Today I lost a little faith in the police.
Remember the story about Noor Rashid? He was the student accused of shouting 'slay the Jews' at the Oxford Union some months ago. (I wrote about it on my blog here: http://theedgeofwhere.blogspot.com/2010/02/death-to-jews-at-oxford-union...).
Well according to today's Oxford Student , after watching a video of his outburst the police concluded that they 'could not find any evidence' of hate speech.
Strange really, since they - and he - agree that while he actually never did say 'slay the Jews', what he said was a remark in Arabic that translates as 'Khaybar Khaybar, oh Jews, the army of Muhammed will return'.
You're probably wondering what 'Khaybar' means. I'll tell you - and then you'll understand why what he said, on any reasonable account, qualifies as hate speech.
Khaybar was an oasis not far from medina that was inhabited by Jews before being conquered by Muhammed in the 7th century. It's Jewish inhabitants were later expelled by the Caliph Umar.
So the chant Noor Rashid shouted refers to the attacking, conquering, and subsequent ethnic cleansing of Jews. Anti-Semitic? I think so. I just wonder: why do the police seem to think otherwise?