King’s College London Faces Backlash Over Handling of Hamas Propaganda Complaint

[Social Media]

 

King’s College London has come under fire for allegedly “defending hatred” after dismissing a complaint against a professor accused of sharing Hamas propaganda during a seminar. The controversy centers on Dr. Rana Baker, a lecturer specializing in the history of the Middle East, who assigned her students reading material from Hamas’s media office, titled *Our Narrative: Operation Al-Aqsa Flood*.  The 18-page document refers to the October 7 massacre as a “necessary step” and a “normal response” to Israel’s actions.

 

King's College London professor urged students to view Hamas as a 'liberation group'. 

 

The investigation by the university concluded that Dr. Baker had committed “no wrongdoing.” However, critics have raised concerns about the professor’s framing of Hamas, a group widely recognized as a terrorist organization. In the seminar, Dr. Baker encouraged students to view Hamas as “an Islamic national liberation resistance movement” that targets “Zionists, not Jews.” She further posed the question: “What do we make of it [the reading] given that Hamas is recognized as a terrorist organization by all the major powers?”  

 

The controversy escalated when a Jewish student secretly recorded the seminar and later lodged a formal complaint. The student claimed to have felt deeply disturbed by the content of the lecture, saying, “By the end of this seminar I was visibly shaking.” The recording revealed that Dr. Baker also discussed the Holocaust, stating it was used to justify the creation of an “exclusive Jewish state.” She asserted: “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 criticizing Israel can amount to anti-Semitism.” 

 

The student who reported the incident faced significant resistance from the university. Emails revealed that investigators urged him to delete the audio recording, citing it as a breach of university regulations since consent was not obtained from those present. The university warned him of a possible misconduct investigation, stating they could not “accept your recording as evidence.”  

 

The initial dismissal of the complaint prompted widespread criticism. However, the case was reopened in July and is now under review by an external third party.  

 

Lord Ian Austin weighed in on the controversy, urging the university to adopt a “zero tolerance approach to people who support terrorism and stop defending hatred.” Conservative justice spokesman Robert Jenrick echoed the sentiment, describing the incident as evidence of the widespread nature of anti-Semitism in UK universities. He called for the Education Secretary’s intervention to “restore some sanity.”  

 

The Union of Jewish Students also condemned the university’s handling of the complaint, accusing it of “a lack of action and negligence.”  

In a related development, the *Daily Mail* unearthed tweets allegedly linked to Dr. Baker that advocated for the destruction of Israel. These tweets, published under the handle @RanaGaza, were reportedly connected to her profiles as a writer for *The Guardian* and *Al-Monitor*. Both King’s College London and law enforcement have been notified about the tweets.  

 

A university spokesperson defended the handling of the case, stating, “This individual complaint is following the same practice as we follow for any complaint, in line with our robust policies and procedures.” Meanwhile, the Department for Education reiterated that “no Jewish student should feel unsafe at any time, let alone in education.”  

 

Based on a report by Daily Mail 2024-12-17

 

 

 

 

 

[Bkk Brian]

5 hours ago, Social Media said:

King's College London professor urged students to view Hamas as a 'liberation group'. 

He should get a job with UNRWA, he'd fit right in there