Britain cannot lead, but it can still act
As the world watches events in the Middle East unfold, hoping for a future devoid of antisemitic incitement and violence and filled instead with peace, one cannot help contrasting those who have shown vigilance and taken action in recent years with those who have not.
The UK had the chance to show leadership in the fight against the barbarism and antisemitism of the Islamic Republic of Iran before it was too late, but declined to do so.
❌ Britain could have banned the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps(IRGC), as the EU and others have done and as this Government promised before the last election. It did not.
❌ The Charity Commission could have shut down charities aligned with the ideology, if not the personnel, of the Islamic Republic, such as the Islamic Centre of England and the tragically misnamed Islamic Human Rights Commission. It did not.
❌ Ofsted could have closed schools that have been caught promoting Iranian Islamist propaganda and potentially indoctrinate their pupils, such as the Islamic Republic of Iran School in London. It did not.
❌ Universities and the Charity Commission could have taken action against radical student societies hosting IRGC speakers. They did not.
Just this weekend, the Prime Minister said that the Iranian regime posed a “direct threat” to dissidents and to the Jewish community in the UK, observing that “Over the last year alone, they have backed more than twenty potentially lethal attacks on UK soil.”
In view of this admission, the moral failure to take strong measures against the regime and its propagandists is even more strategically incomprehensible.
It is a dereliction of duty and moral leadership. But Britain can still do the right thing and act now, however belatedly.
That includes finally banning the IRGC. By the Prime Minister’s own admission, that will help protect British Jews and Iranian dissidents.
A few days ago, Elie went to speak to some of our Iranian friends and allies about what they really think of the IRGC. You can see what they had to say here.
You can help bring about change.
Sign the petition to ban the IRGC at antisemitism.org/BanTheIRGC.
The domestic threat is still very real, if not elevated. This weekend in Austin, Texas, for example, a gunman wearing clothes with an Iranian flag design and declaring “Property of Allah” killed two people and wounded fourteen at a bar in Texas. The FBI is investigating the shooting as a potential act of terrorism.
Our thoughts are with the families of the victims of this apparent deadly Islamist attack.
There is no guarantee that similar attacks are not being plotted elsewhere in the West, including Britain. The authorities must finally step up and take action against extremists in our midst.
Prominent politicians show solidarity with Islamic Republic
Over the weekend, Deputy Leader of the Green Party Mothin Ali and the Leader of Your Party, Jeremy Corbyn, as well as his brother the conspiracist Piers Corbyn, were seen at a demonstration apparently in solidarity with the brutal Iranian regime.
It is one thing to express reservations about the wisdom and conduct of this latest round of fighting between the West and its allies and the Islamic Republic and its proxies.
But to appear to show support for the mullahs who seek to annihilate the Jewish state and murder Jewish people, terrorise the West and massacre their own people in horrific numbers is something else entirely.
Both parties sadly have form, with recent examples. Last week, Hannah Spencer was elected to be Gorton and Denton’s new Green MP. She reportedly posted, the day after Holocaust Memorial Day 2025, a tweet which appeared to compare the events in Gaza to the Holocaust. Replying to Angela Rayner, the then-Deputy Prime Minister, Ms Spencer reportedly wrote: “‘Never again’ but still selling arms to Israel.” She has since deleted the inflammatory posts.
A recently-hired Green Party advisor has reportedly claimed that no women were raped on 7th October, while Mr Ali, Green Party Deputy Leader, has reportedly claimed that antisemitism is being used as a “weapon” to silence criticism of Israel, in the latest deployment of the so-called ‘Livingstone Formulation’.
Meanwhile, Hannah Hawkins has been elected to the Central Executive Committee of Your Party. She reportedly posted on Facebook, “I’ve been saying this for a while now. Oct 7th was done by Israel to justify this war and genocide.”
It is deeply concerning that these far-left views risk becoming mainstream in our country’s politics.
Inflammatory rhetoric is not limited to the far-left.
Here is the Conservatives’ Sir Edward Leigh, opening remarks in the House of Commons with “Antisemitism is horrible, but…”
It started terribly and you can guess where it ended: “Actually, the action of the Israeli Government…is fuelling antisemitism.”
Claiming that antisemitism is fuelled by the actions of the world’s only Jewish state and not vile racists simply absolves antisemites. It is saying, in effect, that Jew-haters can’t help but carry out antisemitic acts against Jews because they are so enraged by Israel that they are left with no choice.
This sort of victim-blaming should have no place in our society. We would hope that it also has no place in the Conservative Party either.
Churchill defaced
The Sir Winston Churchill statue in Parliament Square has once again been defaced, this time with the words “Zionist war criminal”, “Globalise the intifada” and a red triangle.
The red triangle is a symbol used by Hamas over the past several years to delineate targets for violence and by activists worldwide to show solidarity with the terrorist group and support for its methods and objectives.
Footage appeared to show a vandal wearing an overall emblazoned with the phrase “I support Palestine Action.”
A man has been arrested and awaits trial.
This vandalism underscores how vile and unpatriotic these extremists are.
They don’t just hate Jews: they hate Britain.
Supreme Court ruling on terrorism
The UK Supreme Court has ruled that the criminalisation of inviting support for a proscribed terrorist organisation (section 12(1A) of the Terrorism Act 2000) does not represent a disproportionate interference with the right to freedom of expression under article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The appellants, ABJ and BDN, have both been charged with criminal offences under section 12(1A). They are alleged to have expressed an opinion or belief that is supportive of Hamas, a proscribed terrorist group.
