PRESS RELEASE –

IHRC has replied forcefully to an attempt by the The Times newspaper to vilify a prominent supporter of Palestinian rights.

On Thursday 13 January 2022, The Times contacted IHRC and other participants who shared a panel on Islamophobia with Professor David Miller, the renowned sociologist currently in the crosshairs of a Zionist smear campaign.

The line of questioning pursued by the Times suggested that comments made by Prof Miller advocated the use of violence against Zionists and Israel.

Our response to The Times made it clear that the newspaper was seeking to misrepresent Prof Miller’s remarks which were made during the discussion about Racism and Islamphobia in academia hosted by IHRC on December 11 last year.

“David Miller uses the metaphor of the ‘Master’s tools’, originally used by Audre Lorde, in response to Sandew Hira. He was reflecting upon the utility or lack thereof of Enlightenment values (which it appears Miller was supporting) in critical analysis, as opposed to completely rejecting the Enlightenment as a colonial tool (as was raised by Hira). He speaks of the IHRA as one of the conceptual tools of the master (Zionism in this instance). No part of this or any discussion during the event advocated violence. To say otherwise is perverse,” it states.

IHRC considers the planned hatchet job on Prof Miller to be another attempt to delegitimise the growing support for Palestinian rights in the UK and an example of the cancel culture targeting dissenting voices.

Prof Miller, who is professor of political sociology and a member of the School for Policy Studies, was sacked last September after a concerted campaign by pro-Israel campaigners to have him removed from his post at Bristol University on spurious allegations of anti-Semitism.

Despite being completely cleared of the anti-Semitism charges, the university fired him nevertheless saying his conduct had fallen below the standards expected from its staff. Prof Miller is preparing to challenge the decision at an employment tribunal.

The full exchange that forms the basis of The Times’ accusations can be viewed here.

For more information or comment please contact the Press Office on (+44) 7958522196[ENDS]

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IHRC is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.
Islamic Human Rights Commission
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