University of Leeds societies call out Islamophobia
The university of Leeds Palestine Solidarity Group (PSG) and Islamic society (ISOC) made a joint social media post calling out racism and Islamophobia.
Image Credit: PSG and ISoc on Instagram
The rise in Islamophobia and xenoracism we are witnessing on campus is not the product of misunderstandings or isolated events between communities detached from political conditions. It is the result of increasing violence towards migrants and marginalized communities through policing, surveillance, and border control.
Muslim and Palestinian students in Leeds are facing an alarming escalation of racism and Islamophobia, fuelled by the recent rise of fascism across the UK. This pattern is tragically predictable giving the exposed organising logic of the British state of producing the conditions for this racist violence. Despite this, the University of Leeds and Leeds University Union failed to put adequate protections in place.
We have seen far-right protests and hate marches across the country calling for Muslims and migrants to ‘leave the country.’ A mosque has recently been targeted in Sussex. Just yesterday, 4 people were injured at Bradford City College in a racially-aggravated attack.
In Leeds, this has manifested online, where a recent LUU post promoting Palestinian Culture Day attracted an immense wave of bigotry and chauvinism with over 1,000 Islamophobic, racist and anti-Palestinian comments on Facebook. These comments spread violent stereotypes, mocked Muslim and Palestinian culture, used dehumanising language, and even contained direct threats against students and campus spaces.
There was no communication from LUU Marketing to affected student groups following this online racial aggravation and we were only notified by Student Officers after this was seen 3 days later. This reveals a wider issue of neglect towards its Muslim, Palestinian and migrant students.
This is not an isolated incident but part of a wider escalation of Islamophobia in Britain. The far right has been emboldened, and Muslim communities are increasingly the target of hostility. Students are being left to fend for themselves. Meanwhile, university leadership has failed to prioritise investment in safety and anti-racism on campus. We note that UCU recently revealed the Vice-Chancellor receives a salary of £694,000 per year. We believe this level of pay cannot be justified while resources are not being directed into the effective safeguarding of marginalised students. That money could instead support meaningful anti-Islamophobia programmes and anti-racism work that protects students at risk.
It is the local expression of the Hostile Environment Policy in Higher Education – a government policy which extends border policing and institutional xenoracism into universities and everyday life. The University is quicker to censor and discipline Pro-Palestinian activism than to take a stance and confront fascism on campus.
As PSG, we have worked tirelessly with LUU Officers and partner societies to create Palestinian Culture Day within the Union’s Celebrating At-Risk Cultures series. This event was designed with Palestinian students to celebrate their culture, support their full sovereignty over their land, cultural resistance and heritage at a time when Palestinian people fight against genocide and dispossession. At a time where the right to education for students in Gaza is threatened by University inaction, this Culture Day has provided us a platform to amplify and spotlight Palestinian academics, artists and filmmakers.
We demand University of Leeds and Leeds University Union to take immediate action against Islamophobia and far-right hate on campus, and to establish a concrete plan to address Islamophobia and anti-Arab ideology. Currently, there are no material actions the University of Leeds has taken. The rise of Islamophobia is not a side issue – it is a direct threat to our community, our safety, and our right to exist on this campus without fear.
We will continue to celebrate Palestinian culture and stand against racism, islamophobia, antisemitism, and all forms of chauvinism. But words are not enough: we demand investment, protection, and concrete action. To all students, PSG stands with you and tirelessly advocates for Palestinians and allies on campus. If you are a student and have been victim to an act of racial harassment for your identity as a Palestinian or your activism for Palestinians, please do get in touch with us for advice or support. You can also report the incident anonymously through the Report & Support site at reportandsupport.leeds.ac.uk.
The post did include the comments made. The article has included the comments.
