Tribunal rules UK professor unfairly fired for ‘anti-Zionist beliefs’ when he called Jewish students ‘pawns’

An employment tribunal rules that a British sociology professor was unfairly dismissed when he was fired for calling Jewish students “pawns,” and that his “anti-Zionist beliefs qualified as a philosophical belief and as a protected characteristic” under the Equality Act.

In remarks during a February 2021 lecture at the University of Bristol, David Miller called Israel “a violent, racist, foreign regime engaged in ethnic cleansing” and referred to Jewish students who protested against his previous comments about Israel as Israel’s “pawns.”

Firing him a few months later, the university said that it did not find Miller’s comments to be “unlawful speech,” but that he was sacked because he “did not meet the standards of behavior we expect from our staff.”

In comments to The Guardian, Miller’s legal representatives say the tribunal’s ruling is a “landmark decision,” noting that it “establishes for the first time ever that anti-Zionist beliefs are protected in the workplace.”

In a statement, the Union of Jewish Students decries the “dangerous precedent” of the ruling.

“This will ultimately make Jewish students less safe,” the organization says.

JTA contributed to this report.