Is anti-Semitism to blame for the rise of the ‘Jewni’?

Last week, The Telegraph published an article on ‘Jewniversities’—listing a collection of higher education institutions across the UK that the young Jewish community flock to. According to the Union of Jewish Students (UJS), 61 per cent of UK Jewish students attend just six universities: Birmingham, Leeds, Nottingham, Oxford, Cambridge and Manchester.

Emily Deaner, former President of Manchester’s Jewish Society (JSoc), explains that Manchester can not necessarily be counted as a top ‘Jewniversity’ any more: “Manchester has historically been a university that attracts large numbers of Jewish students, however in recent years these numbers have fallen massively.”

But when Jewish students do decide to come to Manchester, Deaner insists that it not the large community of Jewish students that is a deciding factor:

“When I chose to come to Manchester I was attracted more to the city and the university than the number of Jewish students that would be there,” adding that this is a general consensus amongst Manchester’s JSoc.

Still, “Manchester as a city has the second-largest Jewish population in the country, and so has great resources for more religious students” if that is what they are looking for.

“It is an added bonus that there is a great community but I think that if someone was thinking about being with lots of Jewish students they wouldn’t necessarily pick Manchester.”

One explanation behind this growing trend is the fear of anti-Semitism on campus. According to the National Jewish Student Survey taken in 2011, 38 per cent of Jewish students reporting concerns of anti-Israel movements at their university.

Concerns over this matter grew last month after claims of anti-Semitism in the Oxford University Labour Club (OULC). The Chairman of the group admitted that “a large proportion of both OULC and the student left in Oxford more generally have some kind of problem with Jews.”

Miss Deaner is certain that this isn’t the reason that the Manchester JSoc community is depleting, saying: “I’ve never experienced any anti-Semitism on campus” and “that all my friends are really interested in my religion.”

As well as the OULC controversy, several universities are in talks to boycott Israel due to human rights abuse against Palestinian people. University College London made this decision last week.

Speaking on the matter, Emily Deaner explains that “it’s quite obvious that JSoc do not agree with the BDS movement and as someone who is pro-peace I do not think it’s really going to achieve any good.

“I think that a lot of people are misinformed and do not truly understand the Israel-Palestine situation and there should be a conversation about what is happening rather than a mere boycott of everything Israeli.”

Apart from 15 lecturers from the University of Manchester who signed up to join the national boycott of Israel last year, the university has not officially taken the stance on the conflict.