I find it quite scary where some of the hate speech is coming from, or maybe it isn't?
From The Times:
British academics have been accused of justifying the attacks by Hamas militants on civilians in online posts, including one that said the killings were a “consequence” for “partying on stolen land”.
The Union of Jewish Students said the statements had contributed to a “hostile” environment for Jewish students on campuses in the UK.
University College London confirmed that it was investigating an academic for reposting a comment made on October 7 saying that Palestinian “retaliation” had been “entirely justifiable”.
“We strongly condemn any form of racism, antisemitism, Islamophobia, discrimination, incitement, abuse, bullying or harassment,” the university said in a statement. “We are investigating this incident and will take appropriate action as necessary.”
Universities have chosen not to single out Hamas for condemnation and have defended their staff’s right to freedom of expression, but Jewish groups demanded that university heads take action, arguing that professors’ online activity was bolstering antisemitism on campus.
Tamar Blumgart, 20, a first-year law student at LSE, said that online posts by lecturers at her university had made her “feel unsafe” on campus, and that friends had removed their Star of David necklaces and kippahs. “Lecturers promoting these opinions really gives them validity. It’s very irresponsible,” she said. “These posts are adding to the hostile environment.”
The Times has identified a dozen academics at Oxbridge and Russell Group universities who have posted statements appearing to justify the weekend’s attacks on Israel.
Professor Ashok Kumar, a senior lecturer of political economy at Birkbeck, wrote in a post on Twitter/X that has now been deleted: “Sometimes partying on stolen land next to a concentration camp where a million people are starved has consequences.”
Neil Thin, an honorary fellow at the University of Edinburgh, said in reply: “It looks horribly like gleeful support of a genocidal massacre of hundreds of innocent youngsters by a terrorist organisation who are self-proclaimed antisemitic racists.”
Dr Maryam Aldossari, a senior lecturer at Royal Holloway, part of the University of London, shared an image of a Palestinian paraglider and asked why the attack on the desert rave was defined as terrorism, rather than self-defence.
Paragliders were used by armed Hamas militants to attack the Supernova festival, held near the border with Gaza in the Negev Desert, from the air early on Saturday morning.
On the afternoon of October 7, Dr Shahd Abusalama, a visiting scholar at the University of Westminster, wrote: “Gaza is resisting, breaking its prison walls.”
Dr Ingrid Kvangraven, a lecturer in International Development at King’s College London, retweeted a thread on Twitter/X that said that “fighting back for a liberated homeland” was “the only sane reaction” to Israel’s “military occupation and apartheid rule”.
Dr Shahd Hammouri, a law lecturer at Kent Law School, said in an article published on the Law for Palestine website on October 8: “Resistance by the Palestinian people by all means available at their disposal against an illegal occupying power is a legitimate act.”
Dr Mahvish Ahmad, an assistant professor at LSE, called on students to show solidarity with the “Palestinian struggle”. She declined to comment.
The comments by the academics prompted anger among Jewish groups. “It is despicable and beyond comprehension that academics on university campuses — in positions of authority — think it acceptable and appropriate to condone, support, and in some cases celebrate the actions of a proscribed terrorist group,” Guy Dabby-Joory, head of campaigns at the Union of Jewish Students, said. “They must be universally condemned, and universities must take appropriate action.”
Professor Anthony Glees, a security expert at the University of Buckingham, said: “Professors are radicalising their young impressionable students under the guise of academic freedom. Universities are behaving in a hypocritical way, they’re allowing staff to do some things but not others. They are pandering to extremism.”
Dr Olivia Arigho-Stiles, a postdoctoral research fellow, is the academic under investigation by UCL. She reposted a comment saying that the “Palestinian retaliation is wholly inevitable and entirely justifiable” because of Israel’s “siege” on Gaza. She did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
In response to a request for comment, Aldossari said: “No one is pro-Hamas except Hamas themselves. Fixating on Hamas actions distracts from the pressing issue at hand, which is the ongoing colonial occupation maintained by the Israeli government.”
The London School of Economics said: “The LSE community is deeply concerned about the dramatic escalation of violence and terrible loss of life across Israel and Gaza. As our code of practice on free speech clearly sets out, academic freedom and freedom of expression underpins everything we do at LSE and we do not police or control the social media use of our faculty as long as it remains within the law.
“That said, students and staff are strongly encouraged to discuss and debate the most pressing issues around the world in a mutually respectful manner.”
The University of London, KCL, and the University of Westminster did not respond to a request for comment.
The Oxford Israel Society has criticised the university’s silence on the Hamas attacks. It said it had “watched in unmitigated horror the events that have unfolded in the past few days”, adding: “The genocidal intent of the perpetrators and their sheer depravity is clear for all to see. Entire families butchered.”
Oxford University had put out a statement saying: “We wish to acknowledge that the news of the recent conflict is very upsetting, particularly for our students and colleagues with connections to the area. The university has written directly to impacted staff and students to offer welfare and other types of support. Both the university and colleges are working to ensure all members of the university community are supported as much as possible, and we will respond as appropriate as the situation develops.”
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/israel-palestine-uk-academics-ucl-oxford-cambridge-7sw2vr9lsSome of the comments are not really a surprise, considering their backgrounds. But it does rather beg the question of their fitness to be labelled 'academics'? Some of these comments are a border line, or more, breach of the law, about supporting a proscribed terrorist organisation, as Hamas are. And as such, their uni's at least, should take action. Freedom of expression is not the same as freedom to break the law. Personally, I would sack them all. True wisdom would ensure they don't act in a way that could unduly influence their students, which wouldn't be a problem if such comments were balanced, rather than just soundbites exhibiting their own prejudice.