Anger over campus Marxism event with Lowkey and Corbyn
V JEWISH STUDENT leaders are preparing a complaint to Queen Mary University for hosting an upcoming event with speakers who have praised terrorists, endorsed 9/11 conspiracy theorists and blamed Israel for antisemitism.
Marxism 2022, set to take place from July 1-3, will bring together some of Britain’s most controversial critics of Zionism — despite the east London university committing to the IHRA definition of antisemitism.
Queen Mary JSoc president Joel Azulay told the JC he was planning to officially complain to the university.
The Union of Jewish Students also expressed concern, telling the JC: “We urge universities to carefully consider which non-student organisations they allow to use their spaces on campus and the impact this may have on their students.”
Appearing alongside the notorious former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will be rapper Lowkey, who was slammed by the Board of Deputies as a “conspiracy theorist whose delusional output has long been of concern within the Jewish community”.
The anti-Zionist performer has endorsed a campaign of vandalism against Israeli businesses in the UK, pushed 9/11 conspiracy theories in a poem, and recently claimed on Iran’s Press TV that the media has “weaponised the Jewish heritage” of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to “stave off” inquiries about far-right groups in the country.
Also lined up to speak is Shahd Abusalama, a Palestinian academic at Sheffield Hallam University who has praised Jew-killing terrorists as “heroes” and has written that “Zionist lobbies… buy presidents”.
In February, Sheffield Jewish Society President Dora Hirsh told the JC that Ms Abusalama’s appointment as a lecturer meant campus was “now a hostile environment for Jews”.
Campaigner Tariq Ali is also set to appear at Marxism 2022. At a protest held last year, the veteran activist blamed Israel for antisemitism, saying: “Every time they bomb Gaza, every time they attack Jerusalem – that is what creates antisemitism. Stop the occupation, stop the bombing and casual antisemitism will soon disappear.”
Another speaker due to appear is Irish politician Richard Boyd Barret who was warned last year by a government minister that his shocking comments about Israel had been raised at a “global level”.
They will appear alongside Mr Corbyn, who presided over a toxic culture of antisemitism within Labour.
Queen Mary University of London did not respond to a request for comment.