Bringing together the voices of an Israeli and a pro-Palestinian student at King’s College London.
As we pass the one-year marking of the October 7th attacks, I have talked to two King’s College London (KCL) students, one Israeli and one Pro-Palestinian, trying to understand their emotional journey over the last year.
Testimonies on life at KCL for Israeli and Jewish students and for Arab and Muslim students have been published before but in separate accounts; in this piece, however, I wanted to tell the two parallel stories in a single account, trying to emphasise the suffering that unites these stories and not the political views that divide them.
Both students have read and approved this piece, and I am grateful for their courage in sharing their stories.
KCL has also seen this piece, and has provided a response that is published at the end of the piece. As a KCL academic, I recognise the struggle of my and other universities as they “face pressure from all sides”, as a recent piece in The Guardian has written regarding US universities.
I talked to Aurele, who was a 2nd year history student and had just been elected President of the King's College London Students' Union (KCLSU) Israel Society when the 7th of October attacks against Israel took place. The first videos he saw of the attacks were from Ashkelon, where his family lives.
In the first few days after the attacks, Aurele thought it was imperative that KCL condemned Hamas, especially since the group has been a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK since November 2021. Yet, he was disappointed that it took 11 days for KCL to publish a statement.
While there was solidarity expressed by a minority of students from the Muslim community in the immediate aftermath of the attacks on Israel, he was shocked by the hostility and lack of empathy, even before Israel’s invasion of Gaza started, and including from students he believed to be friends of his.
The situation only got worse over the subsequent months. He recalls going to the university campus and hearing chants declaring Israel a terrorist state, or reading statements from KCL academics that could be interpreted as antisemitic. Like him, many Jewish students felt threatened while on campus.
It was upsetting and isolating.
I talked to X (not the real initial), a member of the KCLSU Students for Justice for Palestine (SJP), who prefers to remain anonymous.
X was not involved in the immediate response by SJP to the attacks. Indeed, X was in conversation with many KCL students who also did not participate in the first pro-Palestinian rallies organised immediately after October 7th, as they felt that it could have been perceived as supporting Hamas. However, things changed quickly when Israel’s attacks on Gaza started.
X recalls that pro-Palestinian students organised community actions, including posters on the history of Palestine, but these were vandalised overnight, covered by David stars. Also, X tells me that KCL immediately started to investigate some of the pro-Palestinian students, and that it is still very distressing that pro-Palestinian students were burdened by both the suffering of what was happening in Gaza and the personal anguish of being investigated or suspended by KCL
On the 13th of May 2024, the pro-Palestinian encampment was established, and X joined soon after. X felt that, by that point, a lot of frustration had accumulated, both with the escalating humanitarian situation in Gaza, and with KCL failing to act against the harassment of pro-Palestinian students on campus.
Aurele remembers when the encampment started very well.
The Jewish students felt regularly harassed when on campus, and easily recognised even if they were hiding their religious symbols, for example by other students that used to study with them before October 7th. He certainly had days when he felt very low, when he could not leave his bed because of the despair.
By that point, he had already been involved in meetings with KCL leadership asking them to do more to clamp down on antisemitism on campus, as Jewish students felt unsafe. He’d received threats against his safety on social media, and felt that the security staff could do more than just monitor the situation but not intervene.
Also, he could not understand some of the requests of the protesting students, especially the request that KCL should stop all academic collaborations with Israel, something that would make it impossible for all KCL students to travel to Israel to study and for research.
Despite everything, he recognises that among the protesting students there were some well-intentioned people with genuine grievances, and he can recall attempts from individual students from the Muslim community to talk to Jewish students, to see them as human beings, to entertain complex views on the relevant political issues.
X recalls that the encampment lasted over 60 days and nights.
Several representatives from the encampment were engaged in negotiations with KCL during the protest, emphasising that the university should disinvest from companies that supplied weapons to Israel.
However, throughout this time X felt hostility from KCL University toward the students in the encampment: greater restrictions were placed on the encampment, including a ban on inviting speakers and guests, and, on one occasion, KCL security brought police with dogs into the encampment.
X also tells me that there were warning emails by KCL threatening investigations and suspensions, that two students were excluded from campus during the protest and, as of today, only one exclusion has been lifted.
X now sees that the eviction on the 16th of July was inevitable, and that they did not achieve all that they wanted to achieve. But, in the encampment, X witnessed many examples of solidarity. Students, including some Jewish students, staff members, academics, and members of security, came to the camp to express their support.
X recognises that Jewish students felt unsafe, and understands that they were targeted in threatening emails and social media posts. But X is also keen to emphasize that pro-Palestinian students also were unsafe, considering the impact of warnings, investigations and suspension.
I asked both Aurele and X what they thought was the way forward to promote reciprocal understanding and dialogue.
