British professor David Miller has won a landmark ruling from the Employment Appeal Tribunal confirming that anti-Zionism is a legally protected philosophical belief in the United Kingdom. The tribunal found that Miller was unlawfully dismissed by the University of Bristol in October 2021 because of comments expressing his anti-Zionist views.

The tribunal stated, “The decision to dismiss the claimant and the refusal of his appeal against that dismissal were each found to be unlawful acts of direct discrimination. The dismissal was held to be unfair, and wrongful.” Miller, who had been a professor of political sociology at Bristol since 2018, challenged his dismissal on grounds of unfair dismissal, breach of contract, and discrimination or victimisation based on religion or belief.

Miller told Al Jazeera that there had been a “pressure campaign from external Zionist organisations and Zionist student organisations” aimed at getting him dismissed, as they considered his “fairly straightforward anti-Zionist positions” to be beyond acceptable discourse.

He described the ruling as a victory that will encourage others to speak out against Zionism, adding, “It will be very, very difficult for any employer, not just in terms of universities, but any employer in the UK, anyone who’s in any kind of employment-like relationship with individuals to suspend them, to sack them, to target them because they’ve got anti-Zionist views.”

This ruling marks a significant precedent for freedom of belief and expression related to political views on Zionism within the UK employment context.

Sources