Righteous fury over Gaza must allow empathy for fearful Jewish students | Sonia Sodha

In the polarised way that we conduct debate, we often ignore the nuance – and threats – that all sides can experience

Moral logic that seems crystal clear on paper often becomes murkier on contact with reality. So it is with the question of how to pick a path through the right to protest against Israel’s actions in Gaza, and the rise in antisemitism that has been seen across Europe since Hamas committed the terrorist atrocities of 7 October 2023.

Last week, the focus was on university campuses, as Rishi Sunak convened a roundtable of vice-chancellors at Number 10. In theory, the guardrail is straightforward: people’s democratic rights to protest must be protected, but any spillover into antisemitism is to be loudly condemned. However, putting this into practice has proved more complex.

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