There has been an unprecedented 12-fold increase in hateful social media content being referred to specialist police officers since Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October, according to the UK’s Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit.
Once focused on propaganda shared by the Islamic State group (IS) and the fall-out online following UK-based attacks, much of the unit’s focus has shifted to assessing whether hateful and extreme social media posts breach anti-terror legislation.
The team says it has received more than 2,700 referrals from the public - shared via an online form - since Hamas attacked Israel, and Israel launched waves of air strikes on the Gaza Strip in return.
It is a spike in hate that leaves young Britons increasingly exposed to radicalisation by algorithm.
Politically (I am not talking about ethically here, the ethics are unambiguous), it’s a difficult needle to thread because a significant portion of Democrats, especially the ones with money, are still very pro-Israel. He also knows that if he condemns Israel, Republicans will start doing things like calling him antisemitic and he will have no hope of funding Ukraine. All of that is not the easiest thing to work through in an election year.
He’s also obviously pro-Israel himself based on his congressional go-around to arm them, so I doubt he’s willing to condemn them, but even if he was, I don’t know that he necessarily would unless he knew it was politically expedient to do so. Unless you’re an idiot like Trump, you keep political expediency in mind when you’re in office in your first term.