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The UK education secretary has written to university vice-chancellors asking them to act “quickly and decisively” to eliminate “implicit or explicit” threats to Jewish students, following reports that some pro-Palestinian groups have expressed support for Hamas.
Gillian Keegan wrote in a letter seen by the Financial Times: “We have seen evidence of inflammatory messages from some pro-Palestinian student groups expressing support for Hamas, As you know, Hamas is a banned terrorist organization.”
She called on university leaders to use the government’s counter-terrorism “Prevent” system to deal with any incidents of suspected support of terrorism, including paying special attention to any invitations to speakers on the subject that could provide a platform for “illegal activity”. speech” .
Keegan’s intervention comes as many prominent Western leaders seek to show clear support for Israel in the wake of weekend attacks by Hamas and Israel’s siege of Gaza, which saw power and supplies cut off.
Earlier this week, Home Secretary Suella Braverman Write to the Police and Crime Commissioner Inform them that it is a criminal offense to express support for Hamas or to wear or carry items in public that may “raise reasonable suspicion that a person is a member or supporter of Hamas.”
She also called on the police chief to “consider” whether slogans such as “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” should be interpreted as “an expression of Israel’s violent desire to be erased from the world” and thus considered racially aggravating criminal offences. crime.
Technology Minister Michelle Donelan also hold a meeting Meet with leaders of social media companies Google, Meta, TikTok and Snapchat on Wednesday to ensure they are working to remove any anti-Semitic or extremely violent content about the war between Israel and Palestine.
Earlier this week, some university leaders warned students they could face criminal charges if they expressed support for Hamas.
Hamas was listed as a terrorist organization by the British government in 2021, anyone “causing reasonable suspicion” If they support the group, they could be prosecuted and jailed.
In her letter to the vice-chancellor, Keegan said many Jewish students were asked to hide their identities, a situation she claimed was compounded by “extremely insensitive and unhelpful statements.” It was brought forward by the UCU union, which represents lecturers and university staff.
The UCU said on Tuesday it was “extremely alarmed” by the violence by Hamas and the Israeli military and called on the British government to “immediately cease fire and de-escalate” the violence, including an end to Israel’s blockade of Gaza. The Israeli military and Hamas cease further violence against civilians.
The coalition also noted that recent events are “part of an ongoing cycle of violence caused by decades of brutal occupation” by Israel, which must end before a lasting peace can be achieved.
London’s Metropolitan Police, which is responsible for Britain’s counter-terrorism policing, called late Wednesday for anyone with direct information about the Israeli attack to forward it to them.
The Met noted that a number of British nationals had been killed or injured in Hamas attacks and it was preparing for future investigations into victims and seeking the repatriation of the dead and injured.
The Met said: “This appeal is for anyone who may have returned from Israel in the past few days and may have footage or images of the terrorist attack. “There may also be people in the UK who have friends, relatives or loved ones in Israel who have received Direct message, image or video.”
The force stressed it was not looking for material found by the public through “open source” means such as social media.
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