Scottish Student Expelled for Insulting Israeli Flag
A university student in Scotland was found guilty of racism after insulting a fellow student’s Israeli flag, and he was expelled from St. Andrews University.
The student, Paul Donnachie, 19, reportedly called an exchange student from Yeshiva University in New York a terrorist and said Israel was a terrorist state and the flag was a terrorist symbol. He then put his hands down his pants and then rubbed them on the small flag hanging on the wall, the BBC reported.
The flag had been a gift to the Jewish student, Chanan Reitblat, from his brother, a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces, according to the report.
Donnachie, a member of the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said he would appeal Tuesday’s ruling.
“This is a ridiculous conviction,” he said, according to the BBC. “I’m a member of anti-racism campaigns, and I am devastated that as someone who was fought against racism I have been tarnished in this way.”
A second student, Samuel Colchester, 20, was acquitted due to insufficient evidence. He was suspended from the university for one year.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.