Way of the World Michael Deacon

The time has come for our leaders to face the horrifying truth: a possible genocide is under way. Since this awful conflict began last year, countless thousands of innocent people have been killed, many of them children, while thousands more are now desperate refugees.

No, I’m not talking about Gaza.

I’m talking about Sudan. On Thursday, Human Rights Watch published a report detailing the atrocities that have been committed during the ongoing war in Sudan, which broke out in April last year.

Yet here’s a curious thing. Despite that conflict’s savage brutality, I don’t recall seeing any mass protests against it in the West. London is not swarmed every Saturday by hundreds of thousands of enraged demonstrators brandishing placards that liken the

RSF (a Sudanese paramilitary force) to the Nazis. Nor have university campuses in the US and the UK been overrun by students shrieking that they stand with the Masalit (an ethnic group the RSF is accused of massacring) and calling for “ceasefire now” in Darfur. Come to think of it, I’m not sure I can recall Western Left-wing activists even mentioning the RSF.

So furious is their hatred of Israel, however, that thousands of them have taken to the streets this week to rage against a young, female Israeli pop singer.

Eden Golan, who is just 20 years old, is Israel’s representative at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. And for days, the city of Malmo in Sweden – where the contest is being held – has been overwhelmed by anti-Israel protesters, demanding that she be expelled from the competition. Spotted among the crowds on Thursday, as it happens, was

Greta Thunberg, proudly wearing a Palestinianstyle keffiyeh scarf.

Previously famed for her campaigning against climate change, Ms Thunberg has recently expanded her repertoire by campaigning against Israel as well.

“Young people are leading the way,” she told Reuters, “and showing the world how we should react to this.” Is she quite sure? Are young people “leading the way” by treating a 20-year-old female pop singer as if she were somehow responsible for the actions of the Israeli military? Are they “leading the way” by leaving this poor woman with no option but to stay holed up in her Swedish hotel room all day, surrounded by security guards, for the sake of her own safety?

And are they “showing the world how we should react” by booing her as she sings a song whose lyrics were reportedly written as a lament for the Israeli civilians who were kidnapped, raped and murdered on October 7?

Personally, I’m not convinced. In fact, I would say that, for the anti-Israel Left, this week’s scenes from Sweden represent an ugly new low. And it may grow uglier still, as Ms Golan is due to perform at tonight’s Eurovision final.

Given that their behaviour is only likely to undermine their cause, perhaps these blinkered bullies should consider taking the evening off. And if they need something else to be angry about in the meantime, they could always try googling Sudan. Country in Africa. Great big landmass, just below Europe. They can’t miss it.

To deter passengers from placing their luggage on empty seats, train guards have reportedly started threatening to impose fines. Quite right, too. As a regular passenger myself, however, there is one sight that I find even more enraging than suitcases on seats – bicycles propped by the doors. Having to spend your entire journey standing in a packed carriage is bad enough. But it’s unbearable when there are whacking great bikes taking up space, too.

If someone has placed their luggage on a seat, you can at least tell them to remove it. But you can’t very well tell a cyclist to remove their bike. There’s nowhere else for it to go.

And however tempted you may be to try wrapping the infernal thing around its owner’s neck, you must resist. Aluminium is notoriously difficult to tie a knot in, so you might easily do yourself an injury.

Like all prime ministers nearing the end of their tenure, Rishi Sunak is desperate to leave behind some kind of legacy. Something he did that changed Britain for the better. I suggest he bans cyclists from trains.

Then again, if he bans them from trains, they’ll spend more time on the roads. Poor Mr Sunak. In politics, there really are no easy answers.

Freddie Bailey, a Labour councillor, seems not to understand why the Tories want to make single-sex loos a legal requirement in all new bars, restaurants and offices. “I use gender-neutral toilets at home every day,” he tweeted this week.

It’s remarkable how often, and how smugly, progressives make this point. So perhaps it’s time to explain to them why it’s so stupendously dim. Women may be willing to use the same loo as their husbands and sons. But they tend to be rather less keen to use the same loo as large numbers of revoltingly unhygienic men they’ve never met. And few enjoy having to walk past a row of such men using the urinal.

If progressives truly believe that there is no difference between gender-neutral loos in public buildings and their “gender-neutral” bathrooms at home, they should leave their front doors permanently unlocked, so that strange men can pop in and use their facilities any time they like.