A journalist who called the Holocaust a “myth” and defended the murder of Israeli civilians was a mentor to University of Westminster students, the JC can reveal.

Motasem Ahmed Dalloul, who works as the Gaza correspondent of Qatari government-backed news site Middle East Monitor, provided career advice to students at the university in the 2021 to 2022 academic year.

The Westminster graduate was rewarded with a certificate of participation signed by Vice-Chancellor Dr Peter Bonfield and Caroline Lloyd, the university’s director of student services, despite a history of making shocking statements.

In July 2017, two days after three Israeli civilians were stabbed to death in their West Bank home, Mr Dalloul, who is Palestinian, tweeted: “Resisting occupation with all available means, including armed struggle is legitimate based on inte’l law. #ResistanceIsNotTerrorism."

Dalloul tweet

One of Dalloul's tweets

An anonymous person responded to the journalist: “Walking into a home and stabbing three innocent people in the middle of dinner is not remotely equal to ‘resistance’. Terrorism is terrorism.”

Mr Dalloul replied: “No, they live in occupied land, they’ve served in army, killed Palestinians, innocent Jews live in their home countries, not others’ countries.”

In November 2014, sharing an article about Germany’s decision not to recognise a Palestinian state, he wrote: “They nurtured the myth of the Holocaust and then they continue supporting the Zionists!!”

In June 2016, Mr Dalloul shared a link to an article published by a website he claims to have co-founded, Days of Palestine.

The page, titled “A 91-year-old Jew admits telling lies about Holocaust”, related the story of Joseph Hirt, who in 2016 admitted that he had lied about escaping Auschwitz.

This adds more reasons to review the facts about the Holocaust,” the article claimed.

Posting the article to Twitter, Mr Dalloul shared a photo of Mr Hirt alongside the words: “This adds more question marks ahead of what is called a Holocaust.”

In 2014, he claimed: “Israeli occupation is crueller on Palestinians than Hitler persecution to Jews.”

Since graduating, he has worked as a staff writer at Middle East Monitor and contributed to two other news websites, Middle East Eye and TRT World. In 2018, he was reportedly hospitalised after being shot by Israeli Defence Forces while covering the March of Return near Gaza’s eastern border.

Motasem Dalloul told the JC: “All what you said is fake. I’m actually against the Zionist-Israeli occupation of Palestine, but don’t deny anyone’s pain and suffering.”

The University of Westminster was contacted for comment.