Jonathan Sacerdoti

If you hear ‘allahu akbar!’ shouted in the street, you’ll probably run for cover. If a stranger bellows the Jewish equivalent, ‘Baruch hashem!’ in public, you might guess they're expressing gratitude for their good health when asked how they are. If the words ringing out from the midst of a crowd are ‘Jesus Christ!’ You’ll probably think someone has stubbed their toe, or seen something ridiculous. Islam is a proselytising religion, unlike, say, Judaism, which actively discourages conversion Instinctive reactions matter because they expose deeper dispositions, often aligning with the very intention behind the action that provoked them. There is no true equivalence between the three phrases, even if they appear to cover similar ground across the Abrahamic traditions.

Two weeks into the war in Iran, Donald Trump’s critics have intensified their attacks not only on his conduct of the war, but on his decision to start it at all. As oil prices, global trade routes and energy markets come under strain, endless strategic and economic debates produce more speculation than answers. Does the war weaken America against China, or strengthen it? Was the decision legal? Is there a long term strategy for this confrontation? Just as technology empowers ideological extremists, ideological self-doubt weakens many Western societies All are important questions. Yet we must not overlook another perspective, increasingly unfashionable but repeatedly invoked by President Trump and his administration in statements and briefings.

President Trump said on Saturday that the United States is seeking an international naval coalition to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. In a message posted on Truth Social, he said ‘many countries’ affected by Iran’s attempted blockade, including China, France, Japan, South Korea and Britain, should deploy warships alongside the U.S. Navy to secure the waterway. In the meantime, he warned that American forces would continue attacking Iranian maritime assets and coastal positions, after the U.S. had carried out one of its most significant direct attacks on Iranian military infrastructure since the war began with its large-scale precision strike on Kharg Island, Iran’s principal oil export hub in the northern Persian Gulf.

The government has approved a request from the Metropolitan Police to ban the annual Al-Quds day march in London, which was due to take place this Sunday. The Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, said the decision was necessary to prevent ‘serious public disorder’. The Met cited the expected scale of the protest, the likelihood of large counter-demonstrations, and the wider tensions generated by the conflict in the Middle East. Each year the same scenes returned: Hezbollah banners, chants celebrating the ‘resistance’, speakers denouncing Zionism as an open expression of hostility towards Jews The march itself will not take place. A stationary protest may still occur under strict conditions. While this is a significant decision, it is also absurdly late.

The war with Iran entered its second week on Saturday with intense fighting across multiple fronts, as Israeli forces struck deep inside Iran while Tehran retaliated with missiles and drones across the region. Political rhetoric in Washington and Jerusalem meanwhile suggested the conflict could widen further still. The day began with reports of renewed Israeli air operations across Iran. The Israeli military said more than 80 aircraft had taken part in a wave of strikes targeting infrastructure linked to Iran’s missile and military programmes. Israeli officials said the attacks hit a series of facilities including missile storage sites, weapons factories and command compounds used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Israeli and American military operations against Iranian targets intensified over Thursday, while Iran and its proxy militias across the region sought ways to retaliate across a widening geographic arc. The day began with reports of expanding hostilities around Iran’s borders. Early in the morning, Iranian positions in eastern parts of the country – including areas around Zahedan near the borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan – were reportedly struck, with air-defence systems activated in response. Opposition sources claimed the targets were military facilities in a region with a strong Sunni Baloch population that has long opposed the Iranian regime. At roughly the same time, the conflict appeared to spill into the South Caucasus.