Defend pro-Palestine Prof James Dickins
JVL Introduction
As 21 Fellows of the British Academy make clear in a letter of protest, Leeds university’s attempt to strip Prof James Dickins of his Emeritus Professorship is entirely without foundation.
It is a violation of due process and of the University’s duties to protect and foster both free speech and academic freedom.
He is being attacked solely for his pro-Palestinian views.
Please read the argument below and sign the appeal that this punitive action be cancelled forthwith.
RK
This article was originally published by Change.org on Tue 16 Jul 2024. Read the original here.
Demand that Uni of Leeds cancels punitive action against pro-Palestine Prof. James Dickins
Why this petition matters
The University of Leeds is proposing that Professor Dickins, a dedicated advocate for Palestinian human rights, be stripped of his status as Emeritus Professor. This action follows a demand by Emma Levy, President of Leeds Universities Jewish Society, that the University cut its ties with Professor Dickins. By this action the University is signalling its intention to clamp down on expressions of support for the Palestinians. Professor Dickins, until recently Chair of Leeds branch of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, is a long-time member of the University’s staff.
What was his alleged ‘crime’? – that in a social media posting in February he gave the address on campus at which an organiser for the Israel-lobby group StandWithUs, notorious for its harassment and targeting of students and scholars who support Palestinian rights, was due to speak. The University claims that this amounted to incitement to cause a disturbance, with consequent risk to the building and the people inside it.
But there was no incitement in Professor Dickins’ post. And nor was there any disturbance at the StandWithUs meeting, which passed off without incident.
The University’s action is an attack on a principled member of the University community and also on freedom of expression. It has all the signs of being a response to the call by then Secretary of State for Education Gillian Keegan’s call to Vice-Chancellors to be vigilant against expressions of support for Palestine.
We call on the University to withdraw its vindictive attack on Professor Dickins, and to recall its duty under multiple Acts of Parliament to protect both freedom of expression and academic freedom.
For further background to this case click here.
Here is a petition update:
21 British Academy Fellows condemn Leeds Uni’s victimisation of James Dickins
The British Academy is the United Kingdom’s national academy for the humanities and the social sciences.
In a remarkable display of unity and firmness, no fewer than 21 Fellows of the British Academy have written to Leeds University management to end their victimisation of Professor James Dickins, resulting from an evidence-free attack on the Professor by pro-Israel students and others.
Dear Professors Yu, Thorpe, and Cayley,
We are writing to you as Fellows of the British Academy, having heard with great dismay of the recommendation that Professor James Dickins be stripped of his emeritus title at the University of Leeds. Professor Dickins’s ‘crime’, it appears, is being critical of the State of Israel, for we have seen no other evidence whatsoever of wrongdoing on his part.
Having reviewed the specifics of the accusations and the claimed evidence for them, it is clear to us that there is no substance to the allegations. In two vague paragraphs, which also include a date error, Professor Dickins is accused of having ‘leaked’ the address of the Hillel House for the purpose of encouraging protest that endangered the residents, and which resulted, putatively, in vandalizing graffiti on the Hillel House. In actuality, the address of the Hillel House is nowhere in the WhatsApp messages Professor Dickins exchanged with others – but is in the public domain for all to obtain. He did not encourage any protest connected with the Hillel House, and in fact, no such protest ever took place. While the Hillel House was daubed with graffiti on 8/02/2024, there is no evidence that connects the graffiti with Professor Dickins or any of his social media messages sent six days earlier. The proceedings against Professor Dickins are based on the complaint of a single student and have neither merit nor factual base. We conclude that his messages did not create any threat to the safety of Jewish people on the Leeds campus. They were a political expression of his views endorsing anti-Zionism, not antisemitism.
With your move to strip Professor Dickins of his emeritus status, not only is due process being violated, but so are the University’s duties to protect and foster both free speech and academic freedom. These are enshrined in Article 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, section 43 of the Education (No. 2) Act 1986 and section 202 of the Education Reform Act 1988, as well as the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023.
To us, it appears that Professor Dickins is being punished for his long-term commitment to Palestinian rights, a commitment for which, in our opinion, he should be honoured, not penalized. We urge you to stop these proceedings at once, to honour Professor Dickins’s rights and to allow him to continue his rightful and valuable involvement with the Leeds academic community.
Yours sincerely,
David Adger FBA
Hagit Borer FBA
Robyn Carston FBA
Nicholas Chater FBA
Dawn Chatty FBA
Jenny Cheshire FBA
Greville Corbett FBA
David Denison FBA
Conor Gearty FBA
George Hewitt FBA
Caroline Heycock FBA
Clive Holes FBA
Anders Holmberg FBA
Richard Hudson FBA
Paul Kerswill FBA
Geoffrey Khan FBA
Aditi Lahiri FBA
Michael MacDonald FBA
Nicholas Sims-Williams FBA
Ianthi Tsimpli FBA
Janet Watson FBA
Zionists are still trying to exert their wicked influence in all kinds of areas. It is important that we recognise this and call it out.
University managements in the USA and UK over the past several years have become terrified of press, wealthy donors, over-powerful lobbies, pressure groups, institutions of almost all kinds. Their timidity has also been shown in refusals to support research deemed to be too “controversial” in a number of fields of study. That notorious old trahison des clercs.