Toufic Haddad is represented by Franck Magennis of Garden Court Chambers, instructed by the European Legal Support Centre.
Barrister Franck Magennis, instructed by the European Legal Support Centre, is representing Toufic Haddad, a leading scholar, in challenging his dismissal from a UK-funded institute in Jerusalem, alleging discrimination and an attempt to deny him a fair hearing in British courts.
See coverage on the case here: UK academic body accused of trying to force Palestinian scholar into Israeli court system | Middle East Eye; ‘Anti-Zionist’ academic Toufic Haddad fights to have legal case heard in UK
Haddad is taking his British employer to court, following its attempt to force him to sue the organisation for wrongful dismissal in Israel, instead of the UK. In 2023, Toufic Haddad was dismissed by the Council for British Research in the Levant (CBRL) Kenyon Institute in East Jerusalem citing funding cuts from the British Academy. He believes the CBRL unfairly dismissed him because of political discrimination linked to his scholarly work and public position on Palestine, where he has opposed Israel’s war on Gaza and its ongoing clampdown against Palestinian academics.
Franck Magennis practises in public, civil and criminal defence. His work centres on challenging rights breaches by the British and other states, employers and landlords. He has expertise in legal claims connected to Palestinian emancipation from Israeli occupation. Franck conducts research on international humanitarian law and international human rights law in the context of the Palestinian struggle for emancipation. In May to August 2019 he was a research fellow in Ramallah, occupied Palestine with the award-winning Palestinian human rights organisation Al-Haq. He is the co-author of a series of forthcoming reports responding to allegations against the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs of attacks against Palestinian individuals and civil society institutions
