by Max Thompson, spiked
A student is under police investigation for comparing a Palestine activist’s headgear to a ‘tea towel’.
As much as prime minister Keir Starmer may wish to convince himself – and the public – that the UK does not have a free-speech problem, the evidence is overwhelmingly stacked against him.
Nowhere is Britain’s free-speech crisis more starkly exposed than in higher education. Since the start of Israel’s war with Hamas two-and-a-half years ago, we have seen academics hounded out of their jobs, students ostracised by their peers, and visiting speakers subjected to militant attempts to silence them for expressing lawful views. But the case of Brodie Mitchell is one of the most egregious examples yet.
The now 20-year-old Royal Holloway student faces the prospect of criminal prosecution after he compared a keffiyeh worn by a pro-Palestine activist student to a ‘tea towel’ during Freshers’ Fair in September last year. Mitchell made the remark to Huda El-Jamal, president of the Friends of Palestine Society, after she called him a ‘wannabe Jew’ and questioned why he was not wearing a Jewish ‘hat’, a reference to a kippah.
What began as a flippant comment – made in response to her remarks about his headgear, or lack of it – has since spiralled into something far more serious.
In a striking display of double standards, Mitchell was handed a seven-week suspension as the university launched an investigation into ‘alleged conduct that could be considered hate speech’. His comments were branded ‘Islamophobic’, ‘racist’ and ‘anti-Palestinian’. He was barred from campus and was given less than 48 hours to vacate his student accommodation. Meanwhile, El-Jamal has faced no disciplinary action.