Just days before being removed from her position in response to a lengthy investigation into her antisemitism, the president of the British National Union of Students (NUS), Shaima Dallali accepted an award from an ally of Hamas.
According to a report by the Jewish Chronicle, Dallali can be seen in photographs smiling and cradling the prize for “campaigning on behalf of Palestinians” at an awards ceremony held by the Palestinian Forum in Britain (PFB), which recently launched a campaign claiming that interfaith dialogue is a Zionist strategy to cover up Israeli “apartheid”.
Presenting the award to Dallali was PFB chairman Zaher Birawi, who has been pictured alongside Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
Another prizewinner was Daud Abdullah, the former deputy chairman of the Muslim Council of Britain, who caused outrage in 2009 by signing a declaration that the UK government interpreted as calling for violence against Israel and the British Navy.
Dallali was fired last week after a lengthy investigation into antisemitism that lasted months.
In May, Dallali apologized after being called out for a past tweet referencing the Islamic chant calling for “the army of Mohammed” to attack the Jews.
After she won the election, the Union of Jewish Students (UJS) 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.
Weeks after the tweet was reported, the UK government made the unprecedented move of severing ties with the NUS.
“Following the independent KC-led investigation into allegations of antisemitism, specifically into the then-President Elect under the NUS Code of Conduct, an independent panel has found that significant breaches of NUS’ policies have taken place. As per this finding, we have terminated the President’s contract,” the NUS said in a statement.
“We are sorry for the harm that has been caused and we hope to rebuild the NUS in an inclusive way – fighting for all students as we have done for the past 100 years.”
Conservative MP Robert Halfon applauded the NUS’s decision.
“Antisemitism is abhorrent and I welcome this verdict from the NUS,” Halfon said on Twitter. “However, this is only the first step in addressing antisemitism allegations within the organization, and am very keen to see further action that they are taking concerns from Jewish students seriously.”
The Union of Jewish Students questioned “how an individual deemed unfit for office by NUS was elected in the first place.”
“UJS respects the decision of the National Union of Students to dismiss their President. Antisemitism in the student movement goes beyond the actions of any one individual and this case is a symptom of a wider problem,” the organization said in a statement.