After referring to Palestinian people as “animals” and “scum” on X, an employee working for Tower Hamlets council has “left with immediate effect.”
Ian Baruch, a traffic & parking operations manager for Tower Hamlets council posted on October 15 about pro-Palestine protests the previous day across the UK. He referred to Palestinians as “The animals you are voting for” and “Hamas supporting scum, all happy to march yesterday celebrating the kidnapping, rape & murder of these kids.”
Baruch posted on November 25 “Egypt detest the Palestinian animals. They treat them like dirt.”
Various groups on X including ‘Stop Arab Hate’ and ‘Tower Hamlets Palestine Solidarity Network’ posted screenshots of Baruch’s offensive posts on X, which were then shared in the Tower Hamlets community Facebook group.
There, Tower Hamlets residents called for people to email hatecrime@towerhamlets.gov.uk to push the Tower Hamlets council to address Baruch’s offensive posts on X.
A spokesperson for the Tower Hamlets council said:
“We are concerned by the offensive content of this social media post which does not represent the views of the council. This was done by an agency member of staff who was not employed directly by the council. He has subsequently left with immediate effect.”
Baruch’s LinkedIn and X profiles are now disabled. Eastlondonlines has not been able to contact Baruch.