The trouble with protest mask chic

We in Britain have become used to the hallmarks of anti-Israeli protests. There are the slogans decrying ‘genocide’. There are chants in sympathy of terrorist organisations. There’s the explicit or insinuated anti-semitism. But one sinister feature making its transition across the Atlantic is the appearance of the face mask.

Footage widely circulated online this week showed an Israeli supporter in New York being attacked by a pro-Palestine activist, who proceeded to stamp and spit on the Israeli flag while shouting profanities. Nothing new here, you might say. It’s all part of the vitriol we expect these days, even on the first anniversary of that terrible massacre in Israel. Video footage of pro-Palestinian campaigners shoving phones in the face of another Israeli supporter in New York and shouting abuse at him are also unlikely to surprise many. Sadly, these scenes from the United States are routinely repeated throughout the West.