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Published: January 13, 2010; Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center.

The Students’ Union of the London School of Economics and Queen Mary College of London University Have Twinned with the Islamic University in Gaza. The Islamic University is a Hamas stronghold, a terrorist base and a center for manufacturing weapons. It is also an important center for radical Islamic indoctrination.

1. The students’ union of the London School of Economics (LSE) passed a motion to twin with the Islamic University in Gaza, a Hamas political and military-terrorist stronghold attacked by the IDF in Operation Cast Lead. The decision was initiated by the LSE Students Union Palestine Society.¹ Following the LSE’s lead, on December 8, 2009, Queen Mary College of the University of London also passed a motion to twin with the Islamic University.²

2. On December 13, 2009, the Palestinian cell at the LSE said in an announcement on its page in Facebook that the decision had been made on November 26, 2009, three years after the students’ union had twinned with Al-Najah University in Nablus. (Note: During the period of Palestinian terrorist campaign (the second intifada), Al-Najah University was a stronghold of Hamas and many terrorist operatives, including suicide bombers, were students there.³) The announcement also claimed that the Islamic University had been attacked by the Israeli Air Force and sustained $15 million worth of damages, and still had not been rebuilt because of the IDF’s “siege” of the Gaza Strip. In addition, according to the announcement, a room in the new LSE students’ union would be named for a student from the Islamic University who had been killed by the IDF (during Operation Cast Lead).⁴

LSE Facebook press release about twinning with the Islamic University.

3. For years the LSE Students’ Union (LSESU) has held pro-Palestinian, anti-Israeli activities. It also includes the Palestinian society, some of whose members are British and not necessarily Palestinian. An Israeli student who recently graduated from the LSE said that during Operation Cast Lead the Israeli students felt threatened. The Palestinian Society initiated a series of protests, culminating in the “occupation of the Old Theatre” and conducting negotiations on a list of its demands (condemnation of Israel, sending humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip, giving Palestinian students scholarships). The university administration did not remove the students occupying the Old Theatre where they stayed for ten days (For a document which includes a list of their demands, see the Appendix).

4. The twinning of the LSE and Queen Mary College with the Islamic University in Gaza marks another achievement for the militant anti-Israeli campaign being waged on British campuses, which is characterized by demonstrations, protest activities, anti-Israeli propaganda and incitement, and initiatives for academic boycotts of Israel and Israeli universities. In recent years many universities in Britain have become hotbeds of radical leftist and Islamic activity, including Hamas, which has a broad support base in Britain.⁵ In dealing with the universities, Hamas has managed to conceal its radical Islamic-totalitarian features (such as its de facto negation of individual freedom, democracy and human rights, and its anti-Western, anti-liberal, anti-Semitic ideology).

Pro-Palestinian students at the LSE demonstrating against Israel.

The Islamic University in the Gaza Strip: An important base of Hamas political and military-terrorist strength from which terrorist activity is carried out.

5. The Islamic University in the Gaza Strip is not only an educational academic institution. It is a Hamas political stronghold of which Hamas made extensive use for its military-terrorist wing. On December 28, 2009, the second day of Operation Cast Lead, the Israeli Air Force attacked the university’s center for the research and develop of Hamas’ weapons, located in the university laboratories. The labs produced, among other things, the rockets used by Hamas to attack the residents of the State of Israel.

Aerial photograph of the Islamic University of Gaza. Building number 4 (highlighted at the list below) houses the laboratories (List from the Islamic University’s student forum website). The laboratories developed weapons for Hamas.

6. The Islamic University has been an important center of Hamas political activity for almost three decades. This “academic” institution provides a haven for the activity of senior Hamas figures in the Gaza Strip who serve as university teachers and administrators. It is a hothouse for the growth of young Hamas political, military-terrorist and civilian leaders; it sponsors Hamas social activities (preaching, collecting contributions, managing rallies). In addition, it serves as a center for Hamas’ military-terrorist activities.

Hamas’ Military Involvement in the University of Gaza.

7. Hamas’ military-terrorist wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, carries out a wide variety of activities within the university’s walls: it stores weapons, recruits operatives (including suicide bombers), holds secret meetings, conducts training, and exploits the exact sciences faculty and laboratories to develop and manufacture weapons (including long-range rockets to be launched at Israeli civilians). Hamas sent students involved in the manufacture of weapons to Iran, Syria and Lebanon for additional training, and exploited the fact that both expert knowledge and chemical material were readily available in the university laboratories.

