B ooklets distributed in the forum building on Exeter’s Streatham campus are coming under fire from students for “the demonization of Palestinians and Arabs”. The booklets – distributed by volunteers working with Exeter Friends of Israel – explicitly link the Middle Eastern region to Nazi ideology.
The producers of the booklets told Exeposé they were “educational materials” and that “Jews are often depicted in the Arab press in a similar vein to Nazi propaganda.”
The booklets, distributed on campus by “local volunteers from Bournemouth” working with Exeter Friends of Israel in aid of Israel Peace Week, show Nazi Germany leader Adolf Hitler meeting with Palestinian leader Hajj Amin Al-Husseini in 1941.
The caption beneath the picture reads; “A shared legacy of hatred”.
The booklet was being handed to students in the main forum area on Streatham campus
Friends of Israel told Exeposé they were “completely unaware” that the booklets were in circulation on campus.
A page from the booklet produced by Stand With Us
In a statement to Exeposé, Exeter Friends of Palestine said:
“Friends of Palestine are disappointed that Friends of Israel have chosen to circulate literature which links the horrors of Nazism and the Holocaust with the Palestinian people.“The Palestinians are not anti-Semites, and neither are their supporters. To demand freedom and dignity for the Palestinians is not anti-Semitism.”
“Exeter Friends of Palestine Society should join with us to condemn extremism” – StandWithUs UK
A page from the booklet comparing “Jews As Vampires” propaganda from Nazi Germany to “Middle Eastern-Recent”
After being contacted by Exeposé, StandWithUs UK responded with the following:
“As a non-profit organisation which believes that education is the road to peace, we often distribute a variety of educational materials.
“One particular resource deals with Middle Eastern Antisemitism, a historic problem that continues to this day. Jews are often depicted in the Arab press in a similar vein to Nazi propaganda.
“Instead of condemning the booklet, which is demonstrably true about historic Palestinian Arab support for extremism, which is sadly echoed today, the Exeter Friends of Palestine Society should join with us to condemn extremism and support initiatives that support coexistence between Arabs and Jews in Israel, of which there are many.
“We truly hope that through education we bring understanding and make peace between peoples. We are glad to support initiatives such as the “Israel Peace Week“ at Exeter university.”
Exeter student Cameron Rose, who received one of the booklets, hit out at the distributors.
‘Anti-Semitism should be fought every time it raises its wretched head, but to use it to justify the demonisation of Palestinians and Arabs is vomit-inducing.’
Rose said in a Facebook post that he was ‘shooed away’ after asking the distributor what the meaning of the booklets was.
The booklet also depicts a crowd doing the Nazi salute, suggested to be of Arab/Palestinian origin
Friends of Israel, meanwhile, have denied knowing about the booklet, and responded with the following statement:
“Exeter University Friends of Israel as part of the week-long campaign “Israel Peace Week” have maintained a stall in the forum each day as part of the society’s aim to engage in peaceful, meaningful dialogue with other students about the Israel Palestine conflict and have had a variety of material to help fulfil this aim.
“Exeter Friends of Israel are completely unaware of this booklet being in circulation this week and has not been featured as part of our week of campaigns and is not found amongst the literature we possess. However, it appears that the leaflet in question may have come with local volunteers from Bournemouth who had come to provide cakes for our charity bake sale to help raise money for the Abraham Fund.
“This leaflet is not the kind that Exeter Friends of Israel condones or would distribute.”
