British Jewish student ‘bombarded’ with anti-Semitism on Twitter

Student targeted after highlighting Nazi posters on campus

By JTA
University of Birmingham Chancellor's Court (photo credit: GAVIN WARRINS/ WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)
University of Birmingham Chancellor's Court
(photo credit: GAVIN WARRINS/ WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)
A British Jewish student faced a storm of anti-Semitic comments on social media after she tweeted an alert about a pro-Hitler poster that had been posted on campus.
Izzy Lenga, 21, a theology student at the University of Birmingham, was “bombarded” with anti-Semitic insults and threats, The Daily Mail reported last week, after posting the image of a poster that said “Hitler was right.” On Twitter on Oct. 29, Lenga said she discovered the poster hanging outside the university library and wrote: “And for those who don’t think anti-Semitism is a serious issue, these were plastered over campus on Tuesday.”
Among the vitriolic responses were, “Another oven magnet crying about a piece of paper again?” and “I bet you put this up yourself, you just want more victim points.” Others tweeted that they also believed Hitler was right.
Lenga also attracted supportive messages on Twitter, many using the hashtag #IStandWithIzzy.
A spokesman for the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism said: “This is a worrying and disturbing thing to see at a British university at a time when the number of recorded anti-Semitic incidents is rising,” according to the Daily Mail.
University officials and others condemned the incident, and local police are investigating to determine who put up the posters.