Student, 20, ‘faces hate crime fees’ over ‘tea towel’ joke about Pro-Palestine’s activist’s headband

A student could face a hate crime charge over comments he made comparing a Palestine activist’s headscarf to a tea towel.

Self-professed ‘non-Jewish Zionist’ Brodie Mitchell, 20, was temporarily suspended by Royal Holloway, University of London, over the incident which took place at the Fresher’s Fair in September.

Mr Mitchell made the comment regarding the university’s president of the Friends of Palestine Society, Huda El-Jamal’s keffiyeh.

Mr Mitchell, a second-year politics and international relations student, has said that Ms El-Jamal, who is of Palestinian origin, called him a ‘wannabe Jew’ and made reference to him not wearing a kippah.

The student, who describes himself on social media as having been ‘cancelled’, says that he made a joke in response: ‘You’re wearing a tea towel over your head’.

He was suspended by the university the following day while an investigation was carried out over nine weeks ‘for alleged conduct that could be considered hate speech’. He has since been allowed to return to campus.

The incident was reported to the police as a hate crime, and officers officers have now submitted a file in the case to the Crown Prosecution Service, which will determine if any charges should be brought, it is reported. 

‘Non-Jewish Zionist’ Brodie Mitchell, 20, (pictured) who is studying at Royal Holloway, University of London, is being investigated for likening Huda El-Jamal’s keffiyeh scarf to a tea towel

The second-year student made the comments to Ms El-Jamal (pictured), the president of the Friends of Palestine Society

Mr Mitchell, a member of the campus Conservative Association, is also taking his university to court, accusing it of violating its contractual obligations to him. 

He claims it will take him longer to complete his degree as a result of his suspension and that he lost seven weeks of teaching time. 

A three-day High Court hearing will be heard in June. 

At a pre-trial hearing last December, Mr Mitchell said that Ms El-Jamal had ‘smirked and pointed at me, saying something like ‘here’s the wannabe Jew” before remarking that he was not wearing a kippah.

‘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”,’ he said.

He added he considered his remark 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’.

He has described his comment as ‘poorly expressed and inappropriate’ in an email to the university but argued ‘it was only about politics, not about race or religion’.

Mr Mitchell says he is prepared to apologise to Ms El-Jamal.

Gemma White KC, representing Royal Holloway, stated in written submissions for a November hearing: ‘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.’

Mr Mitchell is being supported in his bid by the Free Speech Union. 

Dr Nick Barratt, the 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.’

A spokesman for Surrey Police said: ‘We received a report of a hate crime, and an investigation is under way.’