Pride goeth before a
Chanting death threats now are we?
A University of Oxford student filmed allegedly chanting for Gaza to “put the Zios in the ground” at a pro-Palestinian march has been arrested.
Officers investigating chants at a Palestine Coalition demonstration in central London on Saturday arrested a 20-year-old-man on suspicion of inciting racial hatred, the Metropolitan Police said.
Videos appeared to show a man, who has been widely named as Samuel Williams, telling demonstrators that the chant had been “workshopped” in Oxford.
Oh well as long as they workshopped it that’s all right then. Due process etcetera.
In videos he appears to tell the crowd: “A steadfast and noble resistance in Palestine and in Gaza to look to, to be inspired by and – I don’t want to yap for too long – but a chant that we’ve been workshopping in Oxford that maybe you guys want to join in.
“It goes ‘Gaza, Gaza make us proud, put the Zios in the ground’.”
You guys let’s chant about putting Jews in the ground, won’t that be exciting? Make us proud.
Of course, it’s got just enough weasel room to possibly get around the charges–he’ll claim he was talking about ‘Zios’, not all Jews or even all Israelis. Instead, the claim will be that the target was merely ‘Zionists’, which of course can mean specifically Netanyahu’s specific brand of fascist fuckheads, any Israeli, or any Jew. It’s a slippery term, and thus one that people will use when they want to incite while trying to maintain plausible deniability.
It’s still a threat of violence over a political position, but as we’ve seen around here, threatening violence for wrongthink is often tacitly allowed.
It’s not just a death threat, it’s bizarre. In the first place, you workshopped a chant, but couldn’t come up with one that rhymed? In the second place, “Gaza make us proud”? Hey Palestinians, fight! Do it for the students at Oxford!
I know some people have always believed everything is a football game, but it’s getting downright weird.
Snort. Good point.