On 10 October, PSG and ISoc made a joint post addressing a spike in Islamophobia in Leeds as well as the country as a whole. The post addressed how Muslim and Palestinian individuals are facing increased amounts of anti-Muslim hatred. It stated how this has grown as they believe the government has allowed for racial violence to grow. The post said:
“The University of Leeds and Leeds University Union failed to put adequate protections in place.”
The post came about following Palestinian culture day which was held on 14 October. A post created by the Union Facebook received over 1000 hate comments. The comment section attacked Palestinians and shared Islamophobic stereotypes. The post by the Union has since been deleted.
Islamophobic rhetoric has grown across the country alongside other forms of hate including racism and anti migrant sentiment. This rise grew in summer of 2024 after the Southport stabbings where 3 girls were murdered at a dance class. False information being spread led to misconceptions of the killer’s identity. One tweet stated he was “ a Muslim immigrant” as well as notable figures like Andrew Tate came out and fuelled ideas that the perpetrator was an “illegal migrant.” These figures were proven to be false as Rudikabana (the killer) is a British citizen and not a Muslim. This was not cleared up till much later. Many of these notions are still believed and shared online. Riots broke out days after the attack targeting Muslims, immigrants, asylum seekers and any people of colour.
Across the UK, there has been an unprecedented spike in Islamophobia with a record high of reports of anti-muslim hate. Tell Mama (Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks) is a public service which records Islamophobic incidents and supports victims of it, noted that in 2024, there were 5837 reports of anti-Muslim hate. This was a 165% increase in two years, 73% increase in islamophobia assaults. The service attributed this increase to: the Southport murders and the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023 which began the spike in incidents with 2,000 cases in the first 100 days after the attack.
Tommy Robinson has been at the forefront (whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) of the far-right movement leading a set of rallies titled “Unite the Kingdom.” These rallies addressed issues regarding immigration with individuals chanting slogans like “stop the boats” and included speakers such as Elon Musk and right-wing French politician, Eric Zemmour, who spoke about the idea of the great replacement theory. It is a controversial conspiracy that theorised a plot to replace white populations in the West with people of colour; this theory is often called out for being racist and inaccurate. We see how these perceptions are very much alive and present even in our little bubble of Leeds with the surge of hate and spiteful reaction towards an event on campus that simply held the intention of celebrating a culture that has been facing decades of suppression.
The statement by PSG and ISOC went on to address how they would want investment into anti-racism causes. They explained that the UCU (University and College Union) revealed the Vice Chancellor salary currently stands at £694,00 per year. They debated that “this level of pay cannot be justified while resources are not being directed into safeguarding marginalised students.” This stands out following the Leeds PSG’s numerous campus protests demanding action from the university to support University of Leeds offer holders trapped in Gaza. PSG has demanded for the university to waive tuition fees and help the students safely evacuate the warzone. There has been been a few successes, with some students receiving some financial aid but students Amira, Farah and Alaa are still trapped.
A video of a University of Leeds student being arrested whilst protesting has recently gone viral. The student among others demonstrated at the STEM careers fair where they were protesting against the inclusion of arms companies who are funding Israeli weaponry. Since the arrests, student activists have called out the university for calling the police on their own students for protesting. Journalist, Dr Myriam Franciois called out the university on its “dereliction of duty.”
This has led students to call out the university for what they believe is a double standard in the difference of treatment towards Ukrainian and Palestinian students. The University has stood firmly behind Ukraine through numerous projects to support Ukrainian intuitions and students. University of Leeds increased its support for the establishment of sanctuary scholarships for Ukrainian students after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This included an investment of £100,000. For the 2022/23 academic year, there was a minimum discount of 25% on tuition fees for Ukrainian nationals.
The Gryphon spoke to PSG and have discovered that they are yet to receive a response to their statement from the University of Leeds. However, they did receive a statement from the Leeds University Union. PSG said the Union sent “only a small statement from the union to report harassment through their report and support forum which is not sufficient responsibility or accountability towards what they enabled through their social media channels.”
Words by Aliza-Kayan Ahmed