Grant Shapps’ teenage daughter dropped a module on Israel and Palestine at university after hearing ‘anti-semitic chants’ on campus that left her feeling unsafe as a Jewish student.
Tabytha Shapps, 19, said she felt intimidated by the controversial ‘from the river to the sea’ chants and ‘end Israeli state terror’ placards at pro-Palestine protests at the University of Leeds.
The second-year politics and economics student claimed that fellow students talked about ‘Israeli apartheid and Israel’s agenda as a genocidal state’, which she says made her so uncomfortable she felt forced to drop the module.
Reports of anti-semitic incidents at British universities has been on the rise since the horrific October 7 attacks against Israel by Hamas.
This has forced many students to feel they have to conceal their religion by covering their kippahs (a religious hat worn by Jewish men) with caps and hide their Star of David necklaces.
The Defence Secretary’s daughter Tabytha Shapps (pictured), 19, said she felt intimidated by the controversial ‘from the river to the sea’ chants and ‘end Israeli state terror’ placards at pro-Palestine protests at the University of Leeds
Her father Grant Shapps (pictured) says his daughter felt ‘uneasy’ over ‘anti-semitic’ chants
Ms Shapps said that she was impacted by a march through the Leeds campus on November 24, claiming that protesters soon started chanting ‘anti-semitic and anti-zionist’ slogans (the protest at Leeds University pictured)
The Defence Secretary’s daughter Ms Shapps told The The Telegraph that she does not understand how Jewish students can ‘feel safe on campus’ when they hear ‘anti-semitic’ chants.
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She said that her university was not being clear about the issue and said it was a ‘scary time’ for Jews.
The Leeds student, who visited West Bank city Ramallah last year, said that she does however understand the right to protest a pro-Palestinian viewpoint.
The institution said that it does have a ‘legal duty to support free speech, anti-Semitism or Islamophobia of any kind will not be tolerated’ and said that they do not support those who make others feel ‘unsafe or unwelcome’.
Ms Shapps said that she was impacted by a march through the Leeds campus on November 24, claiming that protesters soon started chanting ‘anti-semitic and anti-zionist’ slogans.
Video shows protesters shouting ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’, which some say insinuates the total destruction of Israel, as it means between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea – the borders of Israel.
The Government’s independent counter-extremism Tsar has suggested the chant to be a call for genocide following the attacks against Israel where Hamas terrorists murdered 1,200 people.
Signs were also held aloft at the protest which said ‘stop the war in Gaza, for a socialist intifada’, which Ms Shapps told the Telegraph is linked to calls ‘for the destruction of the Jewish homeland and its people’.
Talking about the class on Israel and Palestine she quit, Ms Shapps said she did it because of a peer saying Israel was an ‘apartheid’ and ‘genocidal’ state – and that she was the ‘only Jew in the class’ and thought ‘what about… the 1,200 Israelis killed on October 7’.
Her mother Belinda voiced her concerns for her daughter’s safety with the vice chancellor’s office three times in November.
Ms Shapps’ mother Belinda voiced her concerns for her daughter’s safety with the vice chancellor’s office three times in November
Video shows protesters shouting ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’, which some say insinuates the total destruction of Israel, as it means between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea – the borders of Israel
But she says she was not able to get these across to the university chief and had to wait until December 4, when she received a ‘generic’ response which said that free speech was important and did not mention anti-semitism.
The email from interim vice chancellor, Prof Hai-Sui Yu, which was seen by The Telegraph said that higher education institutions should value ‘academic freedom’ and that Leeds was ‘committed to enabling free debate’ of a wide range of views, including controversial ones.
It said the university had a legal duty to make sure that freedom of speech is secured for members, students and speakers who are visiting, adding that this means that university space is not denied to those with specific views.
It added that freedom of expression was not without limits, as there are laws which protect national security and public safety – and that the university ‘expects speakers and those taking part in protest activities to respect those values’.
The letter also noted that the protests in Leeds had not been authorised by the university or the students’ union.
Ms Shapps’ father Grant Shapps told The Telegraph that people ‘rampaging’ through campus chanting ‘from the river to the sea’ made his daughter ‘uneasy’ – adding the phrase is ‘clearly an anti-semitic trope’.
A spokesman for the University of Leeds said: ‘Whilst the university has a legal duty to support free speech, anti-Semitism or Islamophobia of any kind will not be tolerated and we do not support any views or actions which make others feel unsafe or unwelcome on campus.
‘Our security teams are liaising with local police and the Community Security Trust to ensure our students feel safe, and we urge students to report any incident for investigation and action.
‘The university is providing a wide range of support for students who are affected by the conflict and will continue to listen and respond to their concerns.’