What Palestinian 'solidarity' marchers in the West don't understand about Hamas

The atrocities committed by Hamas on 7 October have been revealed in their terrible savagery. There are accounts of dead babies, their bodies riddled with bullets, entire families burnt alive in their homes, women and girls raped and killed. Bodies tortured and mutilated beyond recognition. Israelis thought that the world would finally recognise Hamas for what it truly is; an Islamist terror organisation seeking to destroy Israel. It did not.

Since the war started, there has been an explosion of anti-Israel and anti-Jewish hatred. Although Western leaders and large proportions of the public were shocked by Hamas’s atrocities and expressed support for Israel, the streets of London, Paris, Toronto and other major cities, were filled with tens of thousands of demonstrators chanting angrily and holding placards with slogans that were anti-Israel and, in some cases, anti-Jewish.

Jewish students have faced rising levels of antisemitism in universities in the UK and US. The Community Security Trust, which monitors antisemitic incidents, reported a 633 per cent rise in incidents in the UK, including assaults and threats.