8. During the violent confrontations between Hamas and Fatah (and the security forces loyal to Mahmoud Abbas) in 2007, the Islamic University served as a base for the activities of Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades operatives and students who supported Hamas against rival Fatah and Palestinian Authority supporters:

A) At the end of January 2007, security forces loyal to Fatah and Mahmoud Abbas invaded the university and seized large quantities of stored weapons. The action, regarded by Hamas as an attack on one of its strongholds, led to an escalation of the confrontation and a broad Hamas attack on the central facilities of the Palestinian Authority’s security forces and administration offices.

B) On May 16, 2007, on the eve of the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip, there were violent confrontations between the two sides, during which the spokesman for the presidential office (loyal to Mahmoud Abbas) accused the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades of firing mortar shells from within the university compound at the president’s residence in Gaza City. He said Hamas had “turned the Islamic University into an army camp” (Dunia Al-Watan website, May 16, 2007).

C) On November 12, 2007, a mass rally was held in the center of Gaza City to mark the third anniversary of Yasser Arafat’s death. It was exploited to express support for Mahmoud Abbas and Fatah and to denounce the Hamas control of the Gaza Strip. After the rally ended violence broke out between Fatah activists and Hamas’ security forces, during which the security forces opened fire, killing six and wounding at least 150. Fatah activists claimed that the violence began when Hamas gunmen took positions on the roofs of Islamic University buildings and opened fire at the demonstrators. Mahmoud Abbas denounced the event as a “cruel crime” and declared three days of mourning throughout the Palestinian Authority.

Fire at the university during the violent struggle between Fatah and Hamas in May 2007 (Dunia Al-Watan, May 15, 2007).

9. The university, beyond being an integral part of Hamas’ terrorist infrastructure, is also a center for radical Islamic brainwashing and indoctrinating students with the ideological objectives of the Hamas movement (such as the fight against “infidels,” the West and Jews, the establishment of an Islamic Palestinian state, and enforcing an Islamic code on the Palestinians). Students and student council activists who studied at the Islamic University have been recruited for terrorist activities, including suicide bombing attacks. For example:

A) Hussein Hassan Abu Nasser – Hamas military-terrorist operative from Jabaliya. He blew himself up in a truck near the Egyptian border on May 25, 2001. He had been a student in the department of Islamic studies at the university.

Hussein Hassan Abu Nasser

B) ‘Abd al-M’uti al-Assar – Hamas military-terrorist operative from Khan Yunis. Died in a suicide bombing attack near the and IDF roadblock west of Khan Yunis on May 29, 2001. Studied engineering at the Islamic University. He carried out the attack with Ismail Ashur, another student at the Islamic University.

Abd al-M’uti al-Assar

C) Ismail Bashir Khalil Maasawani – A resident of the Shati refugee camp, he blew himself up with a car bomb near an IDF post in the northern Gaza Strip on June 22, 2001, killing two IDF soldiers and critically wounding three. He was in his fourth year at the Islamic University, studying education.

Ismail Bashir Khalil Maasawani

D) Muhandas Suidan – A resident of the Nuseirat refugee camp, on June 23, 2001 he and two other terrorist operatives tried to infiltrate into Israel though the security fence. In their possession were four hand grenades, a pistol and 1,200 shekels. He was an A student in the fundamentals of religion department at the Islamic University and a member of the student council.

E) Nazef Ayish Muhammad Nazer – A resident of Jabaliya, on June 9, 2001, he blew himself up with 50 kilograms (110 lbs) of explosives next to a bus carrying settlers to Kfar Darom. He worked as a reporter to the Islamic University’s student newspaper.

Nazef Ayish Muhammad Nazer

Senior Hamas Figures from the Islamic University.

10. Most of the positions at the university, from lecturers to the administration to the janitorial staff, are filled by members of Hamas or men affiliated with it. Hamas makes the university’s decisions and formulates its policies. Most of the senior Hamas figures in the Gaza Strip had or have important positions at the Islamic University: the late Sheik Ahmed Yassin (the movement’s founder), the late Abd Al-Aziz Rantisi (lectured in the medical and science departments), Ismail Abu Shanab (member of the board of directors and head of the natural sciences department), Ibrahim al-Muqadeh and Salah Shahedeh6 (dean of students and lecturer during the 1980s).

11. Many other senior Hamas figures in the Gaza Strip studied at the Islamic University:

A) Ismail Haniya, head of the de facto Hamas administration, has a degree in Arabic literature from the university.

