News / University of Bristol
Controversial professor accused of antisemitism sacked by Bristol University
More than two years after the first complaints of antisemitism were made against him, a controversial professor has finally been sacked by the University of Bristol.
The university said that political sociology lecturer David Miller “did not meet the standards of behaviour we expect from our staff”.
Miller’s sacking comes after he criticised the president of the Bristol Jewish Society, with Bristol West MP Thangam Debbonaire among those commending the university’s decision on Friday.
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But Miller has already confirmed that he will be appealing the decision and will be “fighting it all the way”, with him previously receiving support from people including philosopher Noam Chomsky.
The Support David Miller website calls him “one of the world’s leading academic experts on Islamophobia”.
His supporters say that the campaign against him “is specifically designed to conflate criticism of Zionism with hatred of Jews”.
In a statement, the University of Bristol said: “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 and the university has concluded that professor Miller’s employment should be terminated with immediate effect.
“The university regards the principle of academic freedom as fundamental and would like to reiterate that we take any risk to stifle that freedom seriously.
“The investigation included an independent report from a leading Queen’s Counsel who considered the important issue of academic freedom of expression and found that Professor Miller’s comments did not constitute unlawful speech.”
Main photo: Harry’s Place / YouTube
Read more: Bristol Labour councillor suspended for antisemitism
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