Kings College London is accused of ‘defending hatred’ after investigators dismissed grievance towards a professor who distributed Hamas propaganda in her seminar
A top university has been accused of ‘defending hatred’ after it dismissed a complaint against a professor who distributed Hamas propaganda in her seminar.
An investigation by King’s College London found that the lecturer who told students to read materials produced by the Hamas media office had committed ‘no wrongdoing’.
A Jewish student who secretly recorded the seminar and made a complaint against Dr Rana Baker was pressured on multiple occasions by the university to delete his audio.
The professor in the history of the Middle East had assigned sections of Hamas propaganda called ‘Our Narrative: Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ to her students.
She then urged them to consider the terrorist group as a ‘Islamic national liberation resistance movement’ that is ‘fighting Zionists not Jews’.
In the recording of the seminar, passed to the Mail, she asked: ‘What do we make of it [the reading given that] Hamas is recognised as a terrorist organisation by all the major powers?’
Later Dr Baker, pictured below, claimed the Holocaust was used to prevent any ‘criticisms of Israel’.
She said: ‘The deployment of the Holocaust as a justification to build an exclusive Jewish state … if you look at the IHRA [International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance] definition of anti-Semitism, it does say criticising Israel can amount to anti-Semitism.
An investigation by King’s College London found that a lecturer who told students to read materials produced by the Hamas media office had committed ‘no wrongdoing’.
Pro-Palestine demonstrators at King’s College in London. The professor in the history of the Middle East had assigned sections of Hamas propaganda called ‘Our Narrative: Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ to her students
‘The collaboration between Zionism, Zionists and Zionist proxies and the Nazis is one well-documented fact in history.’
Some 21 per cent of Israel’s population is not Jewish. The IHRA definition of anti-Semitism says ‘criticism of Israel similar to that levelled against any other country’ is not anti-Semitic.
The student who recorded Dr Baker’s seminar and reported her to the university said: ‘By the end of this seminar I was visibly shaking. KCL’s attempts to silence the affair were simply unforgivable.’
In emails seen by the Mail, investigators urged the student to ‘cease sharing the audio’ and ‘ensure the recording is deleted’ plus threatened him with a misconduct probe.
They told him they could not ‘accept your recording as evidence’ as it was made without the prior consent of the students and staff there.
Two months after the spring term lecture, the university dismissed the complaint as the student had ‘breached regulations’ in recording the class without consent.
In July, the case was reopened and it is now being investigated by an external third party.
Lord Ian Austin said: ‘This institution must take a zero tolerance approach to people who support terrorism and stop defending hatred.’
Lord Ian Austin said: ‘This institution must take a zero tolerance approach to people who support terrorism and stop defending hatred’
Conservative justice spokesman Robert Jenrick added: ‘This appalling episode shows just how widespread anti-Semitism is in our universities. The Education Secretary must intervene to restore some sanity.’
The Union of Jewish Students criticised the university’s ‘lack of action and negligence’.
In October the Daily Mail exposed tweets published by @RanaGaza, an account linked to Dr Baker’s Guardian and Al-Monitor writer profiles calling for the destruction of Israel.
These tweets have also been reported to KCL and the police.
A university spokesman said: ‘This individual complaint is following the same practice as we follow for any complaint, in line with our robust policies and procedures.’
Dr Baker was contacted for comment. The Department for Education said: ‘No Jewish student should feel unsafe at any time, let alone in education.’
