A report from the watchdog group NGO Monitor alleged that funds by the United States government’s multi-billion dollar international aid.
MPs were told that, as a result of Miller’s actions, Jewish students were “subjected to weeks of harassment and abuse.”
The Education Select Committee Chairman, MP Robert Halfon, said the Bristol situation was “appalling” and a “disgrace.”
“Students should not feel that they’re living in 1930s Germany who go to Bristol University and other universities,” he said.
He told the minister, “I think it’s become such a serious national issue, been raised in Parliament a number of times, that you should take a proactive role and do what you can to speak to the senior management and tell them to get a grip and deal with this once and for all.”
The universities minister has faced calls to take tougher action to ensure Jewish students are protected from anti-Semitism on campus, with one senior MP comparing the situation to “1930s Germany”.
MPs pressed Michelle Donelan to adopt a more heavy-handed approach – such as cutting off their funding or removing senior leaders – when universities fail to address reports of alleged anti-Semitism.
Education Select Committee chairman Robert Halfon urged ministers not to “wash their hands” of concerns from Jewish university students, including those at the University of Bristol.
An investigation was launched by the University of Bristol last month after one of its academics, Professor David Miller, received a barrage of criticism for comments he allegedly made about Israel.
Conservative MPs call Bristol University a ‘hotbed of antisemitism’ Rachel Hall
Conservative MPs have attacked the University of Bristol for being a “hotbed of antisemitism” and fostering a climate similar to “1930s Nazi Germany” over its failure to swiftly address accusations that a professor used offensive tropes.
The university is investigating David Miller, professor of political sociology, after allegations that he criticised Israel for wanting to “impose its will over the world” and said some Jewish students were being used as “political pawns by a violent, racist foreign regime”.
In an education select committee meeting on Tuesday, several MPs pressed the universities minister, Michelle Donelan, on why she had not spoken directly to the university or threatened sanctions such as a withdrawal of funding.
The IHRA Plenary Meetings held under the Canadian Chairmanship in Berlin in 2013. (Credit: Trevor Good)
New research charts a five-year campaign by highly partisan, pro-Israel lobby groups to mislead the international community about the nature of what has been widely described as the “gold standard” definition of antisemitism.
According to a report published this week, the campaign has been so successful that political parties, the European Commission, European parliaments, and major public institutions, including universities, have been deceived.
They have been persuaded that the new definition of antisemitism is far more expansive than the terms adopted by the international body behind it. As a result, many governments and institutions have wrongly concluded that the definition severely curtails what can legitimately be said about Israel.