(Bury South) (Con):...The University of
Warwickhas refused to adopt the IHRA definition of
antisemitism and has no plans to change its view. In August, it
found that a lecturer who said
“The idea that the Labour party is antisemitic is very much an
Israeli lobby kind of idea”
had not been antisemitic, despite that being contrary to the IHRA
definition...
(Stoke-on-Trent North) (Con):...I am disgusted that we stand here
today, in 2020, to condemn the ways in which universities have
not only refused to engage with or listen to students, but, as in
the instance of the University of Warwick, have
been gaslighting Jewish students and the wider Jewish community.
The institutional hijacking of freedom of speech that is
currently being used as a façade for universities and professors
to scurry behind is appalling.
In May 2019, a previous Minister for Universities sent a letter
to all universities in the United Kingdom to encourage them to
adopt the IHRA definition. Hot on the heels of the letter was the
president of the Jewish/Israeli society at the University
of Warwick, who sent his own letter, as a representative
of Jewish students at Warwick, further imploring the
vice-chancellor Stuart Croft to heed the advice of the Government
and adopt the definition. The Jewish/Israeli society president
was met with nothing but silence for over six months. When a copy
of this letter was hand-delivered to Stuart Croft’s office, the
response that came one week later was that the definition offered
“no added value.”
To read the whole debate, CLICK
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