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Cambridge University Opts Not to Suspend Students Over Alleged Threats to Peer After Israel Trip
Cambridge University has not suspended students accused of making death threats against Bradley Smart, a student who visited Israel on a think tank trip. Smart reported the threats, which included antisemitic material, but the college suggested welfare services or relocation. Critics including Lord Walney condemned the response as inadequate amid rising anti-Israel sentiment on campuses.
May 4, 5:52 AM·2m read1 source
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Cambridge University has declined to suspend students who allegedly made death threats against Bradley Smart, a 21-year-old third-year student at Homerton College, GB News reported. Smart participated in a trip organized by the Pinsker Centre think tank, which brought Oxbridge student leaders to meet Israelis and Palestinians for insight into the Gaza conflict.
Upon his return, identifiable students posted threatening messages in a group chat, including phrases such as 'I'm going to kill him' and 'he needs to die,' according to Smart.
The group chat messages also contained slurs, degrading language, and antisemitic material drawing comparisons between Israel and Nazi Germany, Smart said. He reported the threats through official harassment procedures at Homerton College. The college advised Smart to contact welfare services or consider relocating to different accommodation after the report.
Smart vacated his Homerton accommodation approximately one month after the incidents began. He approached police about the threats, but officers informed him that the matter constituted an 'academic matter' and declined to pursue an investigation, Smart stated. 'As a Cambridge student, I expected my university to be a place where opinions could be refined through dialogue.
The reality, however, was that this trip was enough to trigger a campaign of cancellation, including explicit death threats and being banned from a college club,' Smart told The Telegraph. Lord Walney, who previously served as the Government's counter-extremism tsar, criticized the response.
