From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, March 11, 2025
LSE refuses to cancel launch of Hamas ‘propaganda’ book
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The London School of Economics is refusing to cancel the planned launch of a book that has been accused of providing a platform for the Hamas terror group, the UK’s The Times reports.
About 100 members of the Jewish community took part in a protest at the university last night where a talk was taking place by authors Helena Cobban and Rami George Khouri on their book “Understanding Hamas: And Why That Matters.”
Last week Israeli Ambassador to the UK Tzipi Hotovely sent a letter to the school saying that “there can be no place for platforming Hamas propaganda.”
At the talk, Cobban argued that Hamas, which actively calls for the destruction of Israel and has carried out hundreds of deadly attacks, had been “systematically misrepresented” in history, the Times reported.
The book also says that the group has been subjected to “intense vilification” that had intensified since the October 7 attacks, when Hamas killed some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, in southern Israel and took another 251 hostages.
In her letter, Hotovely said she was “deeply concerned that the event is providing a platform for propaganda — a terror organization proscribed under United Kingdom law.
“I worry that promoting such a book, which sympathizes with and justifies the survival and existence of Hamas, will only serve to grow support for a brutal terror organization among your students and beyond.”
The university said the book launch could go ahead, citing its commitment to “free speech and freedom of expression.”
The Times of Israel Community.