U.K. universities told to crack down on antisemitism after synagogue attack

British universities must take stronger action to protect Jewish students, the government said on Saturday, after a deadly attack on a synagogue in northern England and amid concerns over antisemitism on campuses in Britain and the United States.

LONDON — British universities must take stronger action to protect Jewish students, the government said on Saturday, after a deadly attack on a synagogue in northern England and amid concerns over antisemitism on campuses in Britain and the United States.

Young people must be equipped to spot and challenge misinformation online, the government said, urging universities to use every tool available to confront hate and division.

“One instance of antisemitic abuse is one too many,” education minister Bridget Phillipson said in a statement.

“So I’m clear: the buck stops with universities when it comes to ridding their campuses of hate — and they have my full backing to use their powers to do so.”

Police say they accidentally shot two worshipers at Manchester synagogue01:36On Oct. 2, a British man of Syrian descent drove a car into pedestrians and then began stabbing several people on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, outside Manchester’s Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue. Two men died in the attack.