Bristol University ‘again fails’ to act on ‘end Zionism’ professor
UJS and Bristol Jsoc representatives meet senior management at the university, but Jewish students say it didn't give 'concrete steps' on any possible action
Jewish student leaders left a meeting with Bristol University today disappointed, after it “yet again failed” to commit to taking action against an academic who called to “end Zionism”
Representatives of the Union of Jewish Students and Bristol University Jewish Society met leaders at the institution today, amid concerns over sociology lecturer Professor David Miller.
This comes amid calls to sack the academic after he caused outrage last week calling to “end Zionism” as an ideology, branding it the “enemy”. When Jewish students complained he doubled down, using alleged “antisemitic tropes”, leading to the Board of Deputies and All Party Parliamentary Group on Antisemitism to write to the Vice Chancellor of the University expressing their concerns.
More than 4,000 people also signed a petition calling on him to be sacked, while Bristol Jewish students have organised a virtual protest on Wednesday.
Bristol Jewish students and UJS met “members of the senior management team at the University of Bristol, to relay our concerns over the current situation and to hear their proposed next steps.”
Following the 45-minute-long meeting, UJS said: “yet again, the University has failed to give concrete steps on what they can do to protect their Jewish students from hatred and racism both physically and digitally. We will not let this go and will continue to hold the University to account and get hate off campus.”
A spokesperson for the University of Bristol said: “We had a useful meeting today with Bristol J Soc and UJS. We heard their concerns and are continuing to work with them.”
However, at the students’ request, we are unable to go into detail about the discussions.
We remain committed to making our University an inclusive place for all students, while also upholding our commitment to freedom of speech and to the rights of all our students and staff to discuss difficult and sensitive topics.”
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