The legal group UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) announced on December 14 that they had made a criminal report against four academics from a prestigious London university for potential offenses under the Terrorism Act (2000.)
The academics, who are all employed by the Russell Group University the London School of Economics, posted in support of Hamas and the October 7 terrorist attack which cost the lives of 1200 people including British Nationals.
The academics and their comments
Assistant Professor of Sociology Dr Sara Salem expressed shortly after the October 7 attack that “Settlers are not the victims here and never will be” on social media. She later wrote “Massive resistance offensive in Gaza. Palestinian Resistance fighters have infiltrated the border for the first time in history and have taken control of areas in the Israeli settlement of Sderot.”
UKLFI said that these posts show that she “expressed an opinion or belief supportive of Hamas, and was reckless as to whether persons to whom the expression was directed would be encouraged to support Hamas therefore breaching section 12 (1A) of the Terrorism Act 2000.”
Dr Mahvish Ahmad, an Assistant Professor in Human Rights and Politics also in the Department of Sociology, quoted an X post about a pro-Palestinian demonstration and wrote: “Join this demo in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle. Decolonisation is not a metaphor. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” along with the hashtags #FreePalestine #FromtheRiverToTheSeaPalestineWillBeFree and #DecolonisationisNotAMetaphor.”
UKLFI said that this post encouraged others to join a protest in support of Hamas’s “struggle.” The protest had also taken place before Israel had begun any military response or objectives in Gaza. The timing of the post, and the support for the “struggle,” was seen to be encouraging support for a proscribed terrorist organization.
The third staff member Dr Mai Taha, also an Assistant Professor in the Sociology department, wrote shortly after the October 7 terrorist attacks: “Good morning, Palestine [red heart emoji] Solidarity to the long Palestinian revolution!”
Taha later wrote, “What is happening in occupied Palestine is a response to weeks and months and years of daily Israeli military invasions into Palestinian towns, killings of Palestinians, and the very fact that millions of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are besieged under Israeli blockade.”
In addition, she posted a photo of a Hamas bulldozer breaking a border fence with the comment “BREAKING- for the first time in almost two decades, EREZ MILITARY CHECKPOINT is officially open in both directions into and outside the Gaza Strip.”
Finally, Dr. Sonya Onwu, an Assistant Professor (Education) and LAWS Programme Director, is said to have supported Hamas on the same day as the October 7 attacks by reposting “Palestinians have the right to resist colonialism! Palestinians have the right to resist occupation! Palestinians have the right to resist apartheid! Palestinians have the right to resist displacement! Palestinians have the right to live with dignity in their own land!”
Complaints issued to LSE
Caroline Turner, a director at UKLFI, said: “Following our complaints we have only been given bland statements about the importance of ‘mutual respect’ and ‘freedom of expression’. Not once have we been advised that any action whatsoever will be taken against their employees. It seems that LSE prefers to turn a blind eye to the series of terror tweets by its own academics, rather than tackle the issue head-on.
“The university claims that its priority is the ‘safety and wellbeing’ of the community – but its failure to take robust action in these instances makes Jewish students feel like second-class citizens.”
UKLFI claimed to have informed LSE’s president and vice-chancellor, Professor Eric Neumayer, but the university is said to have failed to confirm if any actions were taken against the staff.
UKLFI said that Neumeyer responded to the complaints by stating, “… as you would expect LSE does not comment on cases relating to individual employees of the School. I would like to emphasize that at LSE our priority is always the safety and wellbeing of our community. Whilst sustaining an intellectual environment where every person at the School’s rights to freedom of expression within the law are protected. We expect everyone in our community to treat each other with equal dignity and respect, and we have robust reporting mechanisms for any concerns that students or staff may have.”
Neumeyer also said, according to UKLFI, in a message to the school “we reminded everyone of the importance of acting with consideration, compassion and kindness to all staff, all students, and the wider School community regardless of their background or where they are from in the world.”
In a further all-school message of 18 October, he also pointed out that “being part of LSE means that we work together with mutual respect, reflecting on how we behave and the impact it has on others.”