Cambridge University-linked project erases Israel

An academic project hosted by Cambridge University promotes an “Islamic curriculum” which tells 12-year-olds that Hamas is an “excuse that Israel uses to justify its attacks on the Gaza Strip,” calls the civilian hostages taken by the terror group on October 7 “prisoners of war” and publishes in pupils’ course material a map of the region from which Israel has been erased. The project also publishes a guide aimed at parents and children , written after the attacks, which asks: “What is the reward of a shaheed [a martyr]?

How does this make you feel when you think of all the children of Gaza who are now shuhada [martyrs]?” and states, quoting the Quran: “Never say that those martyred in the cause of Allah are dead – in fact, they are alive but you do not perceive it.” “Hamas is the biggest excuse that Israel uses to justify its attacks on the Gaza Strip,” the ICI tells the children The project which promotes the claims, the Islamic Educator Learning Community (IELC), is led by Cambridge’s assistant research professor of education , Farah Ahmed, a member of the same faculty which employed Jason Arday and a former activist in the now-banned terror group Hizb ut-Tahrir.

This article marks the third in our continuing series about the deep problems in the subject of Education at Cambridge. It follows our disclosure of Ahmed’s long record of bigoted, extremist and separatist views on Tuesday and our revelation on Saturday that Ahmed’s unit has also promoted support for creationism and attacks on evolution. Ahmed’s IELC is “ hosted by ” and “ partners with ” a university body called the Cambridge Teacher Research Exchange, Camtree.

Camtree is a project of Hughes Hall , the Cambridge University college where Ahmed is a governing fellow . Ahmed is also an “ affiliate ” of Camtree. Most popular IELC’s website promotes something called the “Islamic Curriculum Initiative,” describing it as a response of Muslim educators to the 7 October attacks. As IELC puts it : “We know that silence, neutrality, and business-as-usual in education are no longer options. The events following October 7 made that painfully clear.

What we see today is not new: it is the continuation of a colonial legacy, now repackaged in modern forms, and it demands a clear, principled response from educators.” For its own part, the Islamic Curriculum Initiative (ICI) says that “Palestine is not just a cause – it is a litmus test of our moral clarity, a reflection of our connection to faith, justice, and the Ummah…Our curriculum places Palestine where it belongs: at the heart of how students understand justice, faith, and responsibility…making Palestine not a footnote, but a formative part of identity.”

ICI attacks how “the events following October 7 further exposed the manipulation of narratives and the deep-rooted injustice in global discourse. The aftershocks of colonialism continue to shape education and culture, often stripping students of moral clarity and connection. ICI is working to respond with curricula that restore truth.” Alas, ICI’s truth includes a number of things which are not true. In a slide deck for students , it publishes a “political map” of the region from which Israel has been erased, showing Palestine as taking up the whole of the UN-recognised, pre-1967 territory of Israel.

Another item, the lesson plan for “symbols of Palestine” curriculum – aimed at four to eight year olds – says they should be taught to “display the full map of Palestine and discuss how it represents the entirety of the land.” As ICI puts it: “The Zionist narrative tries to claim that Jews are the indigenous people of Palestine and that they are just returning to their ancestral homeland. The Canaanites were the indigenous inhabitants of Palestine, establishing civilizations there over 5,000 years ago.”

Even if it were not widely agreed that the Jews descend from the Canaanites, a distinctly Jewish population emerged in Palestine more than 3,000 years ago. ICI tells children it is wrong that the term anti-Semitism should be “used exclusively for prejudice against Jews.” Jews’ claim to be Semitic is “unsound” because “most Jews lived outside Palestine for 1,900+ years” and “many modern Jews are not from the region.” ICI also has a course – aimed at 12-14 year olds – on the “Nakba,” catastrophe, as Palestinians call the creation of Israel.

In this, it describes the Hamas attacks on October 7 2023 as part of Palestinians’ “great march of return.” It says of the hostages taken by Hamas on that day, most of them non-combatant civilians: “During the attack, more than 200 Israelis were captured as prisoners of war.” Hamas itself? “Hamas is the biggest excuse that Israel uses to justify its attacks on the Gaza Strip,” the ICI tells the children. There’s plenty more to come about Farah Ahmed and the things her unit promotes.

I wonder how many stories it will take before Cambridge University does something about her.