The UK begs me to ask: Where do I raise my children?
A new study reveals Jewish sentiment on British university campuses, and forces me to reconsider my plans to return home.
As many know, I was born and raised largely in the UK until my move to Israel in 2017, aged 26. I am, for all intents and purposes, a true Brit. Ask any American what they think as I bumble my words with my English accent or any Israeli as I struggle through Hebrew.
The truth is that I moved to Israel with every intention of it being temporary: I was young with no major anchor in my life. I had no spouse, no career, and, let’s be honest, a year of drinking beers on the beach sounded quite nice. But that’s not what happened.
One year turned into two, and then three, and now I have lived in Israel for more than seven years. In that time I have experienced several elections, one pandemic, and a war, and I have settled into life with my wife, our dog, and our strong community of friends. Both of us enjoy satisfying careers in our respective fields.
There was always a lurking question of if or when I would return to the UK. It felt normal, almost expected, especially as we all eventually experience the pain of aging family members or homesickness for what we left behind.
In all this time it never felt ‘right’ to return to London, but today it feels flat-out wrong.
Today a new report published by the UK’s Jewish Chronicle has shed light on sentiments among Jewish students on college campuses. Produced by Intra-Communal Professorial Group (ICPG) and called “I have never felt less protected as a Jew”: Antisemitism at UK Universities since 7th October 2023, it revealed some worrying trends:
Only 22% of Jewish students feel comfortable revealing their religious identity. That number was 79% before Hamas attacked Israel on October 7.
70% of Jews are “somewhat uncomfortable” or “very uncomfortable” revealing their Jewish faith.
63% of the students have seen Jews on campus being harassed, up from 30% last year.
41% were subject to such behavior over the past year, nearly double the 21% who said they had experienced antisemitic abuse before last autumn.
Students have reported being “spat at” for wearing “a JSoc [Jewish Society] jumper on campus” and “chased by a man with a large glass bottle”.
Numbers like this make me fear not just for the future of Jewish people in the UK, but more personally, my own family I intend to grow in the years to come. As I hope to one day welcome children of my own, I need to think long and hard about the world I will bring them into. More importantly, I need to think about where they can live to grow up in the best place for them to be themselves.
It is strange, therefore, that the place in my mind slips further from the Western, 1st world I was raised in and increasingly looks like the Middle Eastern warzone I am currently living in. Through my life and my work, being Jewish and supportive of Israel has become an intrinsic part of who I am. These values and beliefs are shared - proudly - in my personal and professional life. Israel has given me so much and I owe it the life I have today.
It would be a tragic disservice to my future children if I took them to my hometown which no longer represents the universe I live in and the world I want to give them.
I am not naive to think antisemitism in UK universities is new. And my reporting of antisemitism on American college campuses is well documented. To include a personal anecdote, when studying for my university degree almost 15 years ago, I was personally impacted by some of the same abuses reported today. My classmates referred to me as “Bignose” on social media and threw pennies at me as I spoke on stage representing the university’s charity, the RAG Society.
These were sad events, but they never made me hide who I was. I never feared for my physical safety. That is a privilege not given to younger Jews on campuses today and I cannot see this trend reversing as Israel’s war enters its second year.
If there are British Jews in the UK who feel the same way, I would love to hear from you. If there are British Jews who disagree with my assessment, I would appreciate your insights into how you hope to raise children in this increasingly hostile environment for Jews.