A legal battle has kicked off at Royal Holloway, University of London, after second-year student Brodie Mitchell, 20, was suspended for nine weeks over a joke he made about another student’s headscarf following her taunting of him. His remark came after El-Jamal, president of the Friends of Palestine Society, called him a “wannabe Jew” during what he describes as an ill-tempered spat, reports Daily Mail.
Mitchell, a politics and international relations undergraduate and member of the campus Conservative Association, likened Huda El-Jamal’s keffiyeh to a tea towel following their exchange at the university’s Freshers’ Fair last September.
“I began filming the interaction as I realised I didn't have any witnesses and said 'You're wearing a tea towel over your head', referring to her Yasser Arafat inspired keffiyeh, which I considered at the time to be a fitting off-the-cuff retort to her pre-emptive racist and antisemitic attack on me and reference to her jibe about my lack of kippah,” Mitchell said in a statement.
Mitchell admits now that his comment was “poorly expressed and inappropriate” but argues it was about politics, not religion or race. He says he is willing to apologize to El-Jamal, who he claims was not interviewed during the university’s investigation.
Royal Holloway said it conducted a full investigation following a formal complaint from a student who reported feeling targeted and distressed, and also referred the matter to Surrey Police over alleged hate speech.
Dr. Nick Barratt, the university’s chief student officer, told The Telegraph, “Following a formal complaint from a student who described being targeted with a comment from another student they found discriminatory and distressing - and which was reported to the police as a hate crime - the University was obliged to follow its established conduct procedures.”
Mitchell also claims he was forced to leave his student accommodation temporarily, a claim the university denies. He has now taken Royal Holloway to court, accusing it of violating contractual obligations, and a three-day High Court hearing is scheduled for June. Mitchell says the suspension caused a 7-week loss of teaching time, delaying his degree.
Gemma White KC, representing the university, stated in submissions last November: “The university's overarching position is that it plainly acted reasonably, proportionately and fairly in responding to the claimant's conduct in the way that it did. The claimant's right to free speech did not require it to treat his 'tea towel' comment any less seriously than it did.”
The Free Speech Union is backing Mitchell, describing the university’s handling of the case as “deeply unfair and a blatant example of double standards” and calling it “disgraceful and intolerable.” Mitchell has since been allowed back on campus.
Mitchell, a politics and international relations undergraduate and member of the campus Conservative Association, likened Huda El-Jamal’s keffiyeh to a tea towel following their exchange at the university’s Freshers’ Fair last September.
“I began filming the interaction as I realised I didn't have any witnesses and said 'You're wearing a tea towel over your head', referring to her Yasser Arafat inspired keffiyeh, which I considered at the time to be a fitting off-the-cuff retort to her pre-emptive racist and antisemitic attack on me and reference to her jibe about my lack of kippah,” Mitchell said in a statement.
Mitchell admits now that his comment was “poorly expressed and inappropriate” but argues it was about politics, not religion or race. He says he is willing to apologize to El-Jamal, who he claims was not interviewed during the university’s investigation.
Royal Holloway said it conducted a full investigation following a formal complaint from a student who reported feeling targeted and distressed, and also referred the matter to Surrey Police over alleged hate speech.
Dr. Nick Barratt, the university’s chief student officer, told The Telegraph, “Following a formal complaint from a student who described being targeted with a comment from another student they found discriminatory and distressing - and which was reported to the police as a hate crime - the University was obliged to follow its established conduct procedures.”
Mitchell also claims he was forced to leave his student accommodation temporarily, a claim the university denies. He has now taken Royal Holloway to court, accusing it of violating contractual obligations, and a three-day High Court hearing is scheduled for June. Mitchell says the suspension caused a 7-week loss of teaching time, delaying his degree.
Gemma White KC, representing the university, stated in submissions last November: “The university's overarching position is that it plainly acted reasonably, proportionately and fairly in responding to the claimant's conduct in the way that it did. The claimant's right to free speech did not require it to treat his 'tea towel' comment any less seriously than it did.”
The Free Speech Union is backing Mitchell, describing the university’s handling of the case as “deeply unfair and a blatant example of double standards” and calling it “disgraceful and intolerable.” Mitchell has since been allowed back on campus.
