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UNICEF UK says it took “immediate action” against an employee accused of involvement with an online store that sold merchandise praising Hamas leaders, invoking armed “resistance” and explicitly calling for violence against Zionists.
The action followed an investigation by antisemitism-monitoring group GnasherJew and a subsequent complaint from UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), which raised concerns about Muhammad Karim, identified at the time as a Marketing Manager at UNICEF UK. GnasherJew also identified Karim as chair of the UNICEF Staff Association.
Karim’s employment with the charity now appears to have ended. According to UKLFI, his UNICEF position disappeared from his LinkedIn profile following the complaint. UNICEF UK, however, has not publicly confirmed whether Karim was dismissed.
“Punch a Zionist” and Praising Hamas Leaders
The controversy centers on an online store called Solid Mujahid, which GnasherJew linked to Karim through public records and digital footprints. The shop has since been taken offline.
Among the products documented was a shirt emblazoned with the words “Punch a Zionist,” accompanied by an illustration appearing to show a Palestinian flag-bearer punching a person marked with an Israeli flag.
Other merchandise included hoodies reading “Death Death to the IDF,” caps displaying the inverted red triangle used in Hamas propaganda videos to mark targets and a shirt depicting a watermelon throwing a flaming Molotov cocktail at an Israeli tank.
According to UKLFI, Karim allegedly promoted the latter as an “epic representation of resistance” against what he described as “the absolute worst of humanity, the IDF and its ilk.”
One shirt featured the names of Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and Ahmed Yassin alongside other historical and political figures. Karim allegedly described those featured as “Champions of truth throughout history.” A promotional image showed a man carrying a flaming Molotov cocktail.
Hamas has been proscribed in its entirety as a terrorist organization in the United Kingdom since 2021.
Posts Praising ‘Armed Resistance’
The merchandise was not the only material uncovered.
GnasherJew’s investigation found that immediately after the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led massacre in Israel, Karim posted material describing the attacks as “decolonisation in practice.”
The organization also documented on X a broader collection of material it attributed to Karim and Solid Mujahid.
On October 7, 2024, one year after the massacre, Karim allegedly published a post endorsing “armed resistance” alongside a flaming inverted red triangle.
GnasherJew further reported that Solid Mujahid’s social media accounts amplified Holocaust denial and antisemitic material, including the “271k” conspiracy theory used to minimize the number of Jews murdered during the Holocaust and claims invoking longstanding antisemitic tropes about Jews, money and global conflicts.
UNICEF UK Takes “Immediate Action”
UKLFI wrote to UNICEF UK on August 9, asking the charity to investigate whether Karim operated the accounts and store, whether the conduct complied with its code of conduct and safeguarding requirements and whether any of the material should be referred to police or Counter Terrorism Policing.
“We are aware of the serious allegations concerning this employee and took immediate action commensurate with the alleged conduct,” UNICEF UK Chief Executive Dr. Philip Goodwin told UKLFI. The organization declined to provide further details.
UKLFI stressed that determining whether any criminal offense occurred is ultimately a matter for British authorities. It said the material raised potential concerns under British terrorism legislation, while the “Punch a Zionist” merchandise appeared to expressly advocate physical violence against a category of people.