Disgraced Bristol University professor David Miller accused of using £400,000 research grant to further research on “British Zionist scene”
Disgraced Bristol University professor David Miller has been accused of using a research grant of £401,552 to further his research on the “British Zionist scene.”
It was reported that between 2013 and 2016, Prof. Miller used this funding to produce a paper called “The Israel Lobby and the European Union”, in which he accused Israel “lobby groups” of coercing politicians and the public into looking favourably upon Israel.
He was also said to have made a map of the “British Zionist scene”, where he attempted to draw a link between the Israeli Government and pro-Zionist groups to political parties in Britain, and in an article that was based on his own research, Prof. Miller stated that the “Zionist movement” was one of the “five pillars of Islamophobia.”
Prof. Miller, a Professor of Political Sociology at the University of Bristol, is a conspiracy theorist with a history of controversy relating to Jewish students. In his latest outburst, which is being investigated by the University and the police, he asserted that “Zionism is racism”, declared his objective “to end Zionism as a functioning ideology of the world” and accused the Bristol University Jewish Society of being part of a worldwide Zionist conspiracy, adding that it is “fundamental to Zionism to encourage Islamophobia and anti-Arab racism”. At the same online event, Prof. Miller also observed that the Jewish Society and the Union of Jewish Students are Zionist, thereby implying that Jewish students (and the wider Jewish community) inherently “encourage Islamophobia and anti-Arab racism”.
He also portrayed the International Definition of Antisemitism as an attack on free speech and accused the Israeli Government of engaging in an “all-out attack” on the global Left as part of an “attempt by the Israelis to impose their will all over the world”. In comments reminiscent of the darkest years of the United Nations, Prof. Miller insisted that “Zionism is racism” and asked how “we defeat the ideology of Zionism in practice”, “how is Zionism ended” and about the way “to end Zionism as a functioning ideology of the world”.
Two months ago, it emerged that The University has permitted Prof. Miller to return to teaching, as it appears to drag its heels over its investigation.
Campaign Against Antisemitism monitors the adoption of the International Definition of Antisemitism by universities. Recently, we passed the threshold of over half of British universities having adopted the Definition.
Earlier this week, we reported that the Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson, said of the disgraced academic: “I do not expect universities to tolerate racists”.
If any students are concerned about antisemitism on campus or need assistance, they can call us on 0330 822 0321, or e-mail [email protected].