Jewish Member of Parliament Ian Austin has been suspended as chairman from Midland Heart after an X post condemning UNRWA’s connections with the Hamas terrorist organization, Midland Heart confirmed on Friday.
In a now-deleted X post, in reference to UNRWA claiming to have no knowledge of a Hamas terror tunnel under their Gaza headquarters, Austin wrote “Everyone better safe than sorry: before you go to bed, nip down and check you haven’t got a death cult of Islamist murderers and rapists running their operations downstairs. It’s easily done.”
Austin later posted, “People have complained about a tweet I issued at the weekend about Hamas’ operations centre being underneath UNWRA’s offices. It was not my intention to offend anyone and I have deleted it.
“As I have written and said many times - including in a national newspaper today - the vast majority of Muslims are just as appalled by racism and terrorism as everyone else.”
As I have written and said many times - including in a national newspaper today - the vast majority of Muslims are just as appalled by racism and terrorism as everyone else.
— Ian Austin (@LordIanAustin) February 14, 2024
In an email sent to Heart Midland staff, reported by Inside Housing, Midland Heart chief executive Glenn Harris said that “given the impact this has had on the reputation of our organisation and the upset it has caused, especially to our colleagues, the board unanimously feel this is the only course of action.
“The post resulted in a lot of people contacting Lord Austin directly and us as an organisation to share how unhappy they were with a post and, in some cases, deeply offended…
“I am sorry to any colleagues who were offended by the post and can assure you that this was done by Lord Austin in a personal capacity and is not endorsed by Midland Hart, or our board in any way.
"It is important to note that I truly believe that Lord Austin did not mean any offence by the post.
“However, this does not make it OK, nor does it stop it offending people. We all have a responsibility to think through how we communicate our views and feelings, especially on sensitive issues.”
The letter did not make clear what component of Austin’s X post was “offending people.” However, the Dorset Eye reported that his suspension came as the comments were thought to be Islamophobic.
Austin’s post referenced “Islamists” which is defined as “an advocate or supporter of Islamic fundamentalism; a person who advocates increasing the influence of Islamic law in politics and society” or “relating to, advocating, or supporting Islamic fundamentalism” by Oxford Language dictionaries. The term is regularly used by media outlets, such as Reuters, to describe terrorist groups like Hamas and ISIS.
The organization also posted on X: “Lord Austin has been suspended from his duties at Midland Heart, a meeting has been arranged for 14 days time, in line with rules of the association, to discuss his removal from the board.
“Llewelyn Graham, our Senior Independent Board Member and Chief Executive of Nehemiah Housing, will step into the role of Chair during this period.”
Llewelyn Graham, our Senior Independent Board Member and Chief Executive of Nehemiah Housing, will step into the role of Chair during this period. (2/2)
— Midland Heart (@MidlandHeart) February 16, 2024
UNRWA’s connections with Hamas
New evidence of the cooperation between UNRWA and the Islamist terror organization Hamas came to light after the IDF discovered a tunnel shaft near a UNRWA school during its operations in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military announced last Saturday.
The tunnel shaft, near the school, led to an underground shelter that served as a valuable asset for Hamas's military intelligence wing, according to the IDF. The route connected to the tunnel also led to a path beneath UNRWA's central headquarters in the Gaza Strip.
According to the report, the tunnel was 700 meters long and 18 meters deep and contained several constructed side doors to various new routes. The IDF stated that the newly acquired intelligence from this operation will allow it to conduct additional raids on Hamas in the future.
Additionally, IDF soldiers discovered electric infrastructure inside the tunnels that were connected to the UNRWA headquarters building, indicating that UNRWA assets were supplying Hamas with electricity.
UNRWA has also seen a suspension in funding from several countries after evidence came to light which proved that over 30 of their staff participated in Hamas’s October 7 terror attack.