This is terrorism

At the weekend Hamas fighters murdered and raped their way through southern Israel and kidnapped anyone from infants to the elderly to use as hostages. Hamas are even boasting of breaking the international conventions of war, posting videos of their terrorists beheading captured Israeli soldiers.

Be in no doubt, despite the BBC's insistence that these are 'militants', they are terrorists. Gangs of armed men who rampage through villages entering peaceful homes to murder whoever they encounter are terrorists.

Social media is a swamp to be entered with care in case you are overwhelmed by the content. But who can deny that if we were left with only the BBC and Sky News we would know much less of the ghastly slaughter perpetrated by the Gaza jihadis? There is a refusal among many on the left to recognise barbarity when it is perpetrated by those they support.

With the response in the West to these vile acts we get a glimpse of the depth of depravity of many who see themselves as supporting the struggle of those they see as oppressed and victims. They approve the rape of women and the murder of children. They applaud the parading of the naked body of a young woman around the streets to be spat upon. This is the true nature of those on the left who think that there is no act so savage that they will not condone it if it brings about 'freedom'.

Student approval

Left-wing student groups at British universities have been accused of 'glorifying' the Hamas attack on Israel. Instagram accounts of student organisations at the University of Warwick, University College London and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) have described the scenes as a 'heroic fight' by 'the martyrs' against 'fascist and criminal settlers'. There are students at UK universities who consider themselves progressive, who support the rights of women, yet openly applaud as 'necessary' the rape and murder of Jewish women.

At SOAS, the student Palestine Society wrote on Instagram: 'The Palestinian people have the right to resist occupation by any means necessary.' The Justice for Palestine society at University College London endorsed a quote from the Hamas political chief, Ismail Haniyeh. They posted on Instagram his statement: 'Our brave and hard-working Palestinian people, those freeing the world, the Palestinian resistance, in these historical moments are engaged in a heroic fight for Al-Aqsa Mosque, our sacred sites, and our prisoners. Over the last few days, thousands of fascist and criminal settlers desecrated the shrine of the Prophet [Muhammad] and performed their prayers there to impose sovereignty over the area. If the world will be silent, we will not be silent about this aggression.'

In the US, at least 35 student organisations at Harvard have declared that the murders, rapes, kidnappings and other atrocities committed by Hamas against innocent people are in no way the fault of Hamas, but entirely the fault of Israel. Something is deeply, deeply wrong in academia.

Israel to blame

In Scotland, Green MSP Maggie Chapman is typical of those on the left who know who is to blame for the atrocities: Israel. Perhaps those like her claiming that 'Israel brought this on themselves' could explain to the rest of us how massacring 260 young festival-goers and abducting families, children and elderly will in any way help alleviate the very real plight of the Palestinians?

In major cities throughout Europe and North America there have been noisy demonstrations in support of Hamas, glorying in the atrocities. Cars racing through streets, horns blaring and Palestinian flags flying, fireworks being let off. There have been pro-Palestinian demonstrations in London while Manchester, Bristol and Reading have seen buildings vandalised.

In the UK Hamas has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation since 2021, which means anyone wearing clothing or carrying articles in public such as flags which 'arouse reasonable suspicion' that they support the group can be prosecuted. Anyone found guilty faces up to ten years in jail. The Home Secretary has said that she expects the police to 'use the full force of the law' against anyone displaying support for Hamas.

As pro-Palestinian demonstrators who support the religion and ideology which led to the atrocities parade their enthusiasm for the appalling crimes of Hamas we have to ask how long will British Jews be safe in the land of their birth? Anti-Semitic incidents have already taken place in the aftermath. A kosher restaurant in Golders Green, London, was vandalised and a nearby bridge graffitied with 'Palestine Will Be Free'.

All the attack on Israel will achieve for the Palestinians is death, destruction and even more misery as Israel retaliates and hunts down Hamas terrorists sheltering amongst the people. This will suit Shia Iran, the paymasters of Hamas, as it will make impossible the increasing détente between Israel and Sunni Saudi Arabia, their major opponents in the struggle for supremacy in the region. Meanwhile ordinary citizens of Israel and Gaza who just want to get on with their lives will continue to suffer.

Campbell Campbell-Jack is a retired Church of Scotland minister. He blogs at A Grain of Sand.