Cancellation of a Lecture on Palestine from a Legal Perspective at the University of Birmingham

Faculty members at the Law School wanted to organize a “staff-student listening session on the current situation in Palestine”—an academic discussion on Palestine from a legal perspective (international law, human rights, etc.)—without outside speaker. The organizers were then required to submit a request for authorization under the “university’s code of practice on freedom of expression,” which is unusual for an internal event. The event, originally scheduled for November 15, was rescheduled for November 22. It was initially approved, but this approval was revoked by the central administration, officially on the grounds that watermelons were featured on the flyers. The dean then sent an email to students presenting the cancellation as a simple postponement, claiming that the event would not have been “as inclusive as intended,” implying that the organizers would have been unable to guarantee a professional space for discussion. In response to student protests, the message was revised to refer to a space that would not have been “safe and objective.” These statements were subsequently deemed “damaging to the professional reputation of the staff involved.”