A students' union is considering legal action over an email emanating from the email address of its former diversity officer Bahar Mustafa, which said activist Pamela Geller "deserved to be raped", saying the message was "entirely false".
The email, addressed to the right-wing US activist who is an outspoken opponent of radical Islam, said she deserved "to be raped in every hole by hordes of muslims". It also went on to say her attackers should "slap", "choke" and piss "in ya (sic) face".
Mustafa came to public attention for a series of tweets advocating "kill all white men", for which she was charged with a crime, though the case was abandoned before it came to court.
Geller, who has campaigned against plans to build a mosque at the Ground Zero site in New York and has sponsored a 'draw the Prophet' cartoon contest in the US, shared the supposed email on her blog.
Bahar Mustafa, posing outside a sign which depicts a cup of "male tears"
The Goldsmiths Students' Union insists the email was sent by an unknown individual using 'InstaEmail.com' software, which allows people to create customised emails. Bahar has not commented publicly about the email but resigned from her position six day ago, "for the preservation of my mental and physical health".
In a statement on its website the union says it is considering taking legal action against the sender of the email.
It reads: “Goldsmiths Students’ Union has been made aware that a fake and very hurtful email purporting to come from the account of Bahar Mustafa is circulating on social media. This email has in fact been sent from “InstaEmail.com” and is entirely false.
“Anyone who checks the note at the bottom of the email will see that this has come via InstaEmail, which uses an open-field “from” text input, allowing anyone to give the impression that they are somebody else.
The email, purportedly from Mustafa, that Pamela Geller shared on her blog
“Goldsmiths Students’ Union is considering taking legal action.”
Mustafa announced on November 20 that she was quitting her job as welfare and diversity officer after being accused of bullying students’ union president Adrihani Rashid, who had earlier resigned.
She told the Evening Standard at the time: “I am resigning for the preservation of my mental and physical health. I am still committed to the independent investigation which I am confident will shed light on the structural issues that have led to the mental and physical breakdown of all sabbatical officers.”
The 28-year-old, of Enfield, north London, had earlier sparked a racism row after she banned white men from attending a meeting for minority ethnic women.
Geller posted the email on her blog calling it the "email of the day"
The incident led to Mustafa being arrested and accused of sending a communication conveying a threatening message and with sending a grossly offensive message via a public communication network. Critics had trawled Mustafa's social media accounts and accused her of using the hashtag “#killallwhitemen”.
Police this month dropped charges against her saying they did not have enough evidence. The Crown Prosecution Service is said to be reviewing that decision.
Mustafa's message on Facebook about the anti-racism event, which was later deleted
Mustafa has previously said she could not be racist or sexist because she is an ethnic minority woman.
Speaking to the university's student assembly, she said: "There have been charges made against me, that I am racist and sexist to white men. I want to explain why this is false. I, an ethnic minority woman, cannot be racist or sexist to white men, because racism and sexism describes structures of privilege based on race and gender.
"And therefore women of colour and non-binary genders cannot be racist or sexist as we do not stand to benefit from such a system."
SEE ALSO:
- Goldsmith's Student Diversity Officer Bahar Mustafa Investigated By Police After She Tweeted 'Kill All White Men'
- Petition To Have University's Diversity Officer, Who Tweeted 'Kill All White Men', Sacked Reaches 12,000
- Goldsmiths SU Diversity Officer Bahar Mustafa Could Lose Job Over '#KillAllWhiteMen' Tweet
- 'I Can't Be Racist Or Sexist Because I'm An Ethnic Minority Woman,' Says Goldsmiths' Diversity Officer
- Goldsmiths SU Forced To Backtrack Over Event Which Banned White and Male Students
- UCL Students' Union Backs Excluding Men And White People From 'Anti-Racism' Events