Jenn Selby

Incredible day for UK women. Our #ICBill to timetable the gov. to ratify the #IstanbulConvention has passed into law @ICChangeUK

@owenjonesjourno When you have 1.9 million Arab Palestinians living as Israeli citizens, in the IDF, in government, as court judges, almost as many as in Gaza, with full rights, it is hard to describe it as genocide. Any civilian death is one death too many. But if we’re picking over words…

Keir Starmer responds to a question about the genocide of Palestinians by demanding focus on 7th October instead. You would only do this if you don’t believe Palestinian suffering has meaning, or that Palestinian life has value. This is racism.

@DrProudman When Iran heads up your human rights division and the Taliban gets to speak out on climate change… when do we start to question the legitimacy of the UN?

@owenjonesjourno You should question what you think qualifies you to say as a non Jew what is and isn’t antisemitism. Whether it’s a pogram or not is not the point. You should be clear that any violence against specific ethnic groups based on where they are from is wrong.

Here is a case study in utter moral blindness, dressed up as moderate reasonabless. This attempt to reduce the behaviour of Macabbi Tel Aviv fans to run of the mill, unfortunate but commonplace hooliganism, reveals a moral bankruptcy. Let's explore why. Israel is committing genocide. Even if, for whatever reason, someone refuses to accept that threshold has been met, unless they are a certifiable sociopath, it is abundantly clear that Israel is committing countless depraved war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza - and beyond. Israeli fans celebrated that genocide - or if you prefer, war crimes - on the streets of Amsterdam, a celebration accompanied by violence. They do so in a city with a large Muslim and Arab population. As Israeli journalist Gideon Levy put it, these Dutch citizens consider the victims of Israel's onslaught - including 20,000 slaughtered children - as their "brothers and their compatriots". Let's test what you said to destruction. Answer these questions honestly, please. 1) If, during the Srebrenica massacre, Serb football fans roamed the streets of Amsterdam rejoicing in the slaughter of Bosniak children and chanting in support of the murder of all Muslims, while attacking bystanders, throwing projectiles at homes, burning Bosnian flags and carrying iron poles and other weapons, would you regard this as generic football hooliganism? Yes or no. Answer honestly, please! 2) If, WHILST 7th October was ongoing , Palestinian fans roamed the streets of Amsterdam rejoicing in the slaughter of Israeli children, chanting in support of the murder of all Jews, dragging Israeli flags from private homes and burning them, whilst attacking bystanders and menacing local residents, would you regard this as generic football hooliganism? Yes or no. Answer honestly, please! 3) Let's now consider the most accurate scenario. Imagine if the atrocities of 7th October had been committed against Israel every single day for 400 days. Imagine at least twice as many Israeli children killed that day were being butchered every day, with 44% of verified killings being Israeli children, with visiting US doctors - Arab American doctors among them - testifying that Israeli children were being deliberately and repeatedly shot in the head and chest by Palestinian snipers. Imagine Israel was an apocalyptic wasteland, most of its civilian infrastructure destroyed, up to 8% of its population killed, where rotting corpses were eaten by starving cats and dogs, its hospital system largely violently dismantled, its people being starved, thousands of civilians detained and subjected to hideous torture including rape, the most senior UN humanitarian official declaring everyone in northern Israel is at risk of death, while Palestinian leaders announced their intentions to ethnically cleanse and settle Israel, threats backed up by one of the most sophisticated military machines on earth and the patronage of the world's only superpower. Imagine in that context Palestinian fans violently rampaged through the streets of Amsterdam, bearing in mind its Jewish population, celebrating the slaughter of Israeli children, calling for the murder of Jews, tearing Israeli flags from private homes while attacking bystanders, armed with makeshift weapons. Would you regard this as generic football hooliganism? Yes or no. Answer honestly, please! As I've said repeatedly, I oppose attacks on Maccabi fans, and certainly condemn attacks justified by antisemitism, which is always an outrage regardless of context. What I object to is media coverage and political responses which deliberately stripped away violence perpetrated by Maccabi fans, and their GENOCIDAL racism during a genocide committed by their country. What your response underlines is your complete refusal to understand, process or acknowledge the gravity of what Israel is doing to Gaza. I will await your answers to the questions above with interest. But I will say it now - I don't believe for one second that you can possibly answer 'yes' to any of the questions I've posed to you. Cards on the table: I would regard it as morally outrageous if you did. So you either concede that the behaviour of Maccabi fans was infinitely worse than generic football hooliganism, and that you were wrong, or you put on record that you do not believe Israeli is committing depraved crimes in Gaza. I await your response with keen interest.

@KiraBrook @BrendanMcGeever No it couldn’t. In most Muslim communities, other Muslims are the oppressors, including in Gaza where they live under the thumb of Hamas

@BrendanMcGeever the irony is the word Pogrom could very easily be used to describe what is happening to Palestinians, AND Muslim communities all over the world.

The violence in Amsterdam last night has been widely described as a pogrom against Jews. This is not only misleading but politically dangerous. A thread.

@BrendanMcGeever What a shame this thread is being used to justify violence metered out not by rival fans, but by organised gangs of masked men picking off fans travelling home, asking to see passports and if they were Jewish before beating them up. still antisemitic violence not mentioned here

The word 'pogrom' is not only ill-suited to the task of explaining last night, it does a disservice to Jewish history and prevents us from comprehending the multiple atrocities being carried out in the here and now.

