My Zionist experience in Azerbaijan and the UK

It has become common knowledge that the atrocities committed by Palestinians in Gaza on October 7 2023 emboldened the already widespread antisemitism in the West. From the mainstream media refusing to call Hamas a terrorist organisation to university campuses that have become no-go-to zones for Jewish and Zionist students in the UK and US where encampments of anti-Israel activists have targeted pro-Israel and Jewish students for harassment and discrimination, it seems like there is no place for students like me to feel welcome.

This is alarming, considering that despite being a Muslim-majority nation near Iran my home country, Azerbaijan has not experienced these issues with its Jewish population. It is alarming to see how poorly these Western countries are handling such matters. So how did we get here? 

The UK and Azerbaijan are strategic partners of the Jewish State. They cooperate on multiple levels that cover the areas of economy, tourism, intelligence, defence and culture. Both countries are multicultural societies that have a lot of Jewish history. However, the key difference between the two is that major UK universities have become hostile places for Zionist and Jewish students due to different pro-Islamist and Marxist Palestinian groups such as BDS and MSF who can roam around freely bullying Jewish and Zionist students.

The polls suggest that more than 70% of Jewish students in Britain feel unsafe to reveal their Jewish identity because of people who simply do not believe in Israel’s right to self-defence. Most British campuses where these students are enrolled are also riddled with groups that endorse the likes of Hamas and Hezbollah by standing in solidarity with Palestinians who committed one of the worst terrorist attacks in modern history. 

In Azerbaijan, the general stance on Israel and the local Jewry significantly varies from the UK’s. When Azerbaijan gained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Israel was one of the first countries to recognise and enter diplomatic relations with the Southern Caucasian Republic. In addition to fruitful political relations, there is an aspect often not reflected in the media that goes back to the deep pillars of the history of the local Kavkazi Jews. 

As someone who was born into a mixed family of Western Azerbaijani refugees and a Kavkazi Jew grandparent, I never felt unwelcome or unsafe about my ethnic background. Under the country’s constitution, all citizens of Azerbaijan are given equal rights and freedoms. Azerbaijani Jews today serve in the country’s National Assembly and play a pivotal role in representing the country in global arenas. Nevertheless, Azerbaijan’s relationship with the Jewish State is a special one as it was Israel whose technology helped Azerbaijan liberate the Nagorno Narabakh Region and restore its territorial integrity in 2020. Both Israel and Azerbaijan share mutual interests such as regional cooperation against the Islamic Republic which is an existential threat to both countries. 

Additionally, Jewish students enjoy more safety and security than their peers in the UK due to the country’s strong secular values. There is not a lot of antisemitism in mainstream Azerbaijani media either. For instance, looking at an article published in Azerbaijan, we can see that October 7 was called the biggest terrorist attack of the year while some UK outlets such as the BBC refused to label Hamas and other Palestinian groups as terrorists.

My own experiences as a student in the UK reflect this observation. My peers and I felt unrepresented and disappointed in our student unions and university boards which failed to create a platform for our voices to be heard. At the University of Hull, Palestinian flags were often hung on university dorms as if to intimidate anyone who disagreed with the maximalist Palestinian national demands against Israel. 

Why is the UK so much worse? There are multiple reasons. The institutions built to protect students and uphold Western values have been taken over by ideologues. A prime example is that the National Union of Students had an antisemitic president called Malia Bouattia who refused to condemn ISIS and constantly made statements calling to paralyse Israel’s right to self-defence and question its right to exist.  

Another big problem with contemporary antisemitism is the highly influential woke culture. With popular social media platforms like TikTok spreading antisemitic propaganda depicting Jews as the hidden power behind major political affairs, it’s no wonder why students rush to engage in encampments and openly show support for terrorism against Jews.

Unfortunately, too much-uncontrolled freedom of expression of extremist ideologies without transparency and honesty in mass media information leads to chaos and a disorderly society where the Jews are targeted.The antisemitic media outlets approach Israel differently and it creates double standards for the Jewish State. 

As long as the UK does not do enough to punish Iran-funded college movements that praise terrorist organisations like “Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis” We can never fully talk about protecting Zionist and Jewish students in the West. Instead, the UK should look to Azerbaijan so that we can discuss difficult topics without large segments of our community living in fear of simply being Zionists and Jews.