Hassan al-Sayed is the Principal at UNRWA’s Palestine Martyrs School in Sidon and the UNRWA Teachers Union Leader for Sidon. He was suspended by UNRWA on October 11, 2024. Al-Sayed’s neutrality violations include the following:
- Attended a Hamas rally in Sidon with Ismail Haniyeh and sat next to Hamas Lebanon leader Fateh Sharif.
- Attended a meeting with Hamas’s spokesperson in Lebanon, Jihad Taha.
- Celebrated the Hamas October 7th attack at his school with students, calling the attackers “brave heroes.”
- Incites his students to violence against Israel with a photo of a young child holding a machine gun and photos of school students erasing Israel from the map by writing over the map that “The land is ours and we will not give up until it is liberated.”
Al-Sayed appears in a photo of the UNRWA Lebanon Teachers Union in front of an UNRWA field office in Lebanon in October 2022.
Al-Sayed at Hamas Rally in Sidon with Hamas Lebanon Leader Fateh Sharif
In June 2022, al-Sayed posted pictures of himself at a Hamas rally in Sidon where now-deceased Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh also spoke. The photos show now-deceased Hamas Lebanon leader Fateh Sharif sitting with the Hamas leadership.
Al-Sayed Attends Meeting with Hamas Spokesperson Jihad Tiha
In December 2020, al-Sayed attended a meeting with Hamas spokesperson in Lebanon Jihad Taha, further confirming his close connection with the Hamas leadership. (December 15, 2020).
Al-Sayed Celebrates October 7th Hamas Attack
On October 7, 2023, al-Sayed posted photos of himself in his office with a student joyfully celebrating the Hamas atrocities that day. The photos show al-Sayed smiling happily with a young girl who is also smiling and holding a basket of sweets to distribute on this “special Palestinian day.” (October 7, 2023).
In another post that day, al-Sayed glorified the October 7th Hamas attackers as having ‘honor’ and ‘bravery’. (October 7, 2023).
In yet another post that day, al-Sayed cheered the attack for causing the Israeli civilians to “disperse like a flock [of sheep/goats]” and venerated the October 7th terrorists as “brave heroes” and “knights.” (October 7, 2023).
Al-Sayed Posts Photo of Child Holding Machine Gun
In January 2024, al-Sayed posted a Facebook story of a young child holding a real-looking machine gun set to a Lebanese song associated with the Hezbollah terror organization.” (January 2024).
Al-Sayed Teaches Students to Replace Israel with Palestine
In March 2022, al-Sayed posted photos of his students erasing Israel from the map and replacing it with Palestine in honor of Palestinian Land Day. The photos show both al-Sayed and one of the students writing on a map of Israel. In one of the photos a child writes on the map “Jerusalem is ours and the land is ours and we will not give up any land until it is liberated.” The photos also show a drawing of an olive tree in the shape of a map of Israel wrapped in a Palestinian flag and a depiction of the Dome of the Rock as a Palestinian resistance fighter wrapped in a keffiyeh holding a rock. (March 30, 2022).
