Bristol University: Professor defends Israel comments at tribunal

Prof Miller claims unfair dismissal, breach of contract and discrimination or victimisation on grounds of religion or belief

An academic who was criticised over comments he made about Israel said attempts have been made to "confuse anti-Zionism with antisemitism".

Prof David Miller was dismissed from the University of Bristol in 2021 after accusing the country of wanting to "impose [its] will all over the world".

The institution claimed he did not meet its expected standards of behaviour.

The professor told an employment tribunal that he had been "anti-racist" since he was a teenager.

Prof Miller launched employment tribunal proceedings claiming unfair dismissal, breach of contract and discrimination or victimisation on grounds of religion or belief.

His supporters have previously complained his dismissal amounted to "an attack on academic freedom".

During an investigation, it was heard the university lecturer's behaviour had led to Jewish students "being subjected to weeks of harassment and abuse".

The tribunal could become a test case as the academic attempts to argue his anti-Zionist stance is a protected philosophical belief, his lawyers said.

As the hearing began in Bristol on Monday, Prof Miller, who was a professor of political sociology at the university, insisted anti-Zionism was not the same as antisemitism, and was not a "racist set of ideas".

He added that it was impossible for a Zionist state such as Israel to be non-racist, and described Gaza as an "open air prison".

Controversial lecture

Previously employed as professor of sociology at the universities of Bath and Strathclyde, Prof Miller told the tribunal the University of Bristol was aware of his views on Zionism and Israel before hiring him.

He drew controversy during a lecture at the university in 2019, when he said the Zionist movement was one of five pillars driving Islamophobia in the UK, the tribunal heard.

The university subsequently received a complaint from the Community Security Trust charity, which said his lecture was a "false, vile… antisemitic slur".

But a report into academic freedom of expression concluded that Prof Miller's comments "did not constitute unlawful speech".

Speaking shortly after his dismissal, Prof Miller said the university had "embarrassed itself" by "capitulating to a pressure campaign…overseen and directed by a hostile foreign government".

Asked about the backlash towards some of his critics, he admitted that some of the language used had been antisemitic.

The employment tribunal continues.