LSE refuses cancellation of book launch defending ‘misunderstood' Hamas
The London School of Economics (LSE) claimed it was defending 'free speech' by refusing to cancel the launch of Understanding Hamas and Why That Matters on Monday afternoon.
It comes after the Israeli ambassador to the UK called for the event to be cancelled amid concerns it could 'provide a platform for Hamas propaganda '.
Tzipi Hotovely wrote to Prof Larry Kramer, the vice-chancellor of LSE, asking him to cancel the launch.
In her letter, Ms Hotovely wrote: 'I am deeply concerned that the event is providing a platform for Hamas propaganda – a terror organisation proscribed under United Kingdom law. I worry that by promoting such a book, which sympathises with and justifies the survival and existence of Hamas, will only serve to grow support for a brutal terror organisation among your students and beyond.'
She added: 'The university should not be endorsing this event, let alone organising it through its Middle East Centre.
'Nor should the university allow this event to go ahead on its premises. Therefore, I encourage you to cancel the event.'
The university's Middle East Centre, which is hosting the event on March 10, said the book explores Hamas's 'shift from social and religious activism to national political engagement'.
It added that it 'aims to deepen understanding of a movement that is a key player in the current crisis'.
The event will feature a talk by the book's author and academics researching the Middle East.
An LSE spokesman said: 'Free speech and freedom of expression underpins everything we do at LSE. Students, staff and visitors are strongly encouraged to discuss and debate the most pressing issues around the world.'
They added: 'We host an enormous number of events each year, covering a wide range of viewpoints and positions.
'We have clear policies in place to ensure the facilitation of debates in these events and enable all members of our community to refute ideas lawfully and to protect individual's rights to freedom of expression within the law.
'This is formalised in our code of practice on free speech and in our ethics code.'
Stop the Hate, a Jewish-led direct action group, has asked supporters to write letters to the university to persuade them to cancel the event. It is also planning a protest on Monday at LSE's Middle East Centre.
A spokesman for the Israeli embassy in London said: 'Particularly amid the backdrop of rising levels of anti-Semitism in the UK, including on British university campuses, the platforming of an event that is sympathetic to a proscribed terrorist organisation is especially worrying.
'Universities have a duty to protect their students from hate speech and incitement to violence, and that includes their Jewish students, too. The event should be cancelled. It should never have been allowed in the first place.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Leader Live
9 minutes ago
- Leader Live
MPs urge ministers to introduce long-awaited rules on supply chain deforestation
The Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) wrote to Environment Secretary Steve Reed calling for urgent action to tackle the issue in supply chains. Under the previous Government's proposals, businesses will be prohibited from using or selling goods containing palm oil, cocoa, beef, leather and soy linked to deforestation. This due diligence system was part of the 2021 Environment Act but ministers are yet to bring forward the necessary secondary legislation or set a timetable for when they will do so. EAC chairman Toby Perkins asked Mr Reed to set out a specific date for introducing the legislation 'ideally before the New Year' so that the rules can be in place for the new financial year in April. The letter said: 'Delays in bringing forward this legislation makes the Cop15 agreement to halt and reverse biodiversity loss, and the UK's commitment to ending deforestation and forest degradation by 2030, harder to achieve. 'However, it also leaves businesses with uncertainty and will leave them with less time to prepare and comply with the regime. 'On 2 June, in your response to the Committee, you recognised the urgency of taking action to ensure forest risk commodities are not driving deforestation and stated you would set out the Government approach in due course.' Several British supermarkets recently warned that they are in 'limbo' waiting for the Government to introduce the new rules. In an open letter earlier this month, retailers such as Tesco, Sainsbury's and Lidl said deforestation presents an increasing risk to supply chain stability as well as food security. But they also said the UK could suffer millions in export losses to the European Union if Government inaction leaves businesses unprepared to comply with the bloc's own deforestation rules, which are due to come into force at the end of this year. Asked recently whether the Government has a timetable for introducing the legislation, the Environment Secretary told the PA news agency: 'Currently no, but we are working at pace so we can do this as quickly as possible.' On the supermarkets' letter and whether the Government is looking to speed up progress on introducing the rules, Mr Reed said: 'Absolutely.' 'I agree with the supermarkets,' he said. 'The previous Government was just dragging their heels without ever coming to a conclusion about what we do about protecting forests in other countries as well as in our own country. 'And of course forests, trees, woodlands were very important for capturing carbon and cleaning the atmosphere so we don't want to be importing food that has been grown where the forests have been destroyed. 'The Government is working with supermarkets, with food producers and internationally to make sure we get the outcome and we can do that as soon as possible to give everybody certainty about how we move forward on this.' PA has contacted the Environment Department for comment.
