Look, I identify as a Diane Abbott fangirl. She is, to me, the single most morally brave and inspirational British politician—bullied, silenced, intimidated—and yet she still rocks up, and withstands it all because she genuinely cares about people... God forbid. She has more courage than the entire political class combined. When she was punished for her distinctions between racism and anti-semitism, it's been festering in my brain like mould—and lately I've only just been able to root this frustration in how people refuse to reckon with their own hypocrisy and inability to hold two truths at one... So, back into the trenches I go.
There are many reasons Diane Abbott was right when she said people of colour experience systemic racism in a way Jewish people do not. Like white privilege or trans passing, it doesn’t erase other oppression—but it does expose a hierarchy of suffering. The way she was punished by Labour shows it clearly: either oppression is wrong across the board, or you’re cherry-picking whichever prejudices are most convenient to acknowledge. Antisemitism is real and rising, but when a government otherwise disinterested in prejudice suddenly cares only to shield Israel, it feels less like genuine concern and more like a tool for colonial interests. Meanwhile, no prejudices are being challenged—only turned into political footballs.
In Britain, antisemitism has become non-debatable (and for understandable historic reasons), while bombing children is “contentious” or “debatable.” That contrast is deeply revealing. Even Jewish scholars critical of Zionism are silenced. At the same time, Britain still hasn’t reckoned with its antisemitism—we turned away Jewish refugees after WWII; Mosley’s Blackshirts marched here. Scroll any comment section today and you’ll find “we owe Hitler an apology” posts, or tired tropes about Jews secretly controlling the world. And it’s not just online. Jewish businesses are being targeted. Synagogues vandalised. CST reports reflect this fear in reality, and polls show increasing numbers of Jewish people no longer see a future in the UK, many actively considering emigration. A growing feeling of danger. It feels like it’s becoming more common by the day. And yet, it’s also true that antisemitism is now wielded to shut down criticism of Israel. That isn’t justice—that’s manipulation by the British government and media.
And to be explicit: antisemitic hate is real and terrifying. CST recorded 1,521 antisemitic incidents in the UK from January to June 2025, the second-highest total ever for the first half of a year, and a 58% increase over the monthly average before October 2023. For those versed in Jewish history, it isn’t hysterical for Jewish people to feel scared—it’s horrifying.
But still, the media and government mustn’t use antisemitism as a shield to protect colonial interests. Palestinians, like Aboriginal Australians and Native Americans—like human fucking beings—deserve the same basic recognition of their suffering. And that should be a moral through-line linking a Jewish child scared to wear their school uniform or Star of David, a Palestinian child under bombing, economically oppressed kids on council estates, and trans kids terrified for their future.
There’s a world of difference between saying “one group’s suffering matters more than another’s” and acknowledging that prejudice weaves itself through society in different ways, hurting people differently. Diane Abbott has dedicated her life to fighting for people—and racism and misogyny define how she’s treated. If Westminster had more Diane Abbotts, this country would be a far better place.
A majority of British Jews identify as Zionists. That connection to Israel makes sense. But then to claim it’s antisemitic to point out that Jewishness and Israel are often conflated—while Netanyahu himself does that every single day? That’s hypocrisy at best, manipulation at worst. Meanwhile, Islamophobia and anti-Black racism are everyday realities in Britain that we fail to properly challenge. Diane Abbott faces death threats and abuse daily. Black and Asian women MPs endure disproportionate harassment. Yet when she speaks about racism, she’s treated like she’s clueless. That’s disingenuous and cruel.
And not to toot my own horn, but I’m not like a lot of lefties. I don’t like organised religion. My brain is very grateful for the hours I’ve spent watching ontological debates for fun, but ultimately I find tools of oppression difficult to stomach. Even when good comes from them, if liberation is the core of your politics, it’s an easy conclusion: critiquing dogma—political or religious—must be protected speech.
But critique is not prejudice. Islamophobia is allowed to spread unchecked, rooted in the lie that Islam is a purely jihadist religion imposing “sharia law” (ask an Islamophobe to define it and you’ll hear truly deranged nonsense). It’s weaponised as a threat to “European culture,” while actual fascists whip people into irrational fear.
And here’s where my autistic brain basically breaks: the coverage around Palestine is all pearl-clutching over antisemitism—while children are being murdered. It’s horrendous. The UK government supplies weapons parts to the IDF, trains them, shares intelligence, and lets British citizens fight in Gaza unchallenged—but a brown girl groomed into ISIS is banned for life, made a media symbol. That is racial supremacy in action.
After George Floyd’s murder, white liberals claimed they were ready to sit in discomfort. But when it comes to Palestine? Suddenly everyone wants to sidestep “complications.” If this is about fighting antisemitism, then Britain must also reckon with the antisemitism it ignored for decades. If this is about suffering, then Palestinian suffering must count. If this is about protecting people, then Islamophobia, racism, misogyny, and transphobia must be non-negotiable too.
Because right now, the message is clear: one people’s pain is sacred, the rest is negotiable. And that hypocrisy is why people are so furious. Because we are denying a world where they're both non-negotiable, and I'm struggling to understand for what reason.
Antisemitism is real and must be fought. But so must Islamophobia, racism, misogyny, and transphobia. Protecting one community’s suffering while dismissing another’s is not justice—it’s supremacy. And Diane Abbott was right.