@mariaesanchez That middle quote is still antisemitic.

Other theatre-goers also disputed what was written in The Telegraph and the Mail.

This is a story about how a reported antisemitism row involving comedian @reginalddhunter unfolded. If you've only read mainstream media you'll have a partial view. The story unravelled on social media and we now have much-needed context. It began with this in The Telegraph

@mariaesanchez @reginalddhunter I watched this guy make a joke about raping Harper Lee at the Fringe about 7 years ago. He’s a disgrace, truly.

@AyoCaesar Robert Harris’ Cicero series is a must. Very easy reading, but so entertaining. Make the Roman Empire your Roman Empire this summer

I've got a bit of leave coming up, and I want to read some historical fiction! What's good apart from Hillary Mantel (who I love, and have read already)?

If you’re a ‘feminist’ celebrating the fact that schools will be banned from delivering direct sex education to under 13s just because you disagree with views around gender, it’s time to admit this was never about ‘feminism’. You cannot ignore the rest of the guidance just for the bit you agree with. Girls start their periods anywhere from 8-17 years old. They need to know everything. They have a human right under UNCRC to be informed about issues that impact their body and their personhood. 1 in 4 girls will be sexually abused before the age of 12 in the UK (according to NSPCC stats) Girls are bombarded with sexualised imagery from birth, meaning that research demonstrates that they self-sexualise from the age of 7, and see themselves as sex objects/via the male gaze according to APA Taskforce on Sexualisation of Girls. 50% of 10 year olds watch porn regularly according to NSPCC data, and Pornhub openly admit that at any one time, 1 in 10 of their DAILY 115 million visitors are young children. The proposed ban on teaching under 13 and 14 years old about porn, abortion, sex, STIs and other ‘explicit’ issues is wrong. It’s a huge mistake. Children are being sexually abused in childhood. They are watching their mums being subjected to domestic abuse. They are being groomed online. They are being blackmailed and bullied with sexual images and sexting. We have the highest rates of rape and assault of children occurring ON SCHOOL CAMPUS we have ever seen, according to stats from 2023. That’s predominantly boys raping and sexually assaulting girls AT SCHOOL. Teachers are dealing with this every single day, with little training or support. No feminist should be supporting or celebrating this new guidance.

2mins of Hashi Mohamed absolutely smashing the Conservatives Rwanda policy to bits.👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 ‘Our learned judges said the Home Office hadn’t even assessed that policy before adopting it It’s unviable, it’s expensive & the only people it’s going to work for is the Rwandans’ #BBCQT

I am shocked by new @brainkinduk findings that 55% of domestic abuse survivors may be living with a brain injury. This topic needs to be further explored so that the link between brain injury and domestic abuse can be fully understood. Read more⬇️ brainkind.org/toomanytocount/

@HadleyFreeman The worst part is she says Chapelle wrote The Office and Extras. 🤦🏻‍♀️

For whatever little it’s worth, here are the full paragraphs. I think it’s very clear I’m not defending cruel jokes about disability

Having suffered the horror of being spiked, I’ve spent years campaigning to make it a specific criminal offence. The Home Secretary has undermined our work when he laughed at spiking — giving perpetrators a green light. RT if you agree he should be fired. theguardian.com/politics/2023/…

James Cleverly making a joke about spiking his wife’s drink and controlling women not only shows the Home Sec doesn’t take his role in tackling violence against women and girls seriously, it exposes that he holds misogynistic views.bbc.com/news/uk-politi…

@CaraLisette @_AnxietyJosh

Who talks about mental health and specifically anxiety a lot on Instagram and TikTok?

@brokenbottleboy The most misogynist thing Caitlin Moran has ever written.

@AyoCaesar We have strict rules and laws, like ABPI, that prevent us from promoting prescription drugs like they do in the states.

Q for people in drugs/health policy. Why didn’t OxyContin get over-prescribed in the UK like it did in the US? What was it that meant NHS decision-makers didn’t get taken in by the manufacturers (false) claims about OxyContin being harder to abuse, pain being a vital sign etc?

@SuellaBraverman Muzzle them and have them on leads. Don’t ban them, it’s the owners at fault, not the dogs.

This is appalling. The American XL Bully is a clear and lethal danger to our communities, particularly to children. We can’t go on like this. I have commissioned urgent advice on banning them. trib.al/vMZK80g

@AyoCaesar @breadandposes It’s usually more about the owners, and the types of breeds they go for, than the dogs and the breeds themselves. It’s already law to have dogs chipped and traced to a person, which is like licensing.

@breadandposes As in, why not? Tbh I've got a cat, so literally don't have a horse in this race, but I imagine arguments against are that it would make dog ownership prohibitively expensive when dangerous attacks are few, but dominated by a handful of particular breeds.

It seems to me that, unless you want a system of licensed and regulated dog ownership, that there has to be some legislation preventing people having breeds that are more likely to be dangerous. That’s kind of the societal price of having an otherwise unrestricted pets market!

@AVintenAuthor Most of us are pretty responsible so I think the fine system and council tax is high enough for that.

Should people who own dogs have to pay an extra tax to clean dog poop from our streets?