Student who wrote about 'anti-Jewish hatred' linked to multiple Israel groups

Student who wrote about 'anti-Jewish hatred' linked to multiple Israel groups Submitted by Oscar Rickett on Mon, 07/27/2026 - 10:00 Fellow students say Tali Smus was attacked for defending Israel, not because she is Jewish Counter-protesters holding Israeli flags pose for the cameras outside King's College London during an inter-university march for Gaza in London on 7 October 2024 (AFP/Justin Tallis) Off A pro-Israel student who wrote about being the target of “anti-Jewish” hatred at a London university disrupted a vigil held for alumni killed in Gaza and appears to have edited quotes to support her case, according to a log of group messages seen by Middle East Eye. Tali Smus, who calls herself “the British Zioness” on Instagram, recently wrote an article for the Telegraph with the headline: “As a Jewish student at King’s College, I’m being persecuted for my beliefs.” In it, she describes being left in tears at the beginning of her course in September 2024 after fellow English literature students in an Instagram group chat attacked her for being a “fucking Zionist”. Smus writes that she was ganged up on “almost 100 against one”, after she “tried to discuss our differing views and have a productive conversation”.

“I am a Jewish student at King’s College London (KCL), and I refuse to remain a statistic. The anti-Jewish hatred I faced will not remain a statistic,” she writes in conclusion. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Published on 17 July, the Telegraph article appeared shortly after an Al Jazeera investigation into the university’s “crackdown on pro-Palestine students”, at a time when a government “review into antisemitism in schools and colleges in England” is being conducted.

But the quotes Smus uses in support of the claim that she has been the victim of “anti-Jewish hatred” are different to those contained in a log of the group chat the messages supposedly came from - a group she remained in and kept messaging long after the time in question. She also has past and present connections to multiple "extreme" Israel advocacy groups with a track record of smearing and intimidating Palestinians and pro-Palestine activists. "I am a Jewish student at King’s College London, and I refuse to remain a statistic.

The anti-Jewish hatred I faced will not remain a statistic," writes Tali Smus. Read her full account of the abuse she's faced below ⤵️…