Great Britain (stock image)
Great Britain (stock image)ISTOCK

The new president of the British National Union of Students (NUS) apologized after being called out for tweeting the Islamic chant calling for “the army of Mohammed” to attack the Jews.

Shaima Dallali was recently confirmed as the NUS’s next president in a vote at the student union’s annual conference held in Liverpool.

After she won the election, the Union of Jewish Students released a statement calling on her to discuss their misgivings over her “extremely challenging views.”

According to the UK Jewish News, in 2012 Dallali posted a tweet that said: ”Khaybar Khaybar, ya yahud, Jaish Muhammad, sa yahud” (“Jews, remember Khaybar, the army of Muhammad is returning”). The chant is used in Islam as a battle cry for attacking Jews.

After facing mounting criticism, Dallali issued a statement: “Earlier today I was made aware of a tweet I posted 10 years ago. During Israel’s assault on Gaza I referenced the battle of Khaybar in which Jewish and Muslim armies fought. I was wrong to see the Palestine conflict as one between Muslims and Jews… The reference made as a teenager was unacceptable and I sincerely and unreservedly apologize.”

The Jewish News also reported that the student leader deleted tweets supporting Hamas, and a tweet from November 2020 where she said that former Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn “should never have been suspended… in the first place” from the party. The tweet was commenting on Corbyn’s suspension from Labour for alleging that the report detailing party’s problem with antisemitism had exaggerated the problem for political gain.