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Oxford student chants ‘Put Zios in the ground’ in London

The young man identified himself as Samuel Williams, studying philosophy, politics and economics.

Betar UK
A Betar member undercover at an anti-Israel protest in London. Credit: Courtesy of World Betar.

Pro-Israel activists in northwest England called for legal action against a young man filmed chanting about “putting Zios in the ground” at a London rally on Sunday.

The man was filmed saying: “A chant that we’ve been workshopping in Oxford: ‘Gaza, Gaza, make us proud, put the Zios in the ground.’”

“Zios” is shorthand for Zionists, a slur often used to target Jews broadly.

He recited the chant while wearing a keffiyeh and surrounded by anti-Israel protesters, prompting others to repeat the slogan.

The man identifies himself in the video as Samuel Williams, a philosophy, politics and economics student at Balliol College, Oxford. He also said his family is “from Bavaria, the home of Nazi [Germany].”

North Western Friends of Israel, a pro-Israel group with many Jewish members, wrote on X: “As Mancunian Jews we demand this inciter of violence & murder is arrested now. Will you give us actions and not just words?”

On Oct. 2, two people were killed on Yom Kippur when Jihad al-Shamie, 35, a British national of Syrian descent, rammed a vehicle into a crowd outside a synagogue in Manchester and stabbed others.

Al-Shamie phoned emergency services during the terrorist attack and pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.

“This political environment could discourage congressional committee staff and federal agency personnel from pursuing investigations or enforcement actions involving antisemitism,” Karen Paikin Barall of the Brandeis Center told JNS.
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