Bristol University is under pressure to remove a professor who has used his social media profile to promote pro-Iranian and pro-Assad regime propaganda.
Students at the UK tertiary institution called for the dismissal of Prof David Miller who has claimed a campaign of censorship against him led by Jewish students working with the government of Israel. Students accuse him of using anti-Semitic tropes.
Two MPs, Andrew Percy and Catherine McKinnell, wrote to the university head Hugh Brady to call for the sociologist's removal.
“No lecturer should be making students feel unsafe or unwelcome on campus," Mr Percy said.
“The fact that he won’t apologise is truly shocking and shameful. These kind of comments encourage anti-Semitic attacks on Jewish students.”
The university in a statement acknowledged "a significant number of calls for Professor David Miller to be dismissed".
However it said there had been no decision to penalise the academic. “UK law requires that we, like all employers, act in accordance with our internal procedures and the ACAS code of conduct," the statement said. "Any action which we might take as an employer is a private matter. We are under obligations of confidentiality in relation to all of our students and staff, which we will continue to comply with.”
In his own statement Mr Miller decried the criticism as "age-old Israeli lobby tactic[s] imported from the US".
Robert Jenrick, the communities minister, last year wrote to all universities to warn against providing a haven for conspiracy theories after Mr Miller said "parts of the Zionist movement were funding Islamophobia".
“There’s been some terrible examples over the course of the last year of universities where there’s been anti-Semitic materials posted around campus and Jewish Societies having to go to a student ballot to have the right to exist and university professors lecturing what can only be described as conspiracy theories," he wrote in the letter.
“Those sorts of practices need to come to an end. They're not acceptable in our society.”
Mr Miller has been featured on Iran's Press TV and defended by Vanessa Beeley, a blogger who has led denials of the Ghouta massacre as a "western media chemical weapon fraud".
If you go
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Seattle from Dh5,555 return, including taxes. Portland is a 260 km drive from Seattle and Emirates offers codeshare flights to Portland with its partner Alaska Airlines.
The car
Hertz (www.hertz.ae) offers compact car rental from about $300 per week, including taxes. Emirates Skywards members can earn points on their car hire through Hertz.
Parks and accommodation
For information on Crater Lake National Park, visit www.nps.gov/crla/index.htm . Because of the altitude, large parts of the park are closed in winter due to snow. While the park’s summer season is May 22-October 31, typically, the full loop of the Rim Drive is only possible from late July until the end of October. Entry costs $25 per car for a day. For accommodation, see www.travelcraterlake.com. For information on Umpqua Hot Springs, see www.fs.usda.gov and https://soakoregon.com/umpqua-hot-springs/. For Bend, see https://www.visitbend.com/.
Expo details
Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia
The world fair will run for six months from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.
It is expected to attract 25 million visits
Some 70 per cent visitors are projected to come from outside the UAE, the largest proportion of international visitors in the 167-year history of World Expos.
More than 30,000 volunteers are required for Expo 2020
The site covers a total of 4.38 sqkm, including a 2 sqkm gated area
It is located adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Washmen Profile
Date Started: May 2015
Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Laundry
Employees: 170
Funding: about $8m
Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures
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Hotel Silence
Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir
Pushkin Press
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
FIRST TEST SCORES
England 458
South Africa 361 & 119 (36.4 overs)
England won by 211 runs and lead series 1-0
Player of the match: Moeen Ali (England)
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Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
