A college under the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom has issued formal warnings to students accused of making death threats against a fellow student who had visited Israel, according to reports.
Homerton College confirmed that disciplinary action was taken following the incident and said administrators had also “made it clear that the behaviour in question was entirely unacceptable,” The Telegraph reported.
The case involves alleged messages sent in a student group chat targeting 21-year-old Bradley Smart after his participation in a trip to Israel and the Palestinian Authority organised by the Pinsker Centre, a campus-based foreign policy think tank.
According to The Telegraph, the messages included statements such as “I’m going to kill him,” “kill him,” and “he needs to die,” alongside other abusive and antisemitic content, including comparisons between Israel and Nazi Germany.
Smart, who is not Jewish, said he feared for his safety following the threats and subsequently moved out of his college accommodation.
He reportedly said he raised the matter through internal college reporting channels but was advised to seek welfare support or consider changing rooms. He later filed a complaint with police, who, according to him, declined to investigate the case, describing it as an “academic matter.”
The college’s response has drawn criticism, with some commentators arguing that the disciplinary action was insufficient given the severity of the allegations. John Woodcock, a member of the House of Lords and former UK government counter-extremism adviser, said the handling of the case risked normalising threats of political violence on campus.
The incident comes amid growing concern over rising antisemitic rhetoric and attacks in the United Kingdom, including a recent stabbing of two Jewish men in the Golders Green area of London.
Homerton College said it has “zero tolerance for antisemitism and threatening behaviour” and confirmed that the student involved had been offered support services.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Smart said he had expected a university environment that encouraged dialogue and debate.
“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,” he said.
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