Major UK Jewish Student Group Decries, Condemns ‘Hitler Was Right’ Sign Plastered on U of Leicester Campus by Pro-Nazi Activists
by Lea Speyer
The appearance last Tuesday of a sticker promoting Nazism at the University of Leicester is “extremely concerning,” a major UK student group told The Algemeiner on Monday.
Referring to a meme reading: “One day the world will know that Adolf Hitler was right!” — which was plastered on campus by the far-right National Action group — a spokesperson for the Union of Jewish Students (UJS) said, “There is absolutely no place for fascism on campus.”
Such antisemitic material, the spokesperson said, “shows the need to stand together against such hate,” adding that the UJS is working with campus security, the Leicester Students Union (ULSU) and the Community Security Trust “to ensure that Jewish students’ safety is protected.”
ULSU President Rachel Holland — who was one of the first students to call attention to the sign on Twitter — told The Algemeiner that the student government and the university became aware of its existence after receiving tweets about it from National Action Midlands. The sticker was quickly taken down by security, she said.
The following is a sample of Holland’s Twitter exchanges:
National Action were on campus. And there’s groups wondering why Jewish students don’t feel safe at uni… pic.twitter.com/FX5EqCOdpr
— Rachel Holland (@ULSU_President) September 8, 2016
@mashkndk absolutely. Glad they got removed quickly but the fact it happened is a disturbing trend in the rise of hate crime
— Rachel Holland (@ULSU_President) September 8, 2016
@JaiP72 these aren’t student groups; campus is open and accessible, students aren’t even back from summer vacation yet
— Rachel Holland (@ULSU_President) September 8, 2016
According to Holland, this is the “first time National Action has targeted the Leicester campus specifically.” She said the group — which “overwhelmingly promotes messages of hate, disunity and division” — has “a small but noticeably growing presence across the city.”
The antisemitic behavior of National Action at a nearby university last year raised red flags for both students and officials at Leicester, Holland said.
“The group first came onto my radar about a year ago, after a series of vandalism attacks targeting Jewish students, specifically posters saying ‘Hitler was right’ and swastika graffiti on buildings,” she told The Algemeiner. “While we do not have a large Jewish community, I will be working alongside university officials to ensure that the University of Leicester is a welcoming, safe place for Jewish students.”
According to an exposé in the UK’s Mirror, National Action is “a dangerous far-right group hellbent on spreading race hate across Britain” and commonly targets UK universities.
The National Action website calls for “death to traitors, freedom for Britain,” and is riddled with photos of members performing the Nazi salute and quotes from Hitler. The group boasts of carrying out “demonstrations, publicity stunts and other activities in order to grow and spread our message, that of National Socialism,” the political doctrine of the Nazi Party.
The event at Leicester reflects an international trend of an increase in the public expression of antisemitism on college campuses.
In Australia, as reported by The Algemeiner, thousands of fliers promoting Holocaust denial have been distributed across campuses over the past year. Similar material was also found in Scotland at Glasgow University and Edinburgh University.
In Pennsylvania, as reported by The Algemeiner, officials at Swarthmore College promised a swift and serious investigation into the recent appearance of swastika graffiti at the campus library.