A prominent Muslim activist who shared an article on “Rothschild bankers” and another who praised an Isis beheader as a “beautiful young man” are among the leading signatories to an open letter claiming that the outrage over Bristol academic David Miller is in fact an attempt to censor speech on Islamophobia and muddy the waters between anti-Zionism and hatred of Jews.

Prof Miller provoked widespread disgust after calling for the end of Zionism and claiming that Jewish student groups were “pawns of a racist regime engaged in ethnic cleansing”. 

His comments led to an investigation by Bristol University and condemnation from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Antisemitism, which described them as racist.

The open letter, published by the Support David Miller group and addressed to Bristol University Vice Chancellor Hugh Brady, was signed by almost 700 Muslims, many of whom work in schools, universities and charities. 

The first name on the list was Salma Yaqoob, a patron of the Stop the War Coalition and former leader of the far-left Respect Party.

Ms Yaqoob was found to have tweeted an article in 2013 describing “ten Rothschild bankers” being arrested in Iceland.

The article in question, which did not name any of the bankers, also described Sigurdur Einarsson, head of the bankrupt Icelandic bank Kaupthing, as a “Rothschild banker”, though he has never worked for the Rothschild firm.

The idea that the Rothschild family is in control of global finance and corruption has been an antisemitic trope for two centuries.

A video of Ms Yaqoob speaking at an anti-Israel rally in May 2019 showed her telling a crowd that Israelis should not host the Eurovision Song Contest because “for years have pretended to be Europeans. The only link is they’re European colonisers.”

Another well-known Muslim figure to sign the letter was Asim Qureshi, the research director of controversial Muslim advocacy group Cage.

He told a 2006 Hizb ut Tahrir rally outside the US embassy: “When we see Hezbollah defeating the armies of Israel we know what the solution is and where the victory lies”.

Mr Qureshi also notoriously praised Isis beheader Jihadi John as a “beautiful young man” and “extremely kind”.

The Support David Miller letter says: “The campaign against Professor Miller is about censoring speech on Islamophobia and Israel. This campaign is carefully calibrated to muddy the waters between anti-Zionism (opposition to a dangerous, racist political ideology) and hatred of Jews.

“The attacks on Professor Miller are an example of how the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism is being weaponised by supporters of Israel and by Islamophobes.

“We expect an unequivocal public statement from the University, defending Professor Miller’s right to academic freedom and showing that it takes Islamophobia seriously.”