Leeds Uni reaches ‘commercial settlement’ with Hamas essay graduate

The University of Leeds has reached a “commercial settlement” with a sociology graduate who had said an essay she wrote about crimes committed by Hamas against Palestinians was failed by an academic because it did not blame the Jewish state.

Danielle Greyman has now accepted “an offer without any admission of liability” made by the university in respect of her claim for damages.

She told Jewish News she it was “nice to have closure” on the dispute.

After her essay was initially failed Greyman mounted a successful internal appeal over the marking of the work, which was remarked to a passing grade.

In a statement university said they “strenuously deny the accusation of antisemitism” and stressed there was “no finding of wrong-doing” made against the institution.

Leeds also said they have conducted an internal review which”exonerated our staff of any alleged discrimination.”

Greyman has since been awarded a 2:1 BA degree with honours, but had claimed the length of time spent on the appeal, the re-marking, and Leeds confirmation of her degree came too late for her to do a master’s course at Glasgow University.

In a statement the University of Leeds told Jewish News:”No finding of any wrongdoing on the part of the University has been made by the Court.

“Furthermore, the University does not consider or accept that there has been any wrongdoing.

“An internal review exonerated our staff of any alleged discrimination and the University remains fully supportive of the academic judgement of its academic staff.

“We strenuously deny the accusation of antisemitism, the definition of which we interpret to be in line with the working definition of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). The University of Leeds has a zero tolerance approach to antisemitism, and any form of unlawful discrimination or hate crime, and on which we follow Government guidance.

“The listing of this claim in the small claims court was surprising and unexpected.

“As a consequence, and on the commercial direction of our insurers, an offer without any admission of liability was made by the University which was accepted by the claimant. This offer was made expressly on the basis that the University does not accept any liability nor accept that the claimant has suffered any loss.”

Greyman had last year launched claim against Leeds University for “negligence, discrimination and victimisation.”

Jonathan Turner of UK Lawyers For Israel, who assisted Greyman in both her appeal and her legal claim,  said: “We are very pleased with the settlement and hope that it will serve as a warning to universities and academics not to allow marking to be influenced by the anti-Israel bias which is so prevalent in academia. Ms Greyman is to be congratulated.”