Ismail Haniya speaks at the Islamic University of Gaza

B) Khalil al-Hayeh, senior Hamas figure, was deputy chairman of the student council. He later served as deputy chairman of the employees’ union and taught Islamic religious law.

C) Mahmoud al-Zahar, one of the group which founded Hamas, lectured on medicine.

D) Nizar Riyan, a senior Hamas figure killed in Operation Cast Lead, taught Islamic religious law.

E) Ismail Radwan, Hamas spokesman, taught Islamic religious subjects and was chairman of the employees’ committee.

F) Musheir al-Masri, senior Hamas figure, has an MA in Islamic religious law, served as deputy chairman of the student council and taught at the university.

G) Ayman Taha, senior Hamas figure, was chairman of the student council at the end of the 1990s.

Appendix

The Demands Made by the Students Who “Occupied” the LSE’s Old Theatre during Operation Cast Lead at the Instigation of the Palestinian Society.

THE OLD THEATRE IS NOW UNDER OCCUPATION

Why are we here?

As of 4pm Thursday 15th January the Old Theatre is under occupation. We are a coalition of LSE students from many different backgrounds. Our aims are to raise awareness of the ongoing massacre in Gaza and the LSE’s complicity in this. Despite supposedly being a progressive university, the LSE has refused to issue a statement condemning the attack or the bombing of the University in Gaza or divest from BAE Systems, a firm that arms Israel.
SOAS University went into occupation two days ago demanding similar things. Last night, the SOAS administration agreed to all of their demands and the occupation has now ended. The majority of LSE has shown its opposition to the Israeli occupation time and time again. It is time to act collectively and demand that LSE administration listen to the demands of students.
Over 1000 Palestinians have been killed in the most recent attacks on Gaza- a third of them children. A university founded on principles of social justice should not be connected with such blatant human rights atrocities.
No damage will be inflicted upon the property-this is a peaceful protest. The occupation is run democratically with regular meetings.
What can you do?
JOIN US-If you agree with the aims of our occupation or want to offer solidarity come and join us, even if for only a short while.
Email the Director of LSE Howard Davies to say you support the occupation h.davies@Ise.ac.uk

—

OUR DEMANDS

1) Statement
The LSE should release a statement condemning the Israeli attack on Gaza and demanding a ceasefire. LSE is an institution founded on the Fabian values that were the precursor of the human rights agenda of modern politics. LSE must restate those values and condemn state criminality. It is not a matter of politics, it is a matter of humanity. A statement condemning Israeli violence is fully in keeping with the founding
principles of our university.
2) Divestment
The LSE currently holds investments in BAE Systems, a firm that the Campaign Against the Arms Trade (caat.org.uk) states provides weapons and ammunition for the Israeli military. This means that our university is being directly funded by the Israeli war on Gaza. The LSE must divest from BAE immediately.
3) 5 fully paid scholarships for Palestinian students. At a University as diverse and international as LSE, Palestinian students are grossly underrepresented in the student body when compared to other groups.
4) Fundraising day. The LSE administration should facilitate a ‘fundraising day’ where buckets will be in every lecture and seminar to collect money for the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians
5) Books and Computers. The LSE has a £26 million surplus and is lucky enough to be able to regularly invest in new equipment. Any computers or books due to be got rid of at the end of Lent and Summer terms should be donated to the University and to schools that have been bombed in Gaza.
6) Amnesty. LSE has a proud history of student activism. Students united to campaign against apartheid, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and more recently around divestment from the arms trade. All students have a democratic right to peaceful protest and students should not be prevented from expressing their opinions by fear of (retribution).

Notes:
1. The London School of Economics Students’ Union (LSESU) is the representative and campaigning body for students at the university. It is responsible for the student societies on campus. Over 200 such societies currently belong to it, at least 50 of which are national societies, including the LSE Palestinian Society (From LSE Students’ Union).

2. studentrights.org.uk

3. In March 2007 the students’ union of Manchester University also twinned with Al-Najah University. See the article by Yonathan Dahoah-Halevi entitled “The covenant between the University of Manchester and the ‘university of suicide bombers in Nablus.’ (Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, March 14, 2007)

4. Facebook message.

5. A detailed report about radical Islamic activities in British universities was issued by The Centre for Social Cohesion, a non-partisan British think tank which deals with social issues in the UK. Support for Hamas at the universities appears on pages 15, 27, 30 and 32. SocialCohesion.

6. Salah Shahedeh orchestrated some of the suicide bombing attacks carried out by university students.

Mazzeltov,

Crethi Plethi

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