Bristol University professor dismissed for ‘not meeting standards of behaviour’
Peers heard that the lecturer's behaviour had led to Jewish students "being subjected to weeks of harassment and abuse"
Last updated 6th Oct 2021
A University of Bristol academic has been dismissed following comments he allegedly made about Israel.
A disciplinary hearing found Professor David Miller didn't meet the standards of behaviour the institution expects from its staff and was terminated with immediate effect.
The University launched an investigation in March after peers heard that the lecturer's behaviour had led to Jewish students "being subjected to weeks of harassment and abuse".
Professor Miller has said he will challenge the hearing's decision with his supporters claiming it's "an attack on academic freedom".
Statement from 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 Prof Miller did not meet the standards of behaviour we expect from our staff and the university has concluded that Prof 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."
A report into academic freedom of expression concluded that Professor Miller's comments "did not constitute unlawful speech", the University added.
Senior Tory MP Robert Halfon was also heard urging ministers not to "wash their hands" of concerns from Jewish students at Bristol University.
In March, a Tory frontbencher also criticised Professor Miller in the House of Lords branding his views as "ill-founded and reprehensible".
A joint statement from the Union of Jewish Students (UJS) and the Bristol Jewish Society said: "It has been over two years since UJS, CST (Community Security Trust) and the Jewish community raised their heads and their voices in protest at the harassment, targeting and vicious diatribe shared by Prof Miller with his students.
"It has been seven months since complaints were made about Miller's statements targeting the Jewish society, its president and UJS.
"This announcement concludes months and years of tireless campaigns and actions by students to try and get the university and authorities to listen, and we are pleased that action has finally been taken."
Professor Miller also said he is determined to stand by his comments and to challenge the University's decision, all the way to an employment tribunal, if necessary.
He added: "The University of Bristol has embarrassed itself and the entire British academic sector by capitulating to a pressure campaign against me overseen and directed by a hostile foreign government. It has run a shambolic process that seems to have been vetted by external actors."
He further blamed the overall decision on alleged efforts by the University to shut down teaching about Islamophobia saying that the institution is "no longer safe for Muslim, Arab or Palestinian students".