London university faces £200k+ in legal fees for suspending student over headscarf joke

Royal Holloway University is facing legal action for suspending a student over a joke he made likening a pro-Palestine activists headscarf to a tea towel.

Brodie Mitchell is taking the London university to court for subjecting him to “unfair” disciplinary measures over a minor “spat”.

The second-year politics and law student, who identifies as a non-Jewish Zionist, got involved in a confrontation at the university’s Freshers’ Fair last year.

In response to Huda El-Jamal (president of the Friends of Palestine Society) allegedly calling him “wannabe Jew” and asking why he was not wearing a Jewish yarmulke or kippah, Brodie retorted: “You’re wearing a tea-towel on your head.”

The item of clothing Brodie compared to a “tea-towel” was a keffiyeh scarf, which is a symbol of the Palestinian struggle made by Yasser Arafat, the late Palestine Liberation Organisation leader.

As a result of Brodie’s comment, he was suspended from Royal Holloway for the duration of a nine-week investigation, for what the university described as “alleged conduct that could be considered hate speech.”

The 20-year-old also claimed he was forced to leave his student accommodation for days. However, the university denied this allegation, instead maintaining that strict restrictions were placed on him interacting with other students on campus.

He is also under investigation by Surrey Police for the same incident.

via Unsplash

Brodie accused Royal Holloway of denying him the time and resources to complete his degree, and argued the dispute could have been resolved informally.

According to the Telegraph, the university indicated it would spend £734,000 in legal fees to defend itself from Brodie’s claim during a cost management hearing last month.

Brodie’s barrister described the figure as “grossly disproportionate and unreasonable”, and the court made a Costs Management Order which reduced Royal Holloway’s future legal costs to £226,000.

According to Brodie, Royal Holloway never interviewed Huda about her involvement in the dispute. He also claimed he emailed the university shortly after the incident, acknowledging his response was “poorly expressed and inappropriate” and explaining that “it was only about politics, not about race or religion”.

A three-day trial at the High Court is scheduled to take place in June.

In a statement to The London Tab, Brodie Mitchell said: “This situation should never have escalated to this level. It was a brief exchange between students that could and should have been resolved informally, rather than through a lengthy disciplinary process and now High Court proceedings.

Most Read

I hate to say it, but Bonnie Blue’s filthy response to HSTikkyTokky has changed my opinion of her

Miss Universe shares statement as OnlyFans model boyfriend cheats with huge male pop star

Man from Louis Theroux’s manosphere doc addresses his sexuality after ‘gay p*rn’ past leaks

“I’ve already acknowledged that my comment was poorly expressed and silly, and I stand by that. It was made in the context of a political exchange, referring to a keffiyeh – a widely recognised political symbol – not a religious head covering, and it was not intended as an attack on anyone’s race or religion.

“It’s also important to me that people understand I’ve spent time in both Israel and Palestinian areas, speaking with people from different communities and seeing the realities on the ground. That experience reinforced my belief in dialogue and mutual understanding, and I strongly reject any claims that I am racist or Islamophobic.

“I also want to be clear that I condemn any hateful or abusive comments directed at either of us following this coverage – we are both students with academic commitments, and it’s disappointing that disagreement today so often leads to attempts to silence or ‘cancel’ rather than engage in open debate.

“We cant allow for this aggressive labelling of anyone who we disagree with. Educational Leaders must encourage debate and promote freedom of speech rather than hinder it.

“What concerns me most is the wider environment this reflects. There is a growing imbalance on campus where some on one side feel able to express very strong or controversial views, but others on opposing sides are quickly labelled or reported for simply responding. That creates a culture where open discussion becomes extremely difficult.

“At the same time, I have faced ongoing hostility, including intimidation and death threats, and have spent a significant amount of time reporting incidents to the university and police instead of focusing on my studies. Just this weekend a student was reported for wanting to ‘murder’ me. Simply because of my political views. My friends often say to me, if these people took the time to speak with me, they’d be shocked about how much we can mutually agree on.

“More broadly, I think many people will question the proportionality of a university being prepared to spend hundreds and hundreds of thousands of pounds pursuing legal action against a single student over a comment like this. Those are resources that could be far better used supporting students and improving campus life. Especially during what is a difficult economic time for most of us, going from paycheck to paycheck.

“Ultimately, I simply want to continue my studies in a normal environment where disagreements can be handled proportionately, without escalation, and without students being defined or labelled for their views.”

Dr Nick Barratt, chief student officer at Royal Holloway, University of London said: “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.

“The student at the centre of the conduct process has not denied the behaviour that was under investigation. No formal complaint has been made against the reporting student, and no evidence has been provided to support one, but we are clear that any such allegation would also be investigated.

“This case is about addressing conduct that was found to be harassment. For us, that means defending every student’s right to a University experience free from discrimination.

“We respect the court process, and welcome the opportunity to demonstrate that our actions were in line with our duty to protect students from harassment and discrimination.”

Friends of Palestine Society has been contacted for comment.

Featured image via Unsplash and LinkedIn