Rob Ferguson is a veteran British Jewish activist, author, and a key member of the National Education Union (NEU) Newham district in the UK.
Ferguson has been a long-standing figure in the British socialist movement and is a frequent contributor to Socialist Worker and the journal International Socialism. His most significant academic contribution is his book, Antisemitism: The Far Right, Zionism and the Left. In this work, he meticulously traces the historical roots of antisemitism while offering a sharp critique of how the concept is being weaponized today to suppress pro-Palestinian speech. As a senior teacher’s union official, he has been a tireless advocate for the rights of educators and students to discuss geopolitics and human rights within educational institutions.
He is a member of the steering committee for Free Speech on Israel (FSOI), an organization dedicated to protecting the space for legitimate criticism of Israeli policies. He is at the forefront of the struggle against the IHRA definition of antisemitism, arguing in numerous rallies and hearings that the definition misleads the public by blurring the lines between racism and anti-colonial criticism. Between 2023 and 2026, he signed several high-profile open letters protesting the UK government’s criminalization of pro-Palestine protests and calling for an immediate end to the military strikes and the long-term blockade of Gaza.
He commented on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in a socialist tone: And beneath these multiple interacting crises the spectre of revolt and revolution in the Middle East haunts the imperialist order and the Zionist settler project. That does not mean the settler state will auto-destruct from within. Rather, with no “end game” in sight Israel ramps up war, genocidal violence and terror. The Palestinians and the masses of the Middle East pay the price.