A religious studies teacher at a Catholic school has been suspended and reported to the police after saying that Hamas had “committed no crime”.
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.”
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 [Israel Defence Forces].”
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.
‘Illegal beliefs’
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.”
