The Board of Deputies of British Jews (BoD) addressed the decision and said it was “long overdue.”
By World Israel News Staff
Following a months-long investigation, The University of Bristol has fired sociology professor David Miller who was accused of anti-Semitic rhetoric and making Jewish students feel “unsafe” on campus, local news reported.
The investigation into Miller was launched by the university in March, after Miller slammed Israel, Zionism, and Jewish student groups during a lecture.
“It’s not enough to say Zionism is racism, Israel is a settler colonial society. The aim of this is not only to say things but to end settler colonialism in Palestine, to end Zionism as a functioning ideology of the word,” he said at the time.
Following a full investigation, the university confirmed on Friday that “Professor David Miller is no longer employed by the University of Bristol.”
“We have a duty of care to all students and the wider University community, in addition to a need to apply our own codes of conduct consistently and with integrity. Balancing those important considerations, and after careful deliberation, a disciplinary hearing found Professor Miller did not meet the standards of behaviour we expect from our staff,” a statement released by the university read.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews (BoD) addressed the decision and said it was “long overdue.”
“This announcement sends a clear message to any academics who use their positions at respectable institutions in order to spread conspiracy theories and make Jewish students feel unsafe,” said BoD President Marie van der Zyl. “Free speech should not include hate speech.”
The Guardian reported that Miller would challenge the decision and that the university had “embarrassed itself.”
“Israel’s assets in the UK have been emboldened by the university collaborating with them to shut down teaching about Islamophobia. The University of Bristol is no longer safe for Muslim, Arab or Palestinian students,” he reportedly said.
Miller has a long history of making anti-Israel comments. He was suspended from the UK Labour Party last year after blasting Sir Keir Starmer for “taking Zionist money.”
A number of his past statements led to formal complaints from Jewish student groups at Bristol University. Miller has suggested that such complaints were an impingement on his academic freedom.