‘Hypocrisy’ of woke campuses that let staff praise Islamist killers
ACADEMICS at some of Britain’s top universities have been accused of legitimising murders by Hamas.
Dr Ashok Kumar, a lecturer at Birkbeck, University of London, claimed the gunning down of innocent Israelis at a music festival was a ‘consequence’ of ‘partying on stolen land’.
An assistant professor at the London School of Economics, Dr Mahvish Ahmad, called on students to protest over the ‘Palestinian struggle’.
Their comments sparked anger last night. Professor Anthony Glees, a security and intelligence expert at the University of Buckingham, said: ‘It reeks of hypocrisy that universities will allow academics and students to back a terror organisation but yet they are so quick to no-platform academics. Young impressionable minds are being manipulated under the guise of academic freedom. They [universities] are pandering to extremism.’
A spokesman for the Union of Jewish Students added: ‘It is unconscionable for anyone to seek to justify the murderous and barbaric actions of Hamas, a proscribed terrorist group. There is never a legitimate reason to rape, murder and kidnap innocent civilians.’
On Monday, Sussex University women’s officer Hanin Barghouti gave a speech describing the murder of Israelis as ‘beautiful’ and saying the rampage by Hamas terrorists should be ‘celebrated’.
None of the academics who spoke out on X, formerly Twitter, have been suspended or sacked, it is understood.
Dr Kumar, a senior lecturer on political economy, wrote: ‘Sometimes partying on stolen land next to a concentration camp where a million people are starved has consequences.’ LSE professor Dr Ahmad urged followers to protest against Israel. She wrote: ‘Join this demo in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle. Decolonisation is not a metaphor.’
Supporters of Israel and the Palestinians were separated by police as they clashed outside Israel’s London embassy last night. An LSE spokesman said it was ‘deeply concerned’ about the situation in Israel and Gaza but added that ‘academic freedom and freedom of expression underpins everything we do’.
Birkbeck said the views of individual members of staff ‘should not be taken to represent the views of the college’.