Board of Deputies Vice President Amanda Bowman has condemned an academic for his antisemitic views and students at the University of Essex for opposing plans to establish a Jewish Society on campus.
Amanda said: “That Dr Maaruf Ali, a lecturer at the University of Essex uses social media posts to express vile antisemitic views is abhorrent. We and the Union of Jewish Students will be contacting the university to express our disgust and to call for a full investigation into comments that include Holocaust denial, conspiracy theories and Israel-Nazi tropes.
“Dr Ali’s posts arose as a result of his opposition to the formation of a Jewish Society at the University. It is almost impossible to come to terms with the fact that in 2019, a large number of students have voted against the right of Jewish students to have their own space to celebrate their Jewish identities on campus. This is racism, pure and simple. Those students who voted to exclude Jewish students should hang their heads in shame.”