A furious diplomatic row has erupted after one of Britain’s top universities was accused of providing a platform for Hamas propaganda through a book set to be launched amid Home Office warnings.
Israel’s ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, has demanded that the London School of Economics (LSE) immediately cancel the event promoting a book that she warns will ‘grow support’ for the terrorist organisation among students.
The book, Understanding Hamas: And Why It Matters, is due to be launched at LSE on Monday and describes the Palestinian militant group – a proscribed organisation in Britain since 2021 – as a ‘misunderstood movement’.
Critics say the book seeks to whitewash Hamas’s brutal atrocities, including the massacre of 1,200 people in Israel on October 7.
In a letter to LSE president Larry Kramer, Ms Hotovely accused the institution of ‘giving legitimacy to Hamas propaganda’, warning that allowing the book launch to go ahead would put Jewish and Israeli students in danger.
‘I worry that by promoting such a book, which sympathises with and justifies the survival and existence of Hamas, LSE will only serve to fuel support for a brutal terror organisation,’ she wrote.
She added that Jewish students were already feeling ‘anxious and fearful’ amid rising anti-Semitism on UK campuses, and pleaded with university bosses to ‘reconsider allowing the event to go ahead’.
The Home Office has already issued a stark warning to speakers at the event, making clear that anyone praising Hamas could face the full force of the law under the Terrorism Act 2000.
Israel’s ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, has demanded that the London School of Economics (LSE) immediately cancel the launch of a book that she warns will ‘grow support’ for Hamas among students
The book is being launched at an event hosted by the London School of Economics (file image)
Understanding Hamas And Why That Matters is written by Helena Cobban and Rami G. Khouri
A Home Office spokesperson told Jewish News: ‘National security remains our top priority.
‘Hamas is a proscribed organisation and it is an offence to be a member of, invite or express support for them, which carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison or an unlimited fine.
‘We would urge anyone who plans to take part in an event that discusses Hamas to seriously consider their actions and any views they plan to publicly express.
‘While it is a matter for the police to determine whether an offence has been committed, and police routinely monitor for breaches in terrorism law, anyone found to have committed an offence will face the full force of the law.’
The book, authored by controversial academics, questions Israel’s version of the October 7 attacks, which saw Hamas gunmen butcher Israeli civilians in their homes, burn families alive, and take more than 250 hostages.
One passage claims: ‘Israeli claims about what happened on Oct 7 have since been proven to be false. They have been proven even to be deliberate lies designed in order to justify what the Israelis were going to do as a revenge attack on Gaza, which we were seeing happening for the past eight months nearly.’
The book goes on to claim that Hamas has been ‘subjected to intense vilification’, stating that branding it a terrorist group has ‘intensified’ since October 7.
Ms Hotovely condemned these statements as ‘deeply disturbing attempts to justify terrorism’, insisting that LSE must not allow its premises to be used to promote such dangerous narratives.
A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: ‘This event at LSE is an outrageous apology for terror. The book’s synopsis describes Hamas as ‘a widely misunderstood movement’ and says that ‘the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has been subjected to intense vilification.
‘Perhaps that is because it capped decades of lethal suicide bombings with the massacre of 1,200 and the abduction of some 250 people. Is such conduct not worthy of ‘vilification’?
‘This appears to be an abhorrent attempt to whitewash Hamas’ barbaric acts of horror.
‘For all their virtuous anti-racism rhetoric, our universities have become epicentres of Jew-hatred and this event is yet another example of how bad the problem is.
‘This is not about truth and open debate: it is propaganda that knowingly or otherwise serves the cause of genocidal antisemitic Islamist violence.
‘We have written to LSE calling for this disgraceful event to be cancelled. LSE must decide what comes first: the welfare of Jewish students or apologies for terrorism.’
The event page about the Hamas book launch hosted by the London School of Economics has been updated since it first received backlash
The original event page from last week
Palestinian Hamas fighters and others gather in Nuseirat in the Gaza Strip on February 22
Despite the outrage, LSE has so far refused to cancel the event, instead defending it under the banner of ‘free speech’.
An LSE spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘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.
‘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.’
But critics have slammed LSE’s stance as ‘irresponsible and dangerous’, warning that universities should not be giving platforms to terrorist sympathisers.
The row comes amid a surge in anti-Semitic incidents on UK campuses, with attacks on Jewish students soaring by 148 per cent last year.
Ms Hotovely has urged LSE to act before it is too late, warning: ‘The university should not be endorsing this event, let alone organising it through its Middle East Centre. I encourage you to cancel it immediately.’
Author Rami G. Khouri told MailOnline: ‘The Israeli ambassador’s claim that a discussion among respected analysts and scholars at a leading UK university would increase support for terrorism is totally unfounded – but is also a classic Zionist-Israeli propaganda technique to avoid any discussion of the full historical nature of the Palestine-Israel and wider Arab-Israeli conflicts.
‘The aim of our book and the LSE event is to share facts to help audiences get a complete picture of Hamas’ positions and evolution in the conflict, with a view to exploring where an elusive middle ground could allow Israeli and Palestinian states to coexist peacefully.
‘The current Zionist-Israeli strategy of making wild anti-semitism accusations in order to shut down or criminalise honest discussion of Palestinian sentiments across the Western world is backfiring badly.
‘It further isolates Israel globally, increases Western citizenries’ commitment to equal rights among Palestine and Israel, exacerbates the conflicts with Israel across the Middle East, expands Israeli genocidal actions, and weakens the foundations of democratic free speech in the West and international law globally’.
MailOnline has approached LSE for comment, but the book launch is still available to request attendance to on the university website, as of March 9.
MailOnline has approached author Helena Cobban for comment.
