British sociology professor David Miller who was on “sick leave” from the University of Bristol due to offensive comments made toward Jewish students has gone back to work, according to the Jewish Chronicle.
Miller’s hateful comments included accusing Jewish Society (J-Soc) members of being “pawns of a racist regime engaged in ethnic cleansing.”
Miller was also quoted as saying at a February online conference, “It’s a question of how we defeat the ideology of Zionism in practice. How do we make sure Zionism is ended essentially. There’s no other way of saying that.”
The Union of Jewish Students and Bristol JSoc described their reaction to Miller’s return to teaching at Bristol as one of “outrage,” stating that he professor was fostering an “environment of hate.”
The groups lobbied for his suspension until the university’s investigation concludes.
“Hate has been allowed to fester at Bristol and Vice Chancellor Hugh Brady is ignoring the please of his Jewish students in not taking action to suspend Miller,” they said in a statement on Twitter. “It is high time that the University acted to prevent further harassment of its Jewish students, and avoid another mark against the University’s record.”
On Tuesday, at an education select committee hearing, several MPs questioned the universities minister Michelle Donelan over why she had not directly spoken to the university over reports that Jewish students no longer felt safe on campus, reported The Guardian.
“Why would you not intervene? Tell Bristol University and the vice-chancellor that enough is enough, we’re not living in 1930s Germany, and they should deal with this problem and make sure the university is not a hostile environment to Jewish students,” said committee chair MP Robert Halfon.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)