British woman, 20, who publicly 'endorsed' October 7 attacks on Israel charged with supporting Hamas

10 March 2025, 17:54

A 20-year-old Londoner has been charged with two counts of expressing support for Hamas.

Sarah Cotte, from Camden in North London, was arrested for making a public speech in October 2023 in which she appeared to endorse and celebrate the October 7 attacks on Israel.

A second charge relates to similar comments allegedly made on a WhatsApp group.

Cotte was a member of the Fight Racism Fight Imperialism (SOAS FRFI), a society at the SOAS University of London.

A clip of her speech was later posted to X.

She could be heard saying: “We at SOAS Fight Racism Fight Imperialism express our unconditional solidarity with the Palestinian Armed Resistance who have broken free from their open air prison in Gaza and are rising across an occupied country, against the Zionist state which has been bleeding Palestine dry for nearly eighty years.

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“Israel has existed for 27,540 days but in less than one day it has been nearly brought to its knees by righteous armed resistance.”

Cotte was arrested on 30 January 2024 and charged on 4 March.

She is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 24 March, the Metropolitan Police have said.

More than 1,300 Israelis were killed in Hamas' attacks on October 7. More than 250 people were taken hostage

Met counter terrorism police said at the time of her initial arrest: “The 19-year-old woman from central London was arrested by Met officers in the area at approximately 07:30hrs today, Wednesday, 31 January.  She was arrested on suspicion of inviting support for a proscribed organisation, contrary to Section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

“The proscribed organisation in this case is Hamas. The alleged offence took place at a pro-Palestine protest in Camden on 19 October.  The woman is in custody at a central-London police station.”

Cotte is still listed as president of SOAS FRFI on its website.

The society says it is “open to anyone as long as you agree with our struggle against capitalism and imperialism”.

It adds: “Our student society is aligned to Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! the newspaper of a Marxist-Leninist organisation dedicated to building an anti-imperialist movement in Britain.

“The paper is used in the streets as a campaigning tool by people fighting for social justice and equality. We aim to arm people with knowledge as the basis of collective action.”

LBC has approached SOAS for comment.