Two women charged with stirring up racial hatred after they allegedly performed the “Khaybar” chant at a London protest in 2023 have been acquitted by a jury.
Hadjer Boumazouna, 37, and Fatiha Boumazouna, 53, both from Croydon, were charged with intending or likely to stir up racial hatred in relation to a protest organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign on 28th October 2023, for which they were arrested the following day.
They were accused of reciting the notorious “Khaybar Khaybar, ya yahud, Jaish Muhammad, sa yahud” chant at the demonstration, allegedly captured in footage which was screened at Southwark Crown Court. Both women denied the charges.
The chant translates as: ‘Jews, remember the battle of Khaybar, the army of Muhammad is returning.’ It refers to the massacre and expulsion of the Jews of Khaybar in 628 CE and is plainly a battle cry against Jews. It is unmistakably threatening to Jewish people.
Nevertheless, jurors reportedly reached the acquittal decision in just 28 minutes.
This is the second time that the attempted prosecution of people who have allegedly performed the Khaybar chant has failed.
Nothing, it seems, can possibly be construed as being threatening to Jewish people if it means that someone might be held to account. Another miscarriage of justice that will do nothing to reassure British Jews that the system is up to the job of protecting them and deterring haters.
