The UK’s National Union of Students (NUS) has found itself embroiled in yet another scandal as its new president was found to have a history on Twitter that included posting a slogan associated with Hamas, celebrating the massacre of Jews and describing a Jordanian-Emirati preacher as a “dirty Zionist.”
Shaima Dallali was voted into the post last week as head of the union that represents more than six million British students at the organization’s annual national conference in Liverpool.
Dallali takes over the role from Larissa Kennedy, who just last month faced calls to resign from her post after she had told Jewish students that they should segregate themselves if they felt uncomfortable watching a performance by British rapper Lowkey, who has released songs referencing the “Zionist lobby” and lyrics that downplay the threat of suicide bombers, as well as terrorism against Israeli citizens.
As HonestReporting detailed, concerns raised by the British Union of Jewish Students (UJS) were dismissed by NUS representatives and Jewish students were instead told they should leave the conference and sit in an “existing safe space” that had been designated for people who are sensitive to loud noises.
Dallali and ‘Jihadi John’
Dallali, who is scheduled to take up her two-year term in July, apologized last week after a series of tweets were uncovered, including one that stated: “Khaybar Khaybar O Jews … Muhammed’s army will return #Gaza,” which references the Muslim massacre of Jews in the town of the same name in northwestern Arabia in 628 CE.
In 2020, she announced she would be raising money for the Islamic group Cage, which then-London mayor and current UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson accused of being apologists for terrorism after the group described notorious ISIS fighter Mohammed Emwazi as a “beautiful young man,” according to the Jewish Chronicle.
Emwazi was dubbed “Jihadi John” by the UK media following his appearance in a number of ISIS propaganda films between 2014 and 2015 in which he beheaded hostages.
Dallali Praises Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Supports Tel Aviv Being Bombed
Other revelations about the student politician include:
- In a 2018 article she lavished praise on Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who is banned from entering the United States, United Kingdom, France and Tunisia, in addition to being designated a terrorist by Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. Despite the fact al-Qaradawi has expressed support for suicide bombings in Iraq and Israel and prayed for “every last” Jew to be killed, Dallali described him as a “moral compass for the Muslim community at large.”
- Between 2018 and 2019 Dallali worked for EuroPal, a group that was described by former intelligence analysts Ronald Sandee, and Steven Merley, as ideologically aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood. In 2017, Europal reportedly tried to arrange a trip to the UK’s Parliament for Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, the former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, who described the Holocaust as a “fairytale.”
- Dallali is said to have used her platform to share videos on YouTube in 2014 in which protestors advocated for an intifada and suggested Tel Aviv should be “hit.”
- In 2012 Dallali posted a prayer for the head of Hamas’ military wing Ahmed al-Jabari the day he was assassinated in a precision strike by Israel.
- Dallali also reportedly used the slur “dirty Zionist” in reference to Jordanian-Emirati preacher Dr. Waseem Yousef after he called Hamas terrorists during the war against Israel last May.
‘From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free’: Past NUS Leaders’ Problematic Posts
After concerns were again raised by the Union of Jewish Students, including its call for Dallali to “come to the table” and work with the UJS to understand how to best support Jewish students, the NUS released a statement:
We are so sorry to any students, particularly Jewish students, who have been hurt by what they’ve read in the lead up to conference.
We will be reviewing what more the NUS can do in the future to ensure Jewish students feel welcome in our spaces and to improve relations with Jewish students.”
Yet, it would appear that the NUS has a history of voting into leadership positions young people who have openly espoused anti-Israel bigotry online.
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Outgoing president Larissa Kennedy’s predecessor Zamzam Ibrahim, who was in the post between 2019 and 2020, has tweeted the Hamas and PFLP rallying cry, “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free,” which implicitly calls for the destruction of Israel and its replacement with a Palestinian state that stretches from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.
FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA, PALESTINE WILL BE FREE! 🇵🇸🇵🇸
FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA, PALESTINE WILL BE FREE! 🇵🇸🇵🇸
FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA, PALESTINE WILL BE FREE! 🇵🇸🇵🇸
FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA, #PalestineWillBeFree 🇵🇸🇵🇸 https://t.co/MWwca5UbZr
— Zamzam Ibrahim (@ZamzamMCR) May 16, 2021
Last month, she conspiratorially suggested that the complaints about rapper Lowkey were the work of the “Israel lobby,” tweeting: “Im [sic] still processing finding out about Lowkey being targeted by the Israel lobby. We can’t keep getting silenced for our Palestinian Activism, if a message of justice is interpreted as inciting violence then you need to check your moral compass.”
It would appear that Ibrahim believes Lowkey’s “Palestinian activism” is exemplified in his defense of the likes of sacked Bristol University professor David Miller, who suggested students who had criticized his anti-Israel outbursts were “political pawns” of the Jewish state.
The NUS’ outgoing vice president for further education Salsabil Elmegri has also used Twitter to post the “from the river, to the sea” chant in addition to claiming that Gaza is “under attack” because Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is a “far right racist & islamaphob[e].”
From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free♥️🖤🤍💚 #SaveSheikhJarrah #SaveSilwan #SaveLifta #Gaza #SanctionIsrael #GazaUnderAttack #FreePalestine pic.twitter.com/lk2OEm7Vyp
— Salsabil | Free Palestine🇵🇸 (@Salsabil118) June 13, 2021
Running against Dallali in the latest election was student Radical Haslam, self-described as non-binary, who supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement which aims to eventually dismantle the Jewish state.
As the NUS prominently states on its website, it is a union that is dedicated to actively working against “all forms of racism.”
In light of the latest revelations, it is a commitment that rings somewhat hollow.
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