A sociology professor sacked by the University of Bristol after being accused of antisemitic comments has won a “landmark” decision that he was discriminated against because of his anti-Zionist beliefs.
An employment tribunal ruled that Prof David Miller was unfairly dismissed, and that his “anti-Zionist beliefs qualified as a philosophical belief and as a protected characteristic pursuant to section 10 Equality Act 2010”.
Rahman Lowe, the legal firm that represented Miller, hailed it as “a landmark decision”. It said: “This judgment establishes for the first time ever that anti-Zionist beliefs are protected in the workplace.”
The Union of Jewish Students said Monday’s judgment “may set a dangerous precedent about what can be lawfully said on campus about Jewish students and the societies at the centre of their social life. This will ultimately make Jewish students less safe.”
Miller initially caused controversy in 2019 when in a lecture he cited Zionism as one of five sources of Islamophobia, and showed a diagram linking Jewish charities to Zionist lobbying. Complaints that this resembled the antisemitic trope that Jews wield secretive influence on political affairs were dismissed by the university on academic freedom grounds.
Since then, comments by Miller in online lectures describing Israel as “the enemy of world peace” and a description of the Jewish Society as an “Israel lobby group” that had “manufactured hysteria” about his teaching further inflamed tensions.
Academics across the world signed rival letters. One described Miller’s views on Zionism as a “morally reprehensible” conspiracy theory that jeopardised community relations on campus, while another warned that the investigation into him was fomenting a “culture of self-censorship and fear”, and urged the university to defend freedom of speech.