Rhyl Journal
9 minutes ago
- Rhyl Journal
MPs urge ministers to introduce long-awaited rules on supply chain deforestation
The Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) wrote to Environment Secretary Steve Reed calling for urgent action to tackle the issue in supply chains. Under the previous Government's proposals, businesses will be prohibited from using or selling goods containing palm oil, cocoa, beef, leather and soy linked to deforestation. This due diligence system was part of the 2021 Environment Act but ministers are yet to bring forward the necessary secondary legislation or set a timetable for when they will do so. EAC chairman Toby Perkins asked Mr Reed to set out a specific date for introducing the legislation 'ideally before the New Year' so that the rules can be in place for the new financial year in April. The letter said: 'Delays in bringing forward this legislation makes the Cop15 agreement to halt and reverse biodiversity loss, and the UK's commitment to ending deforestation and forest degradation by 2030, harder to achieve. 'However, it also leaves businesses with uncertainty and will leave them with less time to prepare and comply with the regime. 'On 2 June, in your response to the Committee, you recognised the urgency of taking action to ensure forest risk commodities are not driving deforestation and stated you would set out the Government approach in due course.' Several British supermarkets recently warned that they are in 'limbo' waiting for the Government to introduce the new rules. In an open letter earlier this month, retailers such as Tesco, Sainsbury's and Lidl said deforestation presents an increasing risk to supply chain stability as well as food security. But they also said the UK could suffer millions in export losses to the European Union if Government inaction leaves businesses unprepared to comply with the bloc's own deforestation rules, which are due to come into force at the end of this year. Asked recently whether the Government has a timetable for introducing the legislation, the Environment Secretary told the PA news agency: 'Currently no, but we are working at pace so we can do this as quickly as possible.' On the supermarkets' letter and whether the Government is looking to speed up progress on introducing the rules, Mr Reed said: 'Absolutely.' 'I agree with the supermarkets,' he said. 'The previous Government was just dragging their heels without ever coming to a conclusion about what we do about protecting forests in other countries as well as in our own country. 'And of course forests, trees, woodlands were very important for capturing carbon and cleaning the atmosphere so we don't want to be importing food that has been grown where the forests have been destroyed. 'The Government is working with supermarkets, with food producers and internationally to make sure we get the outcome and we can do that as soon as possible to give everybody certainty about how we move forward on this.' PA has contacted the Environment Department for comment.
Leader Live
24 minutes ago
- Leader Live
Council recognising their town's link with Gaza is ‘important' says Jewish group
Last week, Hastings Borough Council, in east Sussex, passed a motion to back an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, an end to all arms sales to Israel and to support the town's friendship links with the people of Al-Mawasi – a section of the Gaza strip. The decision comes after multiple attempts over the past 21 months to bring a ceasefire motion prior to the recent local elections, which changed the make-up of the council. The motion was carried by a majority of 14 Green and Hastings Independent Group MPs, with three voting against and 11 abstentions, mostly from Labour councillors. Hastings Jews for Justice have welcomed the decision, they said: 'We stand with the Palestinians in Gaza who are being slaughtered and starved right now and we demand immediate action of our politicians. 'We applaud all the councillors who chose to stand on the right side of history and used their voice and their vote to fight these crimes against humanity. 'And we reject the idea, shared by several Labour councillors during the debate, that standing up for a people facing genocide is an attack on Jewish people in our community or 'divisive'.' Proposing the motion, Green Party councillor Yunis Smith said: 'We must ask ourselves, when the dust settles, will we have done enough? Will we be able to say that we stood up even when it was difficult? 'Or will we, like generations before us, say that we saw the signs and still we did nothing?' In December 2023, Al-Mawasi was designated a safe zone by the IDF and Palestinians were urged repeatedly to relocate to the area. Since then, the area has been repeatedly attacked, one of the most deadly was July 13 2024, where Israeli jets bombed Al-Mawasi, killing 90 people and injuring 300 displaced Palestinians, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry. Hastings Friends of Al-Mawasi group has been building a friendship and language exchange with the Palestinian area over the past few years. Mr Smith said: 'From one coastal town to another, we've shown that solidarity, dignity and human connection shine brighter than cruelty, 'Al-Mawasi, like Hastings, is defined not just by its land but by the resilience of its people. They survive, endure and beckon us to witness their struggle and their strength.' Hastings has become the most recent in a line of UK councils to pass a motion calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Hastings Jews for Justice added: 'This is an important act of solidarity with a people who are being made to suffer in the most horrific ways imaginable and we are determined to show that as British Jews it is not in our names.' The Green leader of the council, Councillor Glen Haffenden, has reportedly received more emails on this subject from his residents than on any other subject since becoming a councillor. Hastings campaign group Friends of Al-Mawasi says there has been a 'marked escalation of threatening and abusive behaviour' towards anyone in the town showing sympathy or support for Palestine over the past few weeks. Sussex Police have confirmed that an investigation is ongoing after a woman was allegedly assaulted while wearing a Keffiyah at the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill.
