A statement from the Department of Education has warned the London School of Economics to “assure itself of the lawfulness of speech” at an upcoming launch of a new book on Hamas. This comes amidst calls for the event to be cancelled for attempting to “whitewash a group proscribed as a terrorist organisation”.
On 10 March, the Middle East Centre at LSE will be hosting a book launch for Helena Cobban and Rami G. Khouri’s Understanding Hamas and Why that Matters. The event has already garnered severe criticism due to previous comments and social media posts by the authors, as well as allegations that the book will “advocate” for Hamas.
According to the description of the event, the authors will argue that Hamas has transformed from its “early anti-Jewish tendencies” to a more moderate stance that “differentiates between Judaism and Zionism”.
Moreover, the book’s blurb (perhaps not written by the authors) claims that the West’s “demonization” of Hamas as ““terrorist” or worse” intensified after “the events in Southern Israel on October 7, 2023”.
The calls for cancellation of the event have been led by The Board of Deputies of British Jews, who issued a statement saying that “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”.
The campaign against the book launch also resorted to the usual tactic of combing through social media for offensive comments. In particular, several posts by Helena Cobban feature the term “Zios” to refer to journalists and activists, while another claimed that “every allegation” by Israel against Hamas regarding October 7 was actually “a statement of intent”.
The other co-author of the book Rami G. Khouri blamed “[e]ffective Israeli propaganda” for demonising Hamas in the West “as a reckless and vicious terrorist group”, when the “reality, however, is that Hamas has been a successful Palestinian national political organisation”.
Clearly incensed by the comments and expecting the event to include similar content, The Board of Deputies took their campaign of cancellation further than most, saying that “[n]ot only should this event be cancelled, but the Home Office should take a direct interest in it”.
This is presumably a reference to the legal restrictions on glorifying, supporting or encouraging terrorism in the UK. Several laws prohibit open support for groups proscribed as terrorist organisations by the British government, including the Terrorism Act 2006 and the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019.
While most of this legislation is focused on direct encouragement of terrorism, some provisions also criminalise showing support for proscribed groups “indirectly” or in a “reckless” manner. These standards are somewhat vague, but they are typically not seen as infringing on academic analyses of specific organisations.
There are a bevy of previous publications exploring the causes of terrorism, as well as the motivations of specific groups. Notable examples include Guy Martin’s Understanding Terrorism, Graeme Wood’s The Way of the Stranger, and Eli Berman’s Radical, Religious, and Violent. None of these books got the author or publisher in legal trouble in the UK.
Nevertheless, the Department of Education issued a statement to Jewish News, imploring LSE to “assure itself of the lawfulness of speech at events it is hosting, particularly where they relate to proscribed terrorist organisations”. The statement continued: with “the appalling rise in antisemitism on campuses in the UK, this government is committed to making sure all students, regardless of race or religion, are free to focus on their studies rather than worry about their safety and to ensure the safety of students and staff on campus”.
This sounds a lot like the bogus rhetoric of “safety” which has so often led to cancellation of academics and speakers over the past decade. Naturally, antisemitism has no place on campus and is likely to fall afoul of several UK laws when it appears. However, inviting authors to discuss an academic book about a terrorist organisation does not risk the “safety” of any students at LSE. Should any members of the University feel uncomfortable with the analysis presented at the event, they always have the option of simply not attending.
Alternatively, anyone who believes the analysis to be misguided, or who worries that the discussion at the book launch will be one-sided, might consider showing up and asking a few tough questions of the authors. Debate is always more appropriate for a university than boycotts or cancellations.
To its credit, LSE defended the decision to host the event, saying that “Free speech and freedom of expression underpins everything we do at LSE”. The statement went on to say that the University “host[s] an enormous number of events each year, covering a wide range of viewpoints and positions”.
We commend LSE standing up for free speech and academic freedom in the face of criticism, calls for cancellation, and even warnings from the government. Hopefully, other institutions will follow its lead when they are inevitably faced with similar controversies in the future.