Justice for Toufic Haddad. UK Taxpayer-Funded British Research Charity Seeks to Force Palestinian Scholar into Israel’s Apartheid Courts. Support the legal battle against Zionism and for academic freedom!
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Palestinian-American scholar Toufic Haddad was unfairly dismissed from his job as the Director of Council for British Research in the Levant (CBRL)’s Jerusalem branch (the Kenyon Institute) after an escalating campaign of censorship targeted him in the wake of 7th October 2023. CBRL is a UK-registered educational charity that receives funding from the British Academy through a UK government grant.
Now CBRL wants to stop his legal challenge in Britain by forcing him instead into Israel’s apartheid courts—despite having no local registration and the Kenyon Institute being located in the sheikh jarrah neighbourhood of occupied Jerusalem.
Academic freedom is under attack. Palestinians like Toufic who dare to speak out are punished. But academics and solidarity organisers are refusing to stay silent.
This case is bigger than just Toufic—it’s about whether Palestinians working in British academic institutions overseas enjoy academic freedom, can access justice, and whether anti-Zionist beliefs will receive the full protection of UK anti-discrimination laws. It is also about the legacy of British colonial practices in Palestine. (To read a full statement from Toufic’s campaign, see here.)
As Gaza’s genocide continues with active British government participation, British academic institutions are actively punishing those who resist it.
The hypocrisy is clear: while the British government claims to support international law and academic freedom, it funds institutions like CBRL that are violating both—by attempting to hand a Palestinian scholar over to a court system that even the ICJ has found to constitute apartheid.
From university students being criminalised for walkouts, to academics silenced for teaching about Palestine, British academic institutions are escalating repression against anti-Zionists. This campaign is not just about one Palestinian man: it’s about organising in defence of anti-colonial scholarship, Palestinian rights, and our collective ability to speak out.
We invite you to stand with Toufic, as we stand with all Palestinians who speak out against this genocide, and the Zionist ideology that tries to justify it. We must not let CBRL get away with this.
The European Legal Support Centre has instructed barrister Franck Magennis of Garden Court Chambers. The case is fully supported by Toufic’s trade union UCU. The legal team is assisting Toufic in taking legal action against the CBRL for:
Unfair Dismissal (Employment Rights Act 1996)
Discrimination on the basis of anti-Zionist political belief (Equality Act 2010)
Attempting to deny jurisdiction to UK courts in favour of Israeli apartheid courts
Our legal action is urgent and costly. We are fundraising £10,000 to cover legal fees, court costs, and campaign support.
Your donations, no matter how small, will directly support this legal fight, will send a message to the CBRL that Toufic has widespread backing, and will help defend Palestinian scholars from censorship and retaliation.