Jake Wallis Simons

Jake Wallis Simons

Jake Wallis Simons is a columnist, broadcaster and foreign correspondent. His latest book, Never Again? How the West Betrayed the Jews and Itself, is out now

The Met is failing London’s ultra-orthodox Jews

From our UK edition

Is the Metropolitan Police fit for purpose? The question haunts the minds of many Londoners, particularly women, despite the resignation of Cressida Dick. But it haunts one community in particular: ultra-orthodox Jews. The Met’s list of recent failures is almost as long as it is shameful. Sarah Everard, killed by an officer who kidnapped her

Licoricia and the forgotten expulsion of England’s Jews

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About three minutes’ walk from my house in Winchester is Jewry Street. It runs from the Theatre Royal at one end towards the 13th Century Great Hall at the other. It’s a picturesque throughfare, dotted with cafés, restaurants, churches and a library. But despite its name, it is all but Judenrein. I’ve lived in Winchester

Whoopi Goldberg and the problem with progressive America

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The Holocaust wasn’t about race because Jews are white. This is the through-the-looking-glass position in which progressive America now finds itself, via Whoopi Goldberg. This week, the Sister Act star used her weekly programme The View – which is watched by millions of Americans – to educate the public about the Nazi extermination of Jews.

Are J.K. Rowling’s goblins really anti-Semitic?

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Is J.K. Rowling anti-Semitic? Yes, I know. It’s the first week of 2022 and this question is being asked, after it was reported that the American comedian Jon Stewart had complained about the portrayal of goblins in the Harry Potter franchise. In a video released online yesterday, Stewart attempted to put the record straight. ‘Let

Why won’t Joe Biden stand up to Iran?

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This week marks two years since Iranian terror mastermind Major General Qassem Soleimani was torn apart by a Reaper drone missile in Baghdad, on the orders of Donald Trump. The Iranian regime has marked the anniversary with a flurry of antagonism throughout the region. On Monday, a coalition base outside Iraq’s main airport was attacked by

Inside Joe Biden’s disastrous negotiations with Iran

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One of the West’s great foreign policy failures of 2021 was the Iran nuclear negotiations, which remained bitterly unresolved as the clock passed midnight. Having spoken to a number of diplomatic sources on different sides in recent weeks, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that the process has been woefully inept. Not only has

Welby, Israel and the meaning of persecution

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I arrived in Colombo the morning after the attack and went straight to the morgue to identify some of the 269 victims. The concrete building, with its pretty wooden roof, had been overwhelmed by the sheer number of Christian dead. Several bodies lay on the floor of the entrance, some only partially covered up. One

How does Azeem Rafiq explain his past behaviour?

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Azeem Rafiq is not having a good week. In addition to having to issue a grovelling apology for antisemitic messages, this morning it was reported in the Yorkshire Post that a mobile number belonging to him allegedly sent creepy sexual messages to a teenage girl, declaring a desire to ‘grab you push u up against wall

Azeem Rafiq and the hypocrisy of victimhood

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On the face of it, it seemed the most startling irony. Azeem Rafiq, the former Yorkshire spin bowler who has been giving tearful evidence to a select committee about racism at the club, was found to have made racist remarks himself. Well, anti-Semitic remarks. Which is just as serious, right? In the eyes of many,

The sinister targeting of Israel’s ambassador at the LSE

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A mob waving flags and chanting slogans hounds a Jewish leader, forcing her to be bundled into a car and driven off for her own safety. These were scenes that might have been expected on 9 November 1938, when the ‘Kristallnacht’ pogroms raged across Nazi Germany, marking the beginning of the Holocaust. Instead, they took place

How China drove a wedge between America and Israel

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Two weeks ago, CIA director William Burns – who has rather a lot on his plate just now – had a quiet word in the Israeli prime minister’s ear about Chinese investment in the Jewish state. It was the latest and most urgent of America’s attempts to prevent Israel from slipping further towards the Beijing

Why Israel must win over its Arab population

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Which Middle Eastern country offers the best life for Arabs? The answer, as they say, might surprise you. Take any measure you like – democratic representation, women’s rights, lack of corruption, freedom of speech, the protection of sexual minorities – and it is clear that Israel comes out on top. I remember covering an Isis