Jewish students have dubbed a British university a “hostile environment” after it rehired a lecturer who was investigated for defending a “Stop the Palestinian Holocaust” poster.
According to the Jewish Chronicle, Sheffield Hallam University associate lecturer Shahd Abusalama, who teaches a course about “post-colonial media culture,” was the subject of a university investigation after she supported a student who had used the “#Holocaust” hashtag in accusing Israel of “repeated bombardment of Gaza.”
“Maybe she thought she’d garner European sympathy for Palestine by evoking the ‘Never Again’ slogan,” she commented.
Abusalama, who holds an undergraduate degree in English from Gaza’s Al-Azhar University, also reportedly asked her Twitter followers to view an offensive video that alleged the Talmud allowed Jews to steal from and kill non-Jews – writing "Must watch this video that tells the truth about Zionist Jews. They take their legitimacy from Talmud" – though she later said she “found [the video] offensive.”
Sheffield Jewish Society President Dora Hirsh said that Sheffield Hallam was “now a hostile environment for Jews.”
“I can’t imagine that if this was bigotry against another group that after an investigation Sheffield Hallam wouldn’t act,” Hirsh told the news outlet. “I would call upon Sheffield Hallam to apply the same standards and procedures for antisemitism that they do for other forms of discrimination.”
The Union of Jewish Students said that they were shocked that the lecturer was reinstated.
“There appears to be a refusal to take responsibility for how the comments isolate Jewish students and create a hostile environment,” they said, urging the university to reconsider their decision.