An elite school founded by a refugee from Nazi Germany has sparked anger for cancelling an invitation to a Jewish commentator to speak to pupils.
Jonathan Sacerdoti had been due to talk about journalism and anti-Semitism at UWC Atlantic in South Wales last Sunday.
But the school, which educates pupils aged 16 to 18 from around the world, including many royals – made a U-turn on Friday after a group of pupils complained his presence would be ‘distressing’.
The decision is all the more baffling since the school was founded with the aim of promoting global understanding by Kurt Hahn, a Jewish educator who fled Germany in the 1930s for speaking out against the Nazis.
Mr Sacerdoti said he had been invited by pupils who were ‘Jewish and Israeli-backgrounded’ who had been trying to ‘introduce balance into discussions about Israel’.
It is understood school administrators agreed, with ‘multiple planning calls’ to ensure the talk would be ‘constructive, appropriate, and beneficial’. But when a group of pro-Palestine youngsters complained, UWC withdrew the invitation, saying it might harm children’s ‘emotional safety’.
He was offered the chance to address students in a pre-recorded video but turned it down, saying it would have prevented ‘real-time discussion’.
Jonathan Sacerdoti had been due to talk about journalism and antisemitism at UWC Atlantic in South Wales last Sunday
UWC Atlantic – founded in 1962 as the first of 18 United World Colleges – educates pupils aged 16 to 18 from around the world, including royals, and provides scholarships to refugees
Mr Sacerdoti, 45, who writes a column for The Spectator, said: ‘The school had invited me, publicly announced my upcoming talk to their students, and shared event details – only to reverse their decision at the last moment.
‘I have spoken at universities, schools, and conferences around the world. And yet, for this school, my presence alone was deemed too dangerous. That should alarm anyone who believes in free thought and academic integrity.’
Mr Sacerdoti, whose father survived the Holocaust, added: ‘This isn’t just another cancellation, it’s a case of an elite institution abandoning its own principles to appease the loudest voices.’
UWC Atlantic, founded in 1962 as the first of 18 United World Colleges, educates the children of royals alongside providing scholarships to refugees.
The heir presumptive to the Spanish throne Crown Princess Leonor, 19, is among its recent alumn, while her sister Princess Sofia, 17, is still studying there.
Housed in a castle in the Welsh countryside, UWC charges fees of between £36,800 and £45,000 and is known as the ‘hippy Hogwarts’ because of its progressive style of education.
A school spokesman said many of its pupils have ‘direct experience of conflict and trauma’, adding: ‘The safety and well-being of our students remain our highest priority. We have a deep responsibility to ensure all discussions are conducted with sensitivity’.
