UNICEF UK ‘takes action’ over employee linked to anti-Israel merchandise
UK Lawyers for Israel raised concerns over products including “Death Death to the IDF” hoodies and Hamas-linked imagery
UNICEF UK says it has taken “immediate action” after an employee was linked to an online shop selling merchandise celebrating violence against Israelis and honouring Hamas leaders.
Muhammad Karim, who was listed as a marketing specialist at the children’s charity, was reported to UNICEF UK earlier this month by UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI).
The pro-Israel legal group raised concerns after research by antisemitism monitoring group GnasherJew linked Karim to Solid Mujahid, an online store selling clothing and accessories carrying anti-Israel slogans and violent imagery.
The shop, which has since been taken offline, offered hoodies carrying the words “Death Death to the IDF” and caps featuring an inverted red triangle, a symbol used in Hamas propaganda to mark Israeli targets.
Another product showed a watermelon throwing a lit firebomb at an Israeli tank and was promoted as an “epic representation of resistance” against “the absolute worst of humanity, the IDF and its ilk”.
UKLFI also highlighted a T-shirt featuring the names of Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and Ahmad Yassin alongside other political and historical figures.
A further item carried the words “Punch a Zionist” alongside an image of a Palestinian flag bearer punching a person marked with an Israeli flag.
UKLFI contacted UNICEF UK on 9 August and warned that some of the material could potentially breach UK terrorism legislation.
Karim had been described on LinkedIn as a marketing manager at UNICEF UK and was also named in an organisational directory as a marketing specialist. According to UKLFI, his details were subsequently removed from the directory, and references to UNICEF disappeared from his LinkedIn profile.
UNICEF has not confirmed whether Karim has been dismissed.
Its chief executive, Dr Philip Goodwin, told UKLFI: “We are aware of the serious allegations concerning this employee and took immediate action commensurate with the alleged conduct.”
The charity declined to provide further details about Karim’s employment status, citing privacy rules preventing it from commenting on the employment of third parties.
UKLFI welcomed the response, saying the case “demonstrated the importance of charities applying their codes of conduct consistently, particularly where employees are publicly associated with material appearing to celebrate violence or proscribed terrorist organisations”.
Karim has been contacted by Jewish News for comment.