Prof. David Miller won a wrongful dismissal case after a British employment tribunal ruled that his “anti-Zionist beliefs qualified as a philosophical belief and as a protected characteristic” of the U.K.’s Equality Act. Friday 9 am EDT, 2pm BST.
A tribunal decided in February that Prof. David Miller was unfairly dismissed from the University of Bristol for allegedly making anti-semetic remarks. This week it released its written judgement, saying it was not antisemitic to criticize Israel for apartheid, ethnic cleansing and genocide. The tribunal ruled that taking those positions are “worthy of respect in a democratic society.”
One of the judges said:
“[Prof Miller]’s opposition to Zionism is not opposition to the idea of Jewish self-determination or of a preponderantly Jewish state existing in the world, but rather, as he defines it, to the exclusive realisation of Jewish rights to self-determination within a land that is home to a very substantial non-Jewish population. …
What [Miller] said was accepted as lawful, was not antisemitic and did not incite violence and did not pose any threat to any person’s health or safety.””
It was a significant ruling at a time when journalists who dare criticize Israel’s behavior in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon are under increasing pressure, in some cases having their homes raided or being questioned at British airports under the U.K. Terrorism Act. The latest case was the raid by counterterrorism police on Thursday of the London home of Asa Winstanley, editor of The Electronic Intifada, about which journalist Glenn Greenwald tweeted:
“The amount of authoritarianism and erosion of rights in the West to protect Israel — by censoring criticism of that foreign country and punishing its critics — is almost impossible to overstate,” journalist Glenn Greenwald tweeted on the news of the police raid. “Mass firings in the US and speech-restricting laws,” he said. But, “The UK, as always, is worse.”
Prof. Miller joins CN Live! at 9 am EDT and 2 pm BST to discuss the significance of the written ruling in his case. Interviewers: Elizabeth Vos and Joe Lauria. Producer: Cathy Vogan.