“I didn’t say ‘slaughter the Jews,’ I just made reference to something that means ‘slaughter the Jews.'” What?

Noor Rashid, when Israeli Deputy Foregin Minister Danny Ayalon spoke at Oxford last week, yelled “Khaybar ya Yahood.” According to an article in the Jerusalem Post, he was simply making mention of an historical event. What is this historical event you may ask? Good question; the Battle of Khaybar of 629 C.E. What happened in this battle? Mohammed and his followers slaughtered a tribe of Jews, which he had previously expelled from Medina. So, if Rashid is calling for another Khaybar, I fail to see in what ways he isn’t calling for a slaughter of the Jews.

This is yet another example of universities serving as the bastions for freedom, democracy, and intellectual thought… right?

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3 Comments

  • I want to give this kid the benefit of the doubt. I really do. But I’m having a hard time thinking of analogies to better understand where he’s coming from.

    The best I can come up with from “our” perspective would be a Jewish kid yelling something about Amalek at a PA (or Hamas) spokesperson, which is something I can totally see a misguided right-leaning Jewish college student doing. I’m not sure, however, if equating Palestinian officials to Amalek is “better” or “worse” than this kid invoking Khaybar. On the one hand, some folks believe Jews are commanded to affirmatively seek out Amamlekites and kill them, which seems to make it more of a threat than the Khaybar thing (assuming the kid actually shouted what he claims he shouted). On the other hand, almost nobody (except maybe the craziest of the crazy settlers) believes modern Palestinians are Amalekites. So I’m really not sure…

    Thoughts?

    • My thought is that he’s full of it. He said “Kill the Jews” and is trying to cover up for it. The equivalent for a Jew would be to yell “kill the Arabs.” Simple, really. Of course, whatever he actually said, it’s obvious that to have an Oxford student yell it in that type of forum embarrasses him and his supporters first and foremost, but should also embarrass Oxford.