The Bell report itself says that “almost three in five (59 percent) who identify as Jewish” reported “having experienced antisemitism”. But where does this figure come from?
The report itself says that “a significant proportion of Jewish children are educated in Jewish schools.” It adds: “In the 1970s an estimated 20 percent of all school-aged Jewish children attended Jewish schools and this has risen to nearly 70 percent.”
Ninety-two Jewish students took part in the survey, out of 5,000 respondents. The report says: “It is important to note the data collected is not representative of all school and college students and a low sample size of 92 students who identify as Jewish should be treated with caution. Nevertheless, the conclusions still provide a valuable insight into students’ experience of antisemitism.”
The annex further notes: “These results are not representative of the entire student population as a significant number within this age group have not applied to study at university or college.”
Of the 92 Jewish students, 70 of them responded to a question about whether they have personally experienced or witnessed antisemitism. Twenty-nine Jewish students said they had experienced antisemitism, which equalled 41 percent of the Jewish respondents, not three in five, which would be 60 percent.
The survey found that 30 percent of students who did not identify as Jewish said they had personally experienced discrimination, bullying or harassment. Of these, 21 percent said this was due to their religion and 46 percent said it was due to their race or ethnicity.