Aurele is worried that, in terms of dialogue between the communities, there has been no opportunity to discuss, and no benefit of the doubt given to those on the opposite side. He believes that proximity and exposure will be the best ways to promote dialogue and bring an end to abusive behaviours. He hopes that protesters will understand that their actions and chants are likely to make Jewish students feel unsafe.
X also believes that students should all act with care and compassion towards one another, even if the past year has been characterized by hostility. However, X recognises that the focus, as a student activist, is on doing what is needed for the people of Gaza, and that the situation is past the point of trying to change each other’s minds.
Both tell me that KCL could and should do more to ensure that students can engage in safe dialogue
Aurele stresses that behavioural codes should be circulated to all students, to improve the language that we all use, and suggests that the university could organise a panel discussion with Jewish and Arab academics on peacebuilding in the Middle East at the university, as a starting point.
X is worried that new regulations brought by KCL and other universities for events bringing speakers on Israel and Palestine are actually fostering discontent on campus, rather than facilitating the dialogue, as it is the perception by student protestors that they have been largely ignored.
As I write this piece, I realise that this has been an important and difficult task, both for myself and for the wider Inspire the Mind team.
We have been struggling with multiple concerns: that it was never the right time, that we could make things worse, that we could not find students willing to talk to us. Yet, we believe that these stories should be shared, and that there is a way of writing a balanced piece on such a complex topic. In the end, with much negotiation and tenacity, we have managed.
It’s clear that universities in the UK and abroad are struggling to foster an open dialogue. In describing Aurele’s and X’s proposed ways forward to promote reciprocal understanding, I feel that this piece is a small part of a much larger effort being driven by students everywhere.
A King’s College London spokesperson said:
"On supporting students:
The safety and wellbeing of our community is our absolute priority, and that focus has been at the centre of every action and decision taken by our University, following October 7. We communicated directly with students and staff on 9 October 2023 to offer support, and The Dean and the Head of Security also swiftly met, and continue to do so, with student societies, including the Israeli, Jewish, Islamic, Palestinian and wider student societies, to listen to any concerns, provide extensive pastoral support and reassure them about safety measures on campus.
On the encampment:
When the encampment was formed, we engaged with members of the encampment to conduct regular wellbeing checks and progress dialogue. We also circulated guidance to protestors to remind everyone of our expectations regarding conduct and behaviour, as well as existing policies on external speakers invited to campus – which stipulates a requirement of at least 15 days notice - to ensure that an inclusive and safe environment is maintained. This policy is well publicised, and the notice period requirement is known among all student societies. It was not a greater restriction applied to the encampment.
It is inaccurate to suggest these communications contained threatening warnings or included any suggestion that students were going to be investigated or suspended without proper cause or process. Protest, along with other forms of free expression, is supported, but within boundaries to ensure that an inclusive and safe environment is maintained, and opinion and differences can be aired with civility. Where there was evidence to suggest the boundaries of permissible protest had been breached, we investigated, in line with our usual processes. Two students were temporarily excluded from campus (but not from continuing to study) and have now returned to campus with restrictions. In July protestors were asked to leave the encampment – they were not evicted.
King’s security did not bring police with dogs to the encampment. Police visited Guy’s campus at King’s request when individuals not affiliated with the university disrupted an open day. Any other instances of police on campus have not been at the University’s request and indeed police have been politely asked to leave by security.
On reports of bullying and harassment:
To suggest that reports of harassment or antisemitism on campus wouldn’t be acted upon, is false. Any form of racism, antisemitism, Islamophobia, abuse, violence or harassment is unacceptable and has no place at King's. We take reports of any such behaviour very seriously, investigating in line with our robust processes and should any allegation be upheld, action is taken.
On creating a safe space for dialogue:
We know strength of feelings, views and opinions run very deeply across our community, and it is part of the role of a university to be a place where divergent opinions can be expressed and discussed with civility, and in line with our commitment to freedom of speech within the law. Reflecting this, we have held several academic events and discussions on this topic over the past year, to which societies have been invited to attend. This includes a panel discussion between students on the President's Global Leadership Awards (PGLA), several King's academics, and King's Vice-Chancellor, Professor Shitij Kapur on: "Israel-Gaza Conflict: what is the place and role of a University?", with another event planned for November. Further, the Dean hosted a vigil for peace on the one-year anniversary of October 7, to provide a space to remember those who have died in Israel and Gaza and in all places of warfare, and to ask for peace. King’s has also supported KCLSU societies to host events of their own.
On King’s investment policy:
King’s maintains an ethical investment policy, and specifically invests in funds that proactively screen to avoid controversial and unethical sectors and industries – like tobacco, controversial weapons and fossil fuels as well as investing in funds that actively target positive social and green investments. We are recommending to our governance committees that we formalise our existing informal policy of screening out investment funds which invest in companies involved in controversial weapons.”