International Business Times: Jewish students feel suffocated on British campuses – divisive pro-Palestinian rhetoric is to blame

Campus activism connected to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict has turned nasty in recent months, with a rise in anti-Semitism being recorded across the UK and a national debate developing over when anti-Zionism becomes anti-Semitism. ​Contentious Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) resolutions have been passed at Manchester University, the largest in the country, as well as at […]

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Challenging Prevent at UCL

On Wednesday 30th September, Student Rights attended an event at University College London (UCL) entitled ‘Challenging Prevent: Defending our universities, communities and civil liberties’. The event formed part of the NUS’ launch of a Prevent helpline, whose purpose according to leaflets distributed at the event is to “support students and student union officers” and fight […]

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Student Rights at the University of Westminster

Last night, Student Rights’ Director, Rupert Sutton, spoke at the University of Westminster at an event asking whether students should “promote or prevent the Prevent Strategy”. Appearing alongside Abdullah Al-Andalusi and Jahangir Mohammed, as well as University of Westminster lecturer Dr. Dibyesh Anand, he addressed the clear need for Prevent and sought to challenge the […]

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The Prevent Duty on Campus – Rupert Sutton speech

The issue of extremism on university campuses has been part of the public debate since the 7/7 attacks, and comes under new scrutiny every time an individual involved in violent extremism is found to have studied at a UK university. In 2011, the revised Prevent strategy declared there was “…unambiguous evidence” extremist organisations targeted specific […]

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The Prevent Duty on Campus – Reflections on First Term Experiences

On 21st September, a new statutory duty for universities to “have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism” came into force. This gave institutions a legal requirement to put policies in place to challenge on-campus radicalisation and guarantee compliance with the government’s Prevent strategy. While universities have broadly accepted […]

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Preventing Prevent at SOAS

CAGE Director of Outreach, Moazzam Begg, whitewashed his history of radicalism during a controversial student event at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) earlier this week. The former Guantanamo Bay detainee claimed that: “before Guantanamo and Bagram I wasn’t politicised”. This is stark contrast to what he told the FBI in 2002, when […]

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UCU opposition to Prevent leads to support for extremists

In recent months, government attempts to deal with campus extremism have faced opposition from students, lecturers, and even the former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. Following the General Election, plans to give universities a legal duty to prevent students from being drawn into extremism have returned to the agenda – as has the resistance to […]

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