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We stand with David Miller
We stand with David MillerWe stand with David MillerWe stand with David Miller
We stand with David Miller
Who is David Miller?
Professor David Miller is one of the world’s leading academic experts on Islamophobia, and also specialises in the analysis of state and corporate lobbying.
Until his recent sacking by the University of Bristol, which resulted from an outrageous censorship campaign led by the UK's Israel lobby, he taught political sociology. He also set up the UK’s lobbying watchdog, Spinwatch, which has tracked corporate power for 15 years. Spinwatch’s work has included investigations on the pharmaceutical lobby, the fossil fuel and fracking lobbies, as well as state lobbies that promote Islamophobia, such as those of Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
His publications include:
Why did Israel’s lobby in the UK work to have him sacked?
Professor Miller taught about Islamophobia as part of a course at Bristol called Harms of the Powerful. On that course, he taught the ‘five pillars’ theory of Islamophobia which analysed the various political movements underpinning the rise of Islamophobia globally. These five pillars are: parts of the Zionist movement; the ‘counter-extremism’ industry (particularly the state’s counter-terrorism apparatus); the far-right; the neoconservative movement; and the liberal New Atheist movement.
Following a lecture Professor Miller gave in 2019 explaining how the Zionist movement promotes Islamophobia, the British pro-Israel campaign group, the Community Security Trust, lobbied his university to censor him. This was followed by a complaint to Professor Miller’s university by the Union of Jewish Students (UJS), a pro-Israel student group. The UJS lobbied to have Professor Miller fired for two years because of his work on the relationship between Zionism and Islamophobia. The UJS’s constitution commits its members to making ‘an enduring commitment’ to Israel and the organisation was revealed by an undercover Al Jazeera investigation to be directly funded by Israel’s embassy in London.
The campaign against Professor Miller has been specifically designed to conflate criticism of Zionism with hatred of Jews. It is also designed to shut down teaching about Islamophobia and the harms posed by Zionism. Professor Miller is a test case – Israel’s lobby in Britain wants to use the widely criticised IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism to ban all criticism of the State of Israel, its policies and its ideology. It’s essential that we fight against this.
Statements of solidarity
Ken Loach
FILM DIRECTOR AND SOCIAL CAMPAIGNER
‘Universities depend on the freedom within the law to challenge all ideologies and political movements. Professor Miller is renowned and respected for his rigorous analysis and considered judgements. His voice is important. All are free to challenge his opinions, but none should advocate their suppression. Everyone who cherishes free speech should stand with David Miller.’
Alexei Sayle
COMEDIAN, ACTOR AND AUTHOR
‘A healthy society is one where people can speak the truth even about uncomfortable subjects. No-one should lose their job for telling the truth. I want to express my support for and solidarity with David Miller.’
Farid Hafez
AUSTRIAN POLITICAL SCIENTIST AND ISLAMOPHOBIA SCHOLAR
‘David Miller is one of the world’s most important scholars of Islamophobia and has made important contributions to the field. More and more scholars teaching about Islamophobia, especially in Europe, are being subjected to a targeted campaign of intimidation.’