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       RE teacher at at Ursuline High School in Wimbledon suspended after
       saying Hamas 'committed no crime'
        
 (HTM) Source
        
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       Campaign group UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) wrote to Mr Kelly on
       April 29, attaching screenshots of Mr Preastuin's social media
       activity.
        
       Its director, Caroline Turner, called for an urgent investigation and
       claimed Mr Preastuin was "an extremely dangerous individual".
        
       She said: "We are extremely concerned that one of your teachers, Ronan
       Preastuin, has been posting messages on social media praising and
       extolling the virtues of the Hamas terrorist group, in breach of UK
       anti-terrorism law...
        
       "We note that he is a religious education teacher at your school, as
       well as a Year 9 tutor. We believe that as an overt supporter of
       terrorists, he is an extremely dangerous influence on the children at
       Ursuline High School.
        
       "Mr Preastuin's open support for a terrorism group is particularly
       egregious given his job as a Religious Education teacher and a Year 9
       form tutor in your school.
        
       "As a teacher, in a position of authority over his students, he is
       likely to influence his students, and may well encourage them to
       follow his own illegal beliefs, as well as stir up racial hatred
       against Jews and Israelis."
        
       The same day, Mr Kelly responded, thanking UKLFI for alerting him to
       "this extremely concerning allegation".
        
       He said: "We can confirm that the member of staff has been suspended
       from work and I personally notified the police immediately on receipt
       of this disclosure."
        
       Mr Kelly said the police confirmed to him that officers would be
       investigating and that the school had opened an internal
       investigation.
        
       He added: "Given that this is a legal process we are unable to comment
       further until all the investigations are concluded."
        
       ## 'Pleased the school has taken swift action'
        
       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."
        
       On Oct 7, 2023, Hamas militants stormed into Israel, killing around
       1,200 people and taking more than 250 others back to Gaza as hostages.
        
       In response, Israel launched an airstrike campaign in Gaza, followed
       by a ground invasion.
        
       More than 33,000 Palestinians have since been killed since the start
       of the war, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry.
        
       A spokesman for UKLFI said: "We are pleased that the school has taken
       swift action in this worrying case."
        
       The Metropolitan Police has been contacted for comment.
        
        
        
        
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