British anti-Israel groups backed a slogan calling for the death of Zionists on Saturday, following the arrest of an Oxford University student for leading a London protest chant calling to “put the Zios in the ground.”
The Metropolitan Police announced on Wednesday that it had arrested a 20-year-old man in Oxfordshire on suspicion of inciting racial hatred in relation to chants made at an October 11 rally.
Identified by The Telegraph as Samuel Williams, the student was featured in a viral video published last Sunday by the X/Twitter account Starmer Sycophant. Explaining that he was inspired by the “resistance” in Gaza, and that he had “workshopped” the chant at Oxford, Williams led activists in chanting “Gaza, Gaza, make us proud, put the Zios in the ground.”
The university said in a Thursday statement that it could not comment on individual student cases, but suggested that it could suspend the student. “Oxford University is unequivocal: there is no place for hatred, antisemitism, or discrimination within our community, and we will always act to protect the safety and dignity of our students,” the academic institution said.
On Saturday, a Leeds group calling itself Direct Confrontation Media, along with Cardiff Students For Palestine and a social media influencer using the alias Ani Says posted a statement of support for the “Put the Zios in the ground chant.”
Oxford University denounces antisemitic chant
"Oxford University is unequivocal: there is no place for hatred, antisemitism or discrimination within our community, and we will always act to protect the safety and dignity of our students," said the academic institution.
On Saturday, a Leeds group calling itself Direct Confrontation Media, Cardiff Students For Palestine, and a social media influencer using the alias Ani Says posted a statement of support for the "put the Zios in the ground chant."
In the Instagram post, the posters explained that the chant “Death to the IDF” had global resonance, but drew a distinction between civilians and soldiers.
“Those who are called ‘Israelis’ are in reality tools and mercenaries of imperialism,” read the post, which featured Williams’s chant throughout its pages. “Language shapes consciousness. Our words and discourse matter. Words can carry sober analysis, a good grasp of conditions, and a strong guiding compass. These words dismantle the palatable, liberal, and chauvinistic sloganeering that does the bidding of imperialism.”