A religious studies teacher at a Catholic school has been suspended and reported to the police after saying that Hamas had “committed no crime”.
As reported by the Telegraph, Ronan Preastuin, a Year 9 tutor, also described the Oct 7 attacks as a “justified act of resistance” and called for “Glory to Hamas”, adding: “The destruction of the racist state of #Isarel [sic] is coming soon.” The report continues:
A string of recent social media posts by Mr Preastuin, who teaches at Ursuline High School, a Catholic girls’ school in Wimbledon, south-west London, included hatred of the state of Israel. In one post he wrote: “Israel is not a true Jewish state, but an inversion and perversion of Judaism.”
The teacher also prayed for God to grant victory to Hamas over “the grotesque, barbaric, idol-worshipping invaders IDF.”
In November 2021, the Government announced that Hamas had become a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK – meaning that its members or those who invite support for the group could be jailed for up to 14 years.
In correspondence seen by The Telegraph, Eoin Kelly, Ursuline High School’s head teacher, confirmed that Mr Preastuin has been reported to the police, that he has been suspended from work, and that the school had opened an internal investigation.
Mr Preastuin’s posts were first exposed by the GnasherJew website on April 23 2024, and a few hours later Mr Preastuin removed his account on X, formerly Twitter.
Among his other posts, he wrote: “So yes October 7 was a justified act of resistance under a brutal and crushing occupation”.
On Jan 25 2024 he posted: “I’m delighted to infirm [sic] you monsters, Hamas committed no crime, IsraelinIreland. Their actions were entirely legitimate resistance to a criminal state masquerading as Jewish, colonising their country.”
Worth reading in full.
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