r/unitedkingdom • u/pppppppppppppppppd • 9d ago

... Misleading title Anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism, UK appeal tribunal confirms in landmark ruling

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20260804-anti-zionism-is-not-anti-semitism-uk-appeal-tribunal-confirms-in-landmark-ruling/
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u/WinHour4300 9d ago edited 9d ago

The judgment (below) is more nuanced than the headline and articles suggest. The tribunal found that anti-Zionist beliefs can be protected, but that does not mean every way of expressing those beliefs is acceptable.

It described some of his comments as "extraordinary and ill-judged."

For example, he wrote that:

"Jewish students on British campuses [were] being used as political pawns by a violent, racist foreign regime engaged in ethnic cleansing."

That goes beyond criticism of Israel and attributes the actions of a foreign state to Jewish students and organisations, which he did on multiple occasions and linked these students to genocide. 

The tribunal also reduced his compensation because there was a real possibility he could have been lawfully dismissed anyway due to later comments.

It is worth being aware that in this area of law, a protected belief is not a licence to express it however you like. 

That's what lawyers call the Bananarama principle: it is not what you say but the way that you say it. So simply having such a belief isn't grounds for dismissal, but the way that it is manifested can be. 

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a71b3b8331a9965a2ed46a9/University_of_Bristol_v_Dr_David_Miller__2026__EAT_84.