#shaima dallali

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

[eretzyisrael]

Shaima Dallali and the National Union of Shame, by David Collier

Shaima Dallali has just been voted in as the NUS President. It is hard to believe that this is happening in the UK.

At the beginning of last week, Shaima Dallali was elected President of the National Union of Students for a two-year term, She had been the President of City University of London Students’ Union. The problem? In short, the NUS has just voted in an antisemitic Islamist extremist as its President.

There has been a fair amount of noise over Shaima Dallali’s appointment. To some degree her extremist positions and antisemitism have been covered in the Telegraph, Times, Mail, (twice), and of course the Jewish press. But none of these tell the whole story.

Below I set out what we know – and disappointingly (or perhaps as a tragic sign of the times), important facts have gone unreported.

Khaybar Khaybar

I start with the image most people have seen because it can be used to frame everything else that follows. It is a tweet from Shaima Dallali that reference the antisemitic Khaybar chant – a classic Islamic battle cry. It refers to a Muslim massacre of the Jews of the town of that name (Khaybar) in 628 CE – and carries an ominous threat that massacres of Jews will soon occur – led by the army of Mohammed.

There is no doubting that this tweet is antisemitic and pushes an extreme and violent Islamist ideology. After this historical tweet was found by researchers from Labour Against Antisemitism, and just a few days before the election, Dallali published an apology. But apologies about historical mistakes only hold weight if the behaviour afterwards is different from the behaviour before. In Dallali’s case I have absolutely no idea why she apologised. Everything she has done since suggests that her core ‘values’ have not changed at all.

Shaima Dallali and the Muslim Brotherhood

Dallali’s other response was more telling. She swiftly deactivated her Facebook account (took it offline) and deleted thousands of tweets; There was clearly a lot she wanted to hide. But these ‘hide the evidence’ practices rarely hide everything, and some of what turned up was beyond awful. The respected Westminster think-tank ‘Policy Exchange‘, found a historical link to Dallali’s old Twitter profile. This provided a window into what Dallali had tried to hide – and in the profile was part of the Muslim Brotherhood’s motto. The section in Arabic reads ‘death for the sake of Allah is our most exalted wish’. It is part of a Jihadi ideology.

[xtruss]

Former President National Union of Students (NUS), Shaima Dallali. "I Am An Anti-Zionist 🐖 🐷 🐖 🐗, And A Proud Pro-Palestinian.”

Former NUS President Settles With Union Over Antisemitism Claims

Shaima Dallali, ousted as NUS president in 2022, said to have accepted ‘substantial’ settlement before tribunal

— Richard Adams, Education Editor | May 07, 2024 | Guardian USA

A former president of the National Union of Students is said to have accepted a “substantial” settlement to end her legal action against the union following her dismissal over allegations of antisemitism.

Shaima Dallali was ousted as NUS UK president in November 2022 after an investigation claimed she had made “significant breaches” of the union’s antisemitism policies. But shortly before Dallali’s legal challenge was to be heard by an employment tribunal, the NUS and Dallali’s lawyers said a settlement had been agreed.

A joint statement read: “We are pleased to confirm that a settlement has been reached between Shaima Dallali and the National Union of Students, bringing an end to the proceedings before the employment tribunal.”

Dallali’s dismissal came after an investigation into antisemitism within the organisation, headed by a barrister, Rebecca Tuck, amid concerns over a social media post written 10 years earlier by Dallali that referenced a seventh-century battle between Muslims and Jews.

The NUS said it now accepted that “pro-Palestinian and anti-Zionist beliefs may be protected beliefs, as may pro-Zionist beliefs. As a private individual Ms Dallali is, and as president of NUS she was, entitled to hold protected beliefs.”

The NUS statement added: “Throughout this matter, Ms Dallali has suffered truly horrific abuse, which has included death threats, threats of sexual assault and flagrant Islamophobia. This is wholly unacceptable, and NUS categorically condemn it.

“Ms Dallali now has the right to move on with her life and her career free from harassment or abuse.”

While both sides said the terms of the settlement were confidential, people familiar with the case said it was likely that the union had paid Dallali’s legal costs and a further sum as part of the settlement.

The settlement follows a ruling earlier this year that David Miller, a former professor at the University of Bristol, had been unfairly dismissed over his anti-Zionist views, which qualify as philosophical beliefs protected under the Equality Act.

Tayab Ali, the director of the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians, said: “We now have clear legal recognition that criticism of Israel and of Zionism amounts to a protected belief and cannot be suppressed. This must be considered by universities before they decide to take any disciplinary or other action against their students.”

Dallali said: “I am an anti-Zionist and a proud pro-Palestinian. Following today’s settlement, I look forward to being able to focus on continuing to dedicate myself to the Palestinian cause and to serving my community.

“I am immensely grateful to those who have supported me during this difficult chapter in my life and I am pleased that all parties can now move on. Now more than ever, it is important that all communities come together for peace and justice.”

The NUS UK’s latest accounts revealed that the union spent more than £800,000 on the antisemitism investigation since 2022.

After Dallali’s election as president in March 2022, the NUS received complaints about her 2012 tweet that read: “Khaybar Khaybar O Jews … Muhammad’s army will return Gaza,” referencing a historical battle. Dallali later apologised for the tweet.

The joint statement issued on Tuesday said: “As has been noted repeatedly in the media, NUS was very concerned by a tweet that was written by Ms Dallali when she was a teenager, before she was even a student, in 2012.

“Ms Dallali has accepted that while it was not her intention, the tweet was antisemitic. Both parties accept that Ms Dallali has repeatedly apologised for that tweet.”

[eretzyisrael]

The government is also considering suspending engagement with the organisation. Universities Minister Michelle Donelan said she was “actively considering” the move and that she was “deeply concerned by antisemitism within the NUS, including the remarks of the new President”.  

Ms Dallali has apologised for one post and said she would meet Jewish students to “listen to concerns on how we can make our movement inclusive and open to all”.  

However two days after extending the olive branch, Ms Dallai re-tweeted posts which attacked her critics and claimed she was the victim of “a clear example of racist gendered Islamophobia”.      

An NUS spokesman said: “The NUS is taking antisemitism allegations seriously. There is no place for antisemitism within the student movement.  We have unreservedly apologised for the concern and worry caused in recent weeks, and are working to address any wrongdoing and rebuild trust.  The Board are meeting to instigate our robust internal procedures including considering appointing an independent external party to support with this. If we find that action needs to be taken we won’t hesitate to take it, as we have previously.”