Jewish Chronicle under fire over article claiming Palestinian solidarity is anti-Semitic

The Jewish Chronicle, Britain’s oldest Jewish community newspaper, has come under fire for publishing an article by controversial commentator Melanie Phillips which claims that any support for Palestinians amounts to anti-Semitism. Concerns have been raised over subsequent undisclosed edits to both the headline and content.

The article, initially published under the headline “If you support the Palestinian cause in any form, you’re facilitating Jew-hate” was later changed to “The truth of the Palestinian cause” without any editorial note explaining the modification. The UK press regulator IPSO has been called upon to investigate these changes.

READ: Editor of anti-Palestine Jewish Chronicle accused of inciting anti-Muslim hatred with false tweet

In the article, Phillips argued that support for Palestinian rights, regardless of context, facilitates “deranged and murderous Jew-hatred.” She wrote: “Let’s not hear any protests that you were once a member of Habonim or have a holiday home in Herzliya… If you support the Palestinian Arab cause today, you are facilitating deranged and murderous Jew-hatred. Own it.”

“The Jewish Chronicle has secretly changed the headline and words in the article, without any apology or acknowledgement (the article remains disgusting),” said Muslim Council of Britain Spokesperson Miqdaad Versi, tagging press regulator IPSO.

The Jewish Chroncile have secretly changed the headline & words in the article, without any apology or acknowledgement (the article remains disgusting)

Their editorial standards are so poor @IpsoNews https://t.co/MF26qKaGcL pic.twitter.com/VezVcFjlek

— Miqdaad Versi (@miqdaad) January 1, 2025

Versi pointed out that the article initially said: “If you support the Palestinian Arab cause in any shape or form, you are [facilitating deranged and murderous Jew-hatred]” before it was changed to, “If you support the Palestinian Arab cause today, you are [facilitating deranged and murderous Jew-hatred].”

In the tsunami of denunciations, one twitter user listed Israel’s actions over the past year in Gaza and said that Phillips’ claim basically means that: “Being against rape is anti-Semitism. Being against torture is anti-Semitism. Being against starvation is anti-Semitism. Being against murder is anti-Semitism. Being against ethnic cleaning is anti-Semitism. Being against genocide is anti-Semitism.”

Being against r*pe is antisemitism.
Being against torture is antisemitism.
Being against starvation is antisemitism.
Being against murder is antisemitism.
Being against ethnic cleaning is antisemitism.
Being against genøcide is antisemitism.

So says Melanie Phillips. pic.twitter.com/YvrfIqSeis

— ADAM (@AdameMedia) January 1, 2025

Commentator Owen Jones pointed out that the article is “very helpful, actually,” because, “Melanie Phillips is explicitly stating what Israel’s cheerleaders have long been pushing for. They want to redefine anti-Semitism as ‘any form of solidarity with Palestinians’, rather than the very dangerous hatred of Jewish people that it is.”

This is very helpful, actually.

Melanie Phillips is explicitly stating what Israel’s cheerleaders have long been pushing for.

They want to redefine antisemitism as “any form of solidarity with Palestinians”, rather than the very dangerous hatred of Jewish people that it is. pic.twitter.com/eiat1qFjnw

— Owen Jones (@owenjonesjourno) January 1, 2025

While Phillips insists on labelling any solidarity with Palestinians “anti-Semitic”, she has argued that there is no such thing as Islamophobia. Writing in the same newspaper, she said that the very concept of Islamophobia is itself “anti-Semitic”. In her article “Don’t fall for bogus claims of ‘Islamophobia’”, she argued that concerns about anti-Muslim racism were being used to “silence any criticism of the Islamic world.”

READ: Has the UK’s oldest Jewish newspaper become Benjamin Netanyahu’s propaganda tool?