Jewish students in Britain have protested against what they felt was a university's lenient response this week to a member of staff who made use of an anti-Semitic image on the social networking site 'Facebook'. Andrew Collingwood, a supply manager in the Biology department at the University of York, in northern England, posted a caricature of Israel's foreign minister Tzipi Livni wearing a witch hat and holding a wand with the Star of David, declaring, "Anti-Semitic! Anti-Semitic! Anti-Semitic!" A thought bubble reads, "They no longer hear the magic word." Collingwood is also a university council member and a harassment adviser to students, as well as an active member of the fringe group Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
The university has defended the action, saying the school supports the principle of freedom of speech and that it responds only in cases in which the rights of individuals or groups are violated. "We adhere strongly to the principle of freedom of speech and support healthy debate. We also encourage members of the university to undertake such debate in a spirit of mutual respect. It is important that people feel able to express their views, and it is important that individuals and groups feel free from misrepresentation and harassment. In this specific case, we are mindful of the sensitivities and will respond to the concerns of individuals or groups if they believe their rights or university regulations and codes of practice are being infringed," a university spokesman was quoted by the 'Jerusalem Post' as saying. However, the university said it was not defending Collingwood and that it had asked him to remove the picture.
Criticizing the university's response, the Union of Jewish Students (UJS) said the school "should be responding much more strongly than it is, and we would urge it to conduct a full investigation and to take appropriate action." The UJS added that "for someone whose role is to help students with harassment, to endorse that picture is deplorable." The university's Jewish Society has called on the university to reevaluate Collingwood's position. "Jewish students couldn't approach him if they were being harassed. How can you consult someone who doesn't acknowledge that this is anti-Semitic?" Jewish Society president Simon Winkler said.
