Mick Hartley

From the JC:

An academic who praised the “heroism” of the October 7 attack is leading a high-profile drive to establish a Palestine Studies course at Cambridge.

The campaign by Makram Khoury-Machool, founding director of the Cambridge Centre for Palestine Studies (CCPS), is backed by the university’s chancellor, Lord Smith of Finsbury, and former archbishop of Canterbury Lord Williams, both of whom joined him for an event on Tuesday to argue the case for the course.

Machool, who regularly writes for Al Mayadeen, a Hezbollah-aligned publication based in Beirut, has also previously appeared to blame the Manchester terror attack on British Jews’ support for Israel. 

Shadow Education Secretary Laura Trott said his involvement in the campaign was “utterly appalling”.

The initiative, which is not officially endorsed by the university, is also supported by Baroness Warsi and Baroness Kennedy.

What a surprise.

Khoury-Machool has also faced criticism for social media posts on the day of the Hamas-led attack on October 7 2023.

On X, he wrote: “Palestinian […] courage, relentless heroism and sacrifice in their road for liberation”.

Just call it the AntiZionist Studies course. Make it clear.