Legitimising terror.
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On the 10th of March, the London School of Economics (LSE) is set to host a launch for British-American author Helena Cobban and Jordanian-American journalist Rami G. Khouri’s 244-page Understanding Hamas and Why That Matters. The event, organised by the LSE’s Middle East Centre, has drawn criticism from politicians on both sides of the spectrum, Jewish organisations, and concerned members of the public, all arguing the same thing: that it provides an uncritical and unchecked platform for Hamas. Despite being one of Britain’s foremost institutes, having long positioned itself as a fortress of free academic inquiry and investigation, this is not the first time it has been at the centre of controversy regarding the war unfolding in Israel and Gaza: its events, its featuring speakers, and its student union are accused of antisemitism and anti-Israeli rhetoric — mostly at the same time — on an almost regular basis.
The book’s purchasing page, OR Books, reads this description:
Across Western mainstream discourse, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has been subjected to intense vilification. Branding it as “terrorist” or worse, this demonization intensified after the events [I’ll interrupt this to include a six-minute-long video of these ‘events’ they so quickly cast aside, published by the IDF] in Southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
This book does not advocate for or against Hamas. Rather, in a series of rich and probing conversations with leading experts, it aims to deepen understanding of a movement that is a key player in the current crisis. It looks at, among other things, Hamas’s critical shift from social and religious activism to national political engagement; the delicate balance between Hamas’s political and military wings; and its transformation from early anti-Jewish tendencies to a stance that differentiates between Judaism and Zionism.
Both accessible and authoritative, Understanding Hamas provides much-needed insight into a widely misunderstood movement whose involvement in a just resolution of the Israel/Palestine conflict will be critical.
If you feel the need to clarify that you aren’t supporting a terrorist organisation recognised and denounced by just about every Western democracy on the planet, you’re generally in the wrong. The university has faced considerable scrutiny in the past for accepting donations from Gulf states like Qatar, being often critical of Israel, its policies and its actions. Upon being questioned about its decision regarding an event so wildly superficial and one-sided, LSE’s stance is especially troubling. A spokesperson for the LSE said simply:
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.
The launch’s core message clearly contests the UK’s official designation of Hamas as a terrorist organisation, despite the 251 hostages the group took and over 1200 they killed in the largest massacre of Jews in a single day since the Holocaust. One can no longer — if it was ever possible — argue that this is merely another example of the emotional detachment of academics regarding their subject of expertise.
Somewhat unsurprisingly, Cobban’s social media activity includes retweets from Irish comedian Tadhg Hickey praising Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as one of the ‘best freedom fighters,’ another on the 23rd of February displaying Hickey with his ‘hero’ Leila Khaled, a member of the PFLP terror group who took part in the infamous 1969 plane hijacking, and another in response to the confirmation of the deaths of the Bibas family: a post claiming that it is ‘racist and a form of genocide whitewashing to act like two dead Israeli children is earth shattering news while actively ignoring or justifying the 20,000+ Palestinian children.’
Khouri has no shortage of interesting posts, either: as a recurring contributor to Al Jazeera, he wrote last week that ‘effective Israeli propaganda has long demonised Hamas in the West as a reckless and vicious terror group that wants to destroy Israel. The reality, however, is that Hamas has been a successful Palestinian national political organisation.’ If you imprison your gay citizens for little more than young homosexual sex and then force them to take an oath on the Qur’an not to be gay again, you’re likely not a successful political party — nor should you be.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews have denounced the event, releasing this statement yesterday:
This event is advertised with the claim that ‘Hamas has been subject to intense vilification, branding it as “terrorist”, with its demonisation intensifying after the events in Southern Israel on October 7th 2023’. Despite the purported caveat that the book “does not advocate for or against Hamas” it is difficult to see how this is anything other than an attempt to whitewash a group proscribed as a terrorist organisation in this country. Not only should this event be cancelled, but the Home Office should take a direct interest in it.
We should know by now that talk such as this does not cross the metaphorical line, but erases it entirely and draws it again further downstream. And, in a painfully pessimistic fashion, there is little, if anything, we may do to stop it.
Thanks for reading today’s article, everyone — maybe even give another one a read while you’re at it.
It’s also worth saying that articles like this are based on incredibly controversial topics. That said, if you disagree that this book is written by and for anything other than Hamas apologists, I thoroughly disagree with you and invite your arguments in the comments.
Buy my book — it helps finance the caffeine addiction that allows me to write articles like this one.
See:
- The LSE’s web page promoting the event
- The book’s official page for purchase
- Speaker Dr Catherine Charret (University of Westminister) and her MyWestministerResearch profile
- Helena Cobban’s Wikipedia page
- Speaker Jeroen Gunning (LSE Middle East Centre, and King’s College London)
- Speaker Mouin Rabbani (Jadaliyya, nonresident fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs)
Good day — Simon
