UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) has reported four academics from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) to the Metropolitan police  over suspected offences under section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000.  UKLFI also reported the academics to LSE’s president and vice-chancellor, Professor Eric Neumayer.  However, not once were UKLFI advised that any action whatsoever would be taken against their employees.

Assistant Professor of Sociology, Dr Sara Salem, posted on social media shortly after the October 7 massacre expressing “solidarity” with the “resistance” alongside images of Palestinian flags. She also wrote “Settlers are not the victims here and never will be”. In another message she said: “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.” Sderot is an Israeli town within the Green Line.

By publishing these messages on X (formerly Twitter), UKLFI argues 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 in the Department of Sociology, posted a “quote tweet” on 8 October 2023 in reply to another post advertising an “Emergency Demo – Stand with Palestine”. She 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 #Fromth RiverToTheSeaPalestineWillBeFree and #DecolonisationisNotAMetaphor.

Ahmad thereby encouraged others to join a demonstration in favour of the “struggle”, soon after Hamas carried out the attacks on Israeli civilians, and before any Israeli military operation in Gaza in response.  UKLFI argues that she was encouraging people to show solidarity with the organisation which carried out those attacks. It is an offence under section 12(1) of the Terrorism Act 2000 to invite support for a proscribed organisation.

Dr Mai Taha, an Assistant Professor in Human Rights, Department of Sociology, posted a message on X shortly after the October 7 massacre saying: “Good morning, Palestine 🙂 [red heart emoji] Solidarity to the long Palestinian revolution!”.  Shortly after, Dr Taha reposted a tweet which stated: “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.” She then posted a message saying: “BREAKING- for the first time in almost two decades,  EREZ MILITARY CHECKPOINT is officially open in both directions into and outside the Gaza Strip”, along with a photograph of a Hamas bulldozer  breaching the security fence between Gaza and Israel. UKLFI argues that Dr Taha thereby breached section 12(1A) of the Terrorism Act 2000.

Dr Sonya Onwu,  the Assistant Professor (Education), LAWS Programme Director, LSE Law School, demonstrated support for Hamas by reposting on 7 October 2023, the day of the massacre of Israeli civilians, a series of messages, including the assertion that “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!”. Since the posts occurred on the day of the terrorist massacre, it appears that Dr Onwu was supporting Hamas’ actions.

In response to UKLFI’s complaints about these academics, Prof Neumeyer said, “… as you would expect LSE does not comment on cases relating to individual employees of the School. I would like to emphasise 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.”

Prof Neumeyer also said that 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.”

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.”