‘Israeli’ campaign targets pro-Palestine Kuwaiti professor in Britain

• The group says it has contacted the University of Exeter, arguing that Al Anjari’s statements are incompatible with the standards expected of a British university. 
• Al Anjari is a doctoral researcher in Palestinian studies, and has issued a statement in response. 

The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), a British charity that purports to campaign against antisemitism, has accused Kuwaiti University of Exeter doctoral researcher Abdullah Al Anjari of extremism.

Al Anjari is a doctoral researcher in Palestine studies at the University of Exeter’s Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies. He is also a postgraduate teaching associate. According to his University of Exeter profile, his thesis “sheds light on the Palestinian resistance to the Judaization of East Jerusalem in the aftermath of the 1993 Oslo Accords.”

The CAA accused Al Anjari of extremism over a series of posts on X, including one from October 2024 in which he described the West’s treatment of Yahya Sinwar, the former Hamas leader, as “demonisation.” Al Anjari said Sinwar was killed “with his head held high” and that he “lived bravely and valiantly.” 

The CAA said it had written to the University of Exeter, alleging that Al Anjari’s statements are “plainly incompatible with the standards expected of a British university.”

Extremists teaching our children. Is this what passes for Higher Education nowadays?

Abdullah Al Anjari is a Doctoral Researcher in Palestine Studies at the University of Exeter, and a Postgraduate Teaching Associate at University College London.

CAA has uncovered repeated… pic.twitter.com/dsVta7Gavf

— Campaign Against Antisemitism (@antisemitism) July 23, 2026

Al Anjari’s statement

In response, Al Anjari issued a statement saying he condemns “all forms of racism, including antisemitism."

He said the CAA campaign is “highly charged” and “unfair” and that his “arguments are aligned with the published reports of prominent human rights organizations.”

My statement regarding the misleading public allegations launched against me by the Campaign Against Antisemitism (in the UK), in which I have been explicitly (and wrongly) associated with “extremism.” pic.twitter.com/CQznfpUJGr

— عبدالله وليد إبراهيم العنجري (@abdullahanjari) September 19, 2026

Wider campaign against pro-Palestine academics

The case comes amid broader disputes in Britain over complaints and campaigns targeting academics and students who support Palestinian rights or criticize ‘Israel’.

In 2021, the CAA supported legal action against the University of Bristol over statements made by then-professor David Miller, who was dismissed by the university that year. 

The CAA said the case concerned alleged harassment of Jewish students, while Miller and his supporters described the action as an attack on academic freedom and criticism of “Zionism”.

Other pro’-Israel’ organizations have also campaigned against academics and university teaching. UK Lawyers for ‘Israel’ (UKLFI), which describes itself as an organization supporting ‘Israel’, ‘Israelis’ and supporters of ‘Israel’, says it has secured action following complaints against university staff and has reported academics and institutions over material it considers objectionable. 

Its own records, for example, list a complaint that resulted in a Southampton University teaching fellow deleting social-media posts.

In 2026, the Open University came under criticism after correspondence with UKLFI led to changes involving the use of the term “Ancient Palestine” in course materials. The British Society for Middle Eastern Studies subsequently raised concerns about academic freedom and called on the university to reverse the decision.

Pro-Palestine academics and staff organizations have also documented what they describe as harassment, complaints, doxxing and smear campaigns targeting university staff and students. 

University and College Workers for Palestine, for example, said pro-Palestine staff and students at King’s College London had faced a sustained campaign of harassment and said external actors, including Betar UK, had targeted academics and activists.

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