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Jewish people speak out against the censorship campaign targeted at Bristol’s David Miller

Professor Hugh Brady

President and Vice-Chancellor

University of Bristol

Dear Professor Brady, 

We are all Jewish or of Jewish origin. We view with dismay the vicious personal, professional and political attacks directed against Professor David Miller at the University of Bristol for critical remarks he recently made about Zionism. Professor Miller was speaking at an event alongside notable anti-racism campaigners, many of them Jewish – including Norman Finkelstein and Ronnie Kasrils, a former minister in Nelson Mandela’s government.

We are extremely disturbed by the calls from pro-Israel organisations demanding Professor Miller be sacked by his university. For two years, Professor Miller has been harassed by such organisations due to his teaching about parts of the Zionist movement promoting Islamophobia. Professor Miller has made highly valuable contributions to his academic field of political sociology, specialising in the analysis of lobbying tactics, corporate and state power. 

The attacks on him directly arise from his academic work and they will chill free speech on Israel if left unchallenged. 

Jewish opinion on Zionism has always been diverse. But the censorship drive led by the organisations targeting Professor Miller wrongly conflates anti-Zionism with antisemitism. It is a worrying example of how the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism is being used to prevent meaningful debates on Israel and Zionism.

The University of Bristol’s response to the campaign against Professor Miller has left us disappointed. We expect Vice-Chancellor and President Hugh Brady to make an unequivocal public statement in support of Professor Miller’s right to academic freedom. 

cc:

Professor Simon Tormey, Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Professor Sarah Purdy, Pro VC (Student Experience) 

Professor Tansy Jessop, Pro VC (Education) 

Professor Judith Squires, Provost 

Mr Jack Boyer, Chair, Board of Trustees 

Dr Moira Hamlin, Vice-Chair, Board of Trustees

Ms Jane Bridgwater, Director of Legal Services  

Signed by:

Alexei Sayle 

Andrew Feinstein

Dr Norman G Finkelstein

Rabbi David Mivasair 

Professor Daniel Boyarin 

Professor David Epstein 

Professor Donald Sassoon 

Professor Hagit Borer 

Professor Haim Bresheeth-Zabner 

Professor Joseph Levine 

Professor Lana Cable 

Professor Martin Klein 

Professor Emeritus Laurence Dreyfus

Professor Emeritus Moshé Machover 

Professor Emeritus Noel Kent 

Dr Abby Hoffmann 

Dr Andrew Sluckin

Dr Daniel Waterman

Dr David Ellis Butler 

Dr David Hanraty 

Dr George Wilmers 

Dr Gordon Doctorow 

Dr Harry Feldman 

Dr Heather Mendick 

Dr Jo Tulloch 

Dr Judy Haiven 

Dr Larry Haiven 

Dr Laura Miller 

Dr Les Levidow

Dr Malcolm Segall 

Dr Myka Tucker-Abramson 

Dr Paul Kelemen 

Dr Philip Ward 

Dr Rayah Feldman 

Dr Renato Thomas Loeffler 

Dr Richard Hull 

Dr Rodney Watts 

Dr Ronald Mendel 

Dr Sarah Glynn 

Dr Stavit Sinai 

Dr Stephanie Marriott 

Dr Stephen Lubell 

Dr Tali Chilson

Dr Tom Saunders 

Dr William Joseph Owen 

Dr Yoav Litvin 

Advocate Audrey Bomse 

Aaron Stern 

Abe Hayeem 

Agustin Gonzalez 

Alan Aaron Rückert Zoellner

Alan Bernstein

Alice Bondi 

Alison Hall 

Amy Harlib 

Anat Natasha Camran 

Angela Mindel 

Ann Brennan 

Anthony Stoll 

Arye Finkle 

Avigail Abarbanel 

Benjamin Treuhaft 

Bernard Spiegal 

Bernice Laschinger 

Bob Giles 

Bruce Katz 

Bruce Levy 

Burton Steck

Carol Cassell 

Carolyn Gelenter 

Celina Norris

Chantal Morgenbesser 

Christopher Coppock 

Christopher Wallis

Claire Glasman 

Claire Wintram 

Clare Roskill 

Claude Scortariu 

Clifford Orchard 

Clive Kenneth Semmens 

Colin Holmes

Colin Mewett 

Corey Levine 

Craig Berman 

Cyril Chilson

Dan Hyde 

Daniel Vulliamy 

Daphne Gilbert 

David Albuquerque

David Cannon 

David J Solomons 

David Kaye 

David Lowton 

David Selzer 

Davita Guslits

Dean Harris 

Debbie Friedman 

Deborah Fink

Diana Neslen 

Dori Tal 

Elizabeth Block 

Eve-Lynn Stein 

Ewan Richard Bleach

Felicity De Motta 

Geoff Clegg 

Gina Nicholson 

Graham Bash

Graham Mendick 

Helen Marks 

Howard Harris 

Ilana Machover 

Isaac Cohen 

Ivan Wels 

Jacob Serruya W 

Jamie Stern-Weiner 

Janice Barrie 

Jenny Kassman 

Jenny Kastner 

Jeremy Weinstein 

Joe Ospalla

Jonathan Bellos 

Judith Cravitz 

Julie Dent 

Katharine Bligh 

Katy Colley

Lara Johnson 

Larry Grand 

Laurence Bryant

Lawrence Harris 

Leah D Levane 

Leon Heller 

Leon Rosselson 

Linda Cooper 

Linda Jones 

Linda Meehan 

Lorry Leader 

Malcolm Thwaite 

Marian Brannigan 

Mark Elf 

Mark Findlay 

Mark Klein 

Martin Evans 

Maxine Kaufman-Lacusta 

Meir Shabat 

Michael Kalmanovitz 

Michael Lesher 

Michael Letwin 

Michael Levin 

Mike Cushman 

Mike Scott

Miko Peled 

Miriam Scharf 

Nancy Elan 

Neil Rogall 

Netta Golan 

Noel Hamel 

Norma Cohen 

Pamela Blakelock 

Patrizia Burgess 

Paul M Seligman 

Paul Rechnitz 

Pauline Moriarty 

Peter Lipman

Prichard Coutinho

Rachel Bellos 

Richard Kuper 

Richard Silverstein 

Richard Wagman 

Richie Mcloughlin 

Rita Mendelson 

Riva Joffe 

Rob Gardiner 

Robert Ferguson 

Robert Jereski 

Roger Coates 

Ronnie Barkan 

Rosamine Hayeem 

Russell Corriette 

Ruth Appleton 

Ruth Ewald Archer 

Ruth Lass Hargreaves 

Ruth Tenne 

Sabby Sagall 

Sally Davies

Sally Eason 

Sam K Weinstein 

Sara Rans 

Sheelagh Strawbridge

Shosh Morris 

Sidney Shniad 

Simon Caplan

Simon Korner 

Simon Wolfers 

Simone Plaut

Sivan Tal 

Stanley Heller 

Stephen Aberle 

Stephen Kapos 

Steve Carter 

Steve Doone

Suzanne Berliner Weiss 

Sylvia Cohen

Sylvia Finzi 

Tahrir Swift 

Tali Shapiro 

Thomas Fallows 

Tony Graham 

Tony Greenstein 

Val Cane 

Val Graham 

Valerie Tomalin 

Vanessa Stilwell 

Viviane Tremblay-Massa 

Wolfe Erlichman

Yael Kahn