British academic David Miller detained under Terrorism Act after reporting from Lebanon – Middle East Monitor

Prominent British academic and journalist, Professor David Miller, was detained by British counter-terrorism police under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 following his return to Heathrow Airport from Beirut.

According to PressTV, Miller had been reporting on the funeral of the late Hezbollah Secretary-General, Syed Hassan Nasrallah, who was assassinated last year by Israel. He was held for three and a half hours, questioned about his activities in Lebanon and released without charge.

His detention follows online calls from Zionist groups advocating for his arrest, raising concerns about political policing and the suppression of pro-Palestine voices in Britain.

The Terrorism Act 2000 has been increasingly used against pro-Palestine activists and journalists following Israel’s war on Gaza, drawing condemnation from human rights organisations and United Nations officials.

In a statement following his release, Miller described his experience: “They asked for my passport and whether I had just come from Istanbul. I said, ‘No, I’ve come from Beirut, where I have been covering the funeral of Hassan Nasrallah’, because I knew they already knew.”

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He recounted being escorted by eight officers, saying, “I’m a big lad, but does it really take eight officers to arrest me?”

Miller was then questioned about whether he had met with members of “illegal organisations” and whether he “supported terrorism.” He believes his arrest was politically motivated, pointing to a mass reporting campaign by pro-Israel groups. He also noted that his detention came just hours after former Conservative minister Robert Jenrick publicly called for his arrest.

“It was a sign of the way policing operates under immense pressure from Zionist groups,” Miller stated.

Human rights groups have condemned the weaponisation of counter-terrorism laws to intimidate and silence critics of Israeli occupation, with some warning that such actions erode civil liberties and democratic freedoms in the UK.

Miller was sacked from the University of Bristol in 2021 after being accused of making anti-Semitic comments when, in fact, he is a staunch critic of the Zionist state of Israel, not the Jewish people.

In February 2024, an employment tribunal ruled in his favour, concluding that he was unfairly dismissed and subjected to discrimination. The ruling set a legal precedent by recognising anti-Zionism as a protected philosophical belief under UK law.