Britain must renew solidarity with Israel

On the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) failed to throw out an absurd case brought last year by South Africa accusing Israel of “genocide”. Hamas, whose murderous pogrom on October 7 started the current conflict, hailed the decision as “important”, saying that it “contributes to isolating” the Jewish state. As the terrorist group celebrated this grotesque moral inversion, it showered Israel with rockets.

When the case was first filed, warnings were rightly issued that it represented a clear example of “lawfare” – the exploitation of legal processes and institutions in order to advance political and propaganda aims against Israel. Lawyers questioned the validity and evidential basis of the claims, given that the 1948 Genocide Convention identifies “genocide” as the “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”. Israel’s stated intention is only to destroy the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza.

But it also speaks to a wider sense that international organisations are being used to promote the aims of the West’s enemies. Ludicrously, Iran was last year appointed to chair a UN Human Rights forum. Israel has expressed fury at the UN’s various interventions since the Hamas attack.

Moments after the ICJ ruling, in timing that many will view as staggeringly opportunistic, the UN Relief and Work Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) announced that it had fired several employees suspected of involvement in the October 7 attacks. The US moved swiftly to pause funding for UNRWA; others may deem it appropriate to follow America’s lead.

These latest developments will do little to assuage concerns that the UN – a body which receives roughly £100 million a year from the British taxpayer – has succumbed to anti-Israel bias. The World Health Organisation, meanwhile, has been accused by Jerusalem of “colluding” with Hamas, allegations which it denies.

Given there is no enforcement mechanism for the ICJ’s provisional orders, Israel will no doubt choose to ignore them. This does not mean that the court’s actions will not inflict harm, however. They will add fuel to the arguments of those who have long sought to delegitimise the Jewish state and its right to self-defence. They also risk emboldening anti-Semites in the West. Britain must show that it still stands with Israel.

Gender in schools

For years, parents have expressed fears over the extent to which gender ideology has been allowed to spread in

British schools, but their concerns have until recently fallen on deaf ears. Today, The Telegraph reports on a Church of England school that allowed a four-year old boy to enrol as a girl.

Other children and parents were not informed. When the child’s friends discovered that their sex had been hidden, a number were traumatised, horrified at having been “lied” to by trusted adults. Questions must now be asked not only over the specifics of this particular case, but also how to resolve the wider confusion that allowed it to happen.

For too long, the Government delayed publishing guidance to schools detailing how teachers should approach these difficult and sensitive matters. A draft was finally released in December last year, which was a massive

Cashless? Shameless

Some coffee shops have started adding service charges to the price of a cup. They do not seem to realise how much they are upsetting the natural order of things. No wonder volcanoes are erupting in Iceland. It was bad enough when coffee shops declared they were cashless. Usually cashlessness is equivalent to penury. For them to reject an offer of cash seemed like madness. Did they expect customers to engage in barter, exchanging a piglet for a quick macchiato and a biscotto? No, it was worse than that. They wanted to control the means of payment in order to raise the price before the coffee had reached your lips. Next they’ll be charging extra when the shop is busy, with a top-up charge if the sun comes out. If they get away with it, governments might try it on, too. improvement on the previous situation, thanks principally to the efforts of Kemi Badenoch, the equalities minister.

The document states that requests from young children to transition should be treated with “greater caution”.

But some still fear that the guidance is not strong enough. The likes of Stonewall have sought to push organisations, including schools, into adopting extreme policies on transgender issues that do not acknowledge the complexities of this debate. They stand accused of ignoring the fact that extending trans rights can sometimes come into conflict with the rights of other groups.

Some headteachers may have felt pressured into taking stances that are not in the interests of their pupils. If the new guidance is not adopted by schools in spirit and in letter, then new laws may be required.