A Bristol secondary school has become embroiled in a national media controversy following the cancellation of a scheduled visit by pro-Israel MP Damien Egan last September. The Bristol Brunel Academy called off the event after receiving objections from pro-Palestine activists, including members of teaching unions.
The Bristol Palestine Solidarity Campaign publicly applauded the school’s decision, characterizing Egan as a supporter of “Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza.” The MP serves as vice-chair of Labour Friends of Israel and participated in a paid trip to attend the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s Congressional Summit in February 2025, during the peak of Israel’s military operations in Gaza that have resulted in over 71,000 Palestinian casualties since October 2023.
Media coverage from major outlets including The Times, Telegraph, and initially The Guardian framed the cancellation through the lens of antisemitism, highlighting Egan’s Jewish identity in their reporting. The Times published an editorial demanding stronger laws to prevent such “antisemitism,” while The Guardian initially ran with the headline “Jewish MP’s visit to school cancelled” before quietly amending it to remove reference to his religion.
The controversy gained national traction after Labour minister Steve Reed referenced the incident at a Jewish Labour Movement event, describing it as a Jewish MP being “banned from visiting a school” without mentioning Egan’s pro-Israel advocacy.
Pro-Palestine commentators and journalists have expressed outrage at the media’s handling of the story. Rivkah Brown of Novara Media condemned The Guardian’s “irresponsible article,” while Bristol-based journalist Jonathan Cook asserted that the cancellation was motivated by opposition to Egan’s political stance rather than his religious identity, stating that local teachers and parents “oppose genocide and don’t want impressionable young minds exposed to someone who defends a state committing the ultimate crime against humanity.”