Tracy-Ann Oberman LOSES Lawsuit

Philip Proudfoot lectures in power and popular politics at the University of Sussex. He specialises in the Middle East, conflict, war and humanitarianism. He is also the founder and current leader of the Northern Independence Party, which opposes political and economic centralisation in London. In addition, as one might expect, he has a social media presence, which recently attracted attention of an account seemingly involved in trolling.

Philip Proudfoot

Concluding that he was being trolled and harassed, Proudfoot blocked the account. He used Twitter block chain, which also blocked followers of the account. So far, so procedural, but then came the accusation from minor thesp Tracy-Ann Oberman that Proudfoot “has a Jew blocklist”. The problem for Ms Oberman was that this was not true. Moreover, the direct inference, if someone is blocking Jews, is one of anti-Semitism.

That happened just over a year ago. Proudfoot contacted Ms Oberman the day after she made her claim, but it has taken until now, and the services of his legal team, to bring the matter to a satisfactory conclusion and cause Ms Oberman to apologise. She has now admitted “I accept that Dr Proudfoot has at no time had a Jew block list and apologise for stating otherwise. I made a mistake and appreciate that my comments were hurtful. I have therefore deleted my tweet, agreed to pay substantial damages and legal costs”.

Tracy-Ann Oberman

Why was Proudfoot trolled? His statement following the settlement gives a clue: “I am a humanitarian researcher. I’ve seen the horrors of war in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. It is for this reason I am a supporter of the struggle for human rights in Palestine. And it is for this reason I am appalled and disgusted by antisemitism, and all forms of prejudice”.

And although Proudfoot’s lawyer Zillur Rahman told his followers “Fantastic win for our client, Dr [Philip Proudfoot]. Although Tracy-Ann Oberman is a contestant on Celebrity Bake Off, this is more a case of humble pie”, he also made a serious point about the pursuit of those who publicly voice pro-Palestinian views.

“Antisemitism is a serious problem in our society and it is unfortunate that some people like Philip, who show solidarity with the Palestinians in their struggle for freedom from Israel’s oppression, have been falsely accused of antisemitism, which can have a chilling effect on free speech against injustices and human rights violations”. Got it in one.

As the Guardian article reporting the settlement (there does appear to be a lack of enthusiasm among the rest of the press pack to break the news to their readers) has told, “The level of damages has not been disclosed”. But, given the case has been going on for more than a year, Ms Oberman’s costs, which she will have to have paid, will most likely be significant. Like, oh I dunno, well into five figures significant.

She has, though, by inadvertently giving prominence to Proudfoot’s advocacy, made sure his audience, and indeed many more, read his words, which include “it is harmful to allow the fear of false accusations to prevent us from speaking out against apartheid in Israel. Speaking out against injustice is also a fundamental political right. We must defend our rights, defend Palestinians, and never allow defamation to scare away solidarity”.

That may not have been Ms Oberman’s intention. Oh dear, how sad, never mind.

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