Case postponed after bias claim
A TRIBUNAL that was due to consider a university’s response to an anti-Zionist demonstration has been postponed after a member of the judging panel was revealed to have made anti-Israel posts on social media.
Narendra Makanji recused himself from the tribunal after questions about his suitability were raised by Daniel Lightman QC.
Mr Makanji had earlier this month retweeted a post by Kate Osamor, the Shadow International Development Secretary, which appeared to call for sanctions against Israel.
He has posted anti-Israel tweets in the past and, three years ago, during the Gaza conflict, called for the Israeli ambassador to Britain to be sent home because of “Israel’s slaughter of civilians in Gaza”.
A former Labour councillor in the London borough of Haringey, Mr Makanji is thought to be a supporter of the hard-left Momentum group.
He is not a judge but had been selected to sit as a lay member of the panel and was asked to recuse himself by Mr Lightman, who was representing Julian Hunt.
Mr Hunt, a director of the UK Lawyers for Israel group, had appealed against an earlier decision from Elizabeth Denham, the Information Commissioner, who had backed King’s College London’s refusal to reveal details to Mr Hunt regarding violent scenes on its campus.
Mr Hunt had used the Freedom of Information Act to attempt to find out how many students had been disciplined after the protests in January last year. During the incident, police were called to the campus after proPalestinian activists smashed a window, threw chairs and set off fire alarms as around 100 people attempted to hear Ami Ayalon, the former head of Israel’s Shin Bet, deliver a lecture.
King’s investigated and found that those who carried out the disruption “chose to behave inappropriately, crossed a line and should be held accountable for doing so”. One protester was later found guilty in the criminal courts of assault by beating.
King’s decided not to take part in the appeal hearing in central London this week.
Mr Lightman told the tribunal Mr Makanji could be accused of bias if he was allowed to sit on the case. Following a discussion, Brian Kennedy, the tribunal judge, said Mr Makanji had recused himself.
The one-day hearing was postponed and will take place at a later date.
One source close to the case said: “Mr Makanji was appointed weeks ago. He ought to have said there was a conflict of interest. It does make you wonder why the Tribunal Service thought he was an appropriate person to select.”
Mr Hunt said UK Lawyers for Israel had been waiting for “several months” for an “impartial and fair tribunal”.
The conflict was revealed after Mr Hunt looked up Mr Makanji online. “I am deeply disturbed by the thought that, had I not done so, he would have sat in a judicial capacity throughout the hearing.”
A judiciary spokesman confirmed that, following an application by the claimant, Mr Makanji had recused himself from the hearing. The spokesman said the tribunal was liaising with the parties to find a suitable date for the hearing to take place.