A Glasgow University student who was branded a ‘dirty Jew’ has told how antisemitic abuse is on the rise after being fuelled by the Israel and Palestine conflict.
Lucinda Bathie was told to ‘go and gas yourself’ on social media after she called for calm last week as a pro-Palestine protest took place in the city on Sunday.
The 22-year-old, who is originally from London, said she had experienced a number of attacks since moving to Scotland, the Times reports.
The former president of the Glasgow University Jewish Society said she had even had avocados thrown at her while working in December 2019.
An irate customer spotted her Star of David necklace and allegedly said: “'I don't want these, they're from Israel you dirty Jew'.”
Lucinda said: “I have just stood down as president of the Jewish Society after two years so I am used to being careful what I say on social media and I don't post political comment.
"Someone sent me a message saying, 'Go and gas yourself' last week when I posted, 'Let's not be antisemitic'. I was also accused of claiming people supported Hamas.
"Jews everywhere are held to this high standard where we are expected to condemn the actions of a government in a country that I have visited once in my life."
She added: “My friends and I remove anything that makes us visibly Jewish. These are longstanding attitudes but they have become worse in recent weeks.
"In December 2019 I was wearing my Star of David necklace at the customer service desk at my work and a man approached me with a bunch of avocados and said 'I don't want these, they're from Israel you dirty Jew'.
"So many of my friends in Scotland in the last week have said they are thinking of moving to Israel permanently because in Britain it feels less safe to be visibly Jewish."
Glasgow Uni chiefs have said they will not tolerate any form of discrimination on their campus and have vowed to tackle racial inequality.
A spokesperson said: “The university will not tolerate antisemitism or any form of racism or racial discrimination on campus.
"Every student has the right to feel safe on campus and the university recently published a comprehensive action plan to tackle racism and racial harassment as part of its effort to address racial inequality."
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