Neither ABJ’s nor BDN’s cases have gone to trial, so the facts have not yet been established in full.
This unanimous decision – following a similar ruling by the Court of Appeal earlier in the process – upholds a cornerstone of anti-terrorism legislation in this country.
We have seen too much erosion of legal safeguards against public disorder and extremism, including in our courts, so we welcome the Supreme Court’s decisive decision.
We will be monitoring the criminal case itself with much interest.
Trials for street protesters and students
Three protesters have pleaded not guilty to using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with the intention to stir up racial hatred, having been arrested at a demonstration in December after allegedly calling for “intifada”.
It is the first prosecution of its kind, and we will be following the case with interest. You can read more here.
Meanwhile, Samuel Williams, who last October was filmed at a pro-Palestinian march in Whitehall, London, appearing to lead a chant to “put the Zios in the ground”, has been granted a conditional bail and set a future trial date of 17th January 2028.
The then-University of Oxford student appeared in Southwark Crown Court where he pleaded not guilty to the charge of stirring up racial hatred.
Unfortunately, the trial has been delayed until 2028. Clearly, this is not a priority for our criminal justice system.
Don’t be like this lawyer: work with us instead
“You Jewish people think you’re better than everyone else.”
Claiming that antisemitism “doesn’t exist”.
Telling a Jewish colleague: “You’re all on top.”
These were all allegedly said by solicitor Ryan Williams at two different work parties, in addition to other remarks and behaviour that have been described as racist and aggressive sexual harassment.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority referred Mr Williams’ case to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal after an investigation.
Mr Williams has been suspended by the Tribunal from practicing for twelve months, with a full judgment to be released, but has denied making antisemitic remarks. He has resigned from his legal practice.
You can read more about the case here.
At CAA, we are looking for a different type of legal professional.
If you want to join our team as a paid paralegal, please head to our jobs boardfor more information and apply now!
From one ban of Israeli football fans to another
An upcoming Women’s World Cup qualifier between Israel and Scotland, the host, is now set to be played abroad.
Why? To avoid potential disruption from pro-Palestine thugs here in Britain.
This news arrives hot on the heels of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans being unjustly banned from attending a game against Aston Villa in Birmingham.
This is what happens when you repeatedly pander to the bullies rather than taking forceful action against them. It sends the dangerous message that intimidation works, and those who threaten peaceful events can successfully dictate public life.
On the subject of the Maccabi football match, MPs still – rightly, in our view – presume that there was politics in the decision to ban supporters.
As Dame Karen Bradley MP, Chair of the Home Affairs Committee, has said in Parliament: “we simply do not know what conversations went on behind the scenes.”
“Moneybags Rothschild” at the BBC
During a recent episode of the BBC Radio 4 programme Gardener’s Question Time, presenter Bunny Guinness made a remark in which she used the phrase “Moneybags Rothschild.”
Ms Guinness was engaging with fellow presenter Bob Flowerdew, who said he would buy his plants from a shop rather than grow them from cuttings, to which Ms Guinness responded: “Moneybags Rothschild, he’ll go and buy them.”
The BBC responded to one complainant – among many people who took umbrage – that they were “unable to agree that it was in any way antisemitic” and suggested that “there was no connection made between their [Rothschild’s] wealth and being Jewish”.
Antisemitic conspiracy myths have long placed the predominantly Jewish Rothschild family of bankers and philanthropists behind the world’s ills, accusing them of leading a global Jewish conspiracy.
Ms Guinness may well have made the remark unwittingly, but the fact that our national broadcaster is apparently either unaware of the well-known Rothschild trope — which is hard to believe — or is willing to pretend that it doesn’t exist is shocking.
This is also not the first time that Ms Guinness has reportedly used the phrase.
The BBC needs fundamental reform, and that starts with addressing institutional problems, not funding them further. It’s time to suspend the BBC licence fee pending an investigation. Add your name to the petition at suspendthelicencefee.com.
Antisemitism in the Annual Report on the Recognition System
We are pleased to have been able to contribute to the Press Recognition Panel’s Annual Report on the Recognition System.
A staggering 93% of British Jews are dissatisfied with the coverage of the Hamas-Israel war over the past two years in the British media. This is unacceptable and a clear signal that the British press must do better in ensuring accuracy and fairness.
As the report states, “CAA emphasises the limits of individualised complaints systems, stating that ‘the current regulatory system focuses on harm to individuals and not community harms’, meaning that ‘antisemitic harms against the Jewish community as a whole are almost impossible to redress’.” It is vital that media outlets are accountable for accuracy and fairness in relation to coverage of antisemitism and matters of Jewish concern, and we are grateful to the Press Recognition Panel for the opportunity to highlight this issue, which otherwise may not have been addressed.
The full report can be read here.
Join the CAA Comms team!
If you want to hold the media to account and use your communications skills to raise awareness of antisemitism, our Senior Communications and Research Officer role may be for you.
For more information or to apply, please click here.
We are living through an extraordinary moment.
Tonight and tomorrow Jewish people around the world will be reading the Book of Esther as part of the festival of Purim, a celebration of ancient Jewry’s victory over a Persian leader who sought to destroy them.
The story tells of how he was deposed and his followers were defeated, and relations between the Jews and the Persians reached a zenith.
Seeing Jews and Iranian exiles around the world coming together – with Jewish people supporting their Persian friends and allies just as the latter have supported us these past two years – is inspiring.
Let us hope for a modern Purim miracle and a new future of peace and prosperity for all the peoples of the Middle East and their brethren around the world.
Happy Purim.
