Jewish students at King’s College London carried out a demonstration in protest against a professor who posted support for the “Palestinian resistance” following the October 7 attacks and allegedly handed out Hamas propaganda in her lectures.
Chanting outside the university’s Strand campus, pupils and supporters urged the university to sack Dr Rana Baker and “stop teaching terror” to its students.
The Middle East History professor allegedly handed out Hamas propaganda titled “Our Narrative: Operation Al-Aqsa Flood” to her students, urging them to consider the terrorist group as a “Islamic national liberation resistance movement” that is “fighting Zionists not Jews”.
A complaint filed by a student in January 2024 was dismissed, with King’s College claiming the lecturer had committed “no wrongdoing”, GB News understands.
GB NEWS/KCL
A further investigation is reportedly being carried out by a third party. One source claimed this was only escalated due to “extreme pressure from students”.
Students claim that a police investigation has been ongoing for several months with no outcome.
In addition to her teaching material, Baker had tweets on her X account from both before her employment and after, praising violent “Palestinian resistance” and expressing her hatred towards all Israelis.
On the morning of October 7, 2023, she tweeted: “The flood of life”, in Arabic on her account.
One post from November 2023 read: “We feel anger, hatred and resentment towards Israel and every person who tries to explain away our feelings or force them into the oppressive category of ‘love’. It’s pathological not to feel angry and hateful of Israel. It’s pathological to feel any other way.”
In another post, she wrote: “By Palestinian resistance, I mean armed fighting, civil disobedience (strikes and so forth), sabotaging the colonisers’ infrastructure etc.”
A fourth post saw the professor claim that a “decent world would not tolerate the existence of Israel”.
“The existence of this monster is predicated on death and destruction,” she wrote.
In addition to her disturbing teaching material, Dr Baker had tweets on her X account from both before her employment and after praising violent “Palestinian resistance” and expressing her hatred towards all Israelis
X
Speaking to GB News at the protest, one Jewish student taught by Baker, said: “Rana Baker tweeted about her hatred of Israel while actively teaching me. How are Jewish or Israeli students supposed to feel safe when an academic tasked with their safety calls for their destruction?
“The public must ask why Dr Baker’s heinous social media activity was ignored by the university.”
Another student, who is a senior member of KCL’s Jewish Society, said it was “shocking” that the university was allowing a Middle East History lecturer to teach a “distorted narrative.”
They said: “Dr Rana Baker, who has continued to teach terror at this university for the past two years, has alarmed the Jewish community on and off King’s.
“Having been a student in her seminars and having had the Hamas charter handed to me in class, while seeing her celebrate the kidnapping of ‘settlers’ and calling the people who murdered our brothers and sisters ‘resistance fighters’ has been terrifying.
“Our main goal today is to pressure King’s to stop allowing professors like Dr Baker, who is a Middle East History lecturer, from teaching terror and distorted narratives in her classroom.”
An Israeli KCL student said this was part of a “bigger issue”, and that antisemitism from both staff and students continues to be widely ignored by institutions.
“Getting constant threats and comments about simply being from a country is unnerving, you are constantly looking over your shoulder to see what’s coming next,” the student said.
“It’s especially scary when the influence comes from lecturers who reinforce these ideas that its ok to hate Jews and Israelis.”
An Israeli KCL student said this was part of a bigger issue, and that antisemitism from both staff and students continues to be widely ignored by institutions.
GB NEWS
Students also said they are scared for their academic success, with one fresher telling GB News: “I’ve only been here for five months and I’ve already felt unsafe on campus and in lectures – it’s widespread and the administration does nothing.
“You also constantly worry if a lecturer’s belief will affect your assignment, if they look at you and treat you differently.”
Meanwhile, a University College London professor was recently forced to resign after a video of him calling a pro-Palestine demonstrator a “coward” and that “no man would want to touch” her went viral after a large group disrupted his event.
After a social media campaign was launched against him, Professor Richard Mole apologised for his actions.
He described his behaviour as “unacceptable” and stepped down from his role as director of UCL’s School of Slavonic and East European Studies.
Discussing the incident, one student told the people’s channel: “It’s not just selectionism between universities and how they address these incidents, but also for different causes.”
They also suggested: “Universities prioritise Palestinian causes and pressure all the time over Israeli and Jewish students.”
It is understood that Dr Rana Baker “feared for her safety” after hearing about the protest.
Commenting on this, one student said: “She claims she’s worried about her safety. But what about the students who feel unsafe in her classroom? The students who have read her tweets, who have parents who pay her to teach them. Why are we employing someone who is teaching terror to the malleable minds of tomorrow?”
King’s College London and the Met Police have been contacted for comment.
