Party-goers from Christ’s ‘disciplined’ for attack on Jewish students

Students claim they were victims of anti-Semitic abuse after mistakenly entering sporting society event

Two Christ’s students have admitted to “using foul language and participating in a scuffle”Louis Ashworth

by Louis Ashworth

This article is 8 years old

Sunday November 27 2016, 1:18pm

Christ’s College has punished two students after an incident of alleged racist abuse last month, The Telegraph reported.

The decision came after three Jewish students were reportedly set upon by a group at the graduate lounge in late October. The venue, at 17 Mill Lane, was being used for a joint party by the sporting societies of Christ’s.

The three students claimed that after entering the party by accident, they were subjected to anti-Semitic abuse and threats, and that several party-goers attempted to drag them out of the room. They also alleged that the assailants attempted to choke one of the Jewish students with his scarf.

In an email to the Master of Christ’s College, Professor Jane Stapleton, one of the students said: “We heard shouting and were literally grabbed and pulled out of the building by about seven large, intimidating males.”

They said both they and some bystanders had heard “a number of vicious anti-Semitic slurs including 'f------ Jew, you don’t belong here’, 'dirty Jew’ and to myself, 'f--- off, darkie’.”

The graduate lounge at 17 Mill Lane, where the incident took placeLouis Ashworth

“It was a closed party,” one of the victims, Shlomo Roiter-Jesner, who is studying HSPS at Hughes Hall, told The Telegraph “so we walked out but as we did so these individuals started getting more physical and more vocal and they noticed our kippot [Jewish skullcaps]”.

Professor Stapleton confirmed that two students had admitted to “using foul language and participating in a scuffle”, and that they had been disciplined by the college. The college obtained CCTV footage of the incident, but it carried no audio.

However, Stapleton added, “they denied initiating the physical hostility and denied using any anti-Semitic or racist language”.

The names of the students, and the nature of their punishment, are unknown.

A University spokesperson told Varsity: “The collegiate University is committed to the welfare and safety of all its students, and expects all members of its community to treat each other with respect and consideration at all times, and to act within the law.

“Any criminal behaviour should be reported to the police,” they said.

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