claimed reports of mistreatment by Hamas were “Israeli propaganda,” asserting that the captives had been treated well by their abductors.
Tessa told The Times that the teacher was spoken to but remained in her position. She said school administrators acknowledged the antisemitism problem and suspended individual students in the most severe abuse cases, but struggled to address the broader phenomenon.
The organization collected more than 100 testimonies from children and parents describing harassment, bullying, the use of Nazi symbols and anti-Jewish slurs in London schools and other educational institutions across England. The reports were submitted to independent reviews and government officials in an effort to change education policy.
Monica, another Jewish student in London identified by a pseudonym, said she was ostracized by classmates after Oct. 7. Within hours of the Hamas attack, students in her year group posted Palestinian flags in a Snapchat group chat. The harassment escalated, and Monica received messages from students describing reports of Israeli children murdered on Oct. 7 as “disinformation.”
Her classmates also used Instagram to circulate imagery comparing Jews to Nazis. In class, one student shouted at her, “You f***ing Zionist pig.”
According to Monica, the school administration’s response was weak.
“I showed the school administration the antisemitic descriptions and insults on social media, and I was promised the issue would be handled,” Monica said. “The next day I saw in class the girl who had called me a Nazi. I often felt the school administration preferred to protect other students over me. They never said there was zero tolerance for antisemitism at the school.”
Parents Against Antisemitism said in a statement: “We urgently need political leadership and clear safeguards to address the antisemitism crisis in schools so Jewish students can feel safe again.”
Britain’s Education Ministry also condemned the incidents, saying: “These are terrible and deeply concerning allegations, which will be referred to the government’s adviser on antisemitism in schools and higher education institutions. There is no place for antisemitism in our society or our schools. Every student deserves dignity and safety. The government has therefore decided to make Holocaust education mandatory for all students, while also strengthening the curriculum so children can learn to identify misinformation and disinformation.”