Toxic cocktail of antisemitism and anti-Zionism - opinion

• Author: GIDEON FALTER
• Published date: 13 October 2021
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

This is one of the greatest perils facing the Jewish world.

It is not only extremist student activists who are poisoning the minds of their peers. The most dangerous incitement sometimes comes from academics. The imprimatur of a professor can appear to bestow legitimacy on antisemitic groups, individuals or ideas.

I cannot think of a better example of this toxic cocktail than Prof. David Miller of the University of Bristol, who was fired earlier this month – a rare instance of a British academic being dismissed following repeated antisemitic comments.

Miller is obsessed with anti-Jewish conspiracy theories, and his classes have alarmed Jewish students. In a course titled "Harms of the Powerful," for example, Miller accused the "Zionist movement" of a hatred of Muslims, promoted in the United Kingdom by a sophisticated Jewish conspiracy.

He has also claimed that the new leader of the Labour Party is "in receipt of money from the Zionist movement," whilst Miller himself spends his time in the company of high-profile figures expelled from Labour in relation to antisemitism, describing allegations of anti-Jewish racism against them as a "witch hunt."

Previous complaints to the University against Miller fell on deaf ears.

In a Zoom call in February, however, Miller crossed the line once again, describing the "Zionist Movement" as "the enemy of world peace." He added that Jewish students, by virtue of being Zionist, "encourage Islamophobia and anti-Arab racism" and that those associated with Zionism, including Jewish students on his own campus, "must be directly targeted."

Miller's employer, the University of Bristol, came under increasing pressure from a Jewish community united in disgust and frustrated by the institution's drawn-out investigation with no apparent end in sight. Jewish voices were joined by hundreds of prominent academics and politicians.

As the Jewish community and its allies showed righteous outrage, Bristol failed to act. For too long, this has been how university administrations have reacted to antisemitism on campus.

At Campaign Against Antisemitism, we were determined that this time would be different. Our organization has long pioneered innovative legal solutions, and we started to prepare the ground for a potential legal challenge.

We immediately assembled some of the legal team that worked on our landmark referral of the...