These anti-Israel student protests lay bare the brazen hypocrisy of the woke Left

The BBC seems eager to reassure us that the students taking over campuses to protest against Israel are gentle, peace-loving pillars of the community – rather than, as some members of the public might have supposed, a pack of brainwashed, Jew-hating apologists for terrorism. To this end, on Sunday the BBC News website ran an article headlined: “Inside a ‘peaceful and proud’ Gaza protest camp at a UK university.”

The article certainly made all involved sound like lovely people. There was just one small snag.

Directly beneath the “peaceful and proud” headline was a photo of a student protester whose face was completely obscured by a big black mask.

Now, I’ve no doubt that this student – who for some reason asked not to be named – is a delightful human being who wouldn’t hurt a fly, not even a wicked Zionist one. I would just say, however, that if I were staging some form of protest, and I wished to show the public that my goals were entirely peaceful, I would probably decide against wearing a big black mask. Otherwise, the public might think that a) I looked a tiny bit intimidating, and b) I was carefully concealing my identity because I intended to commit some kind of crime, possibly a violent one.

Just a thought.

Still, it isn’t just masks that seem to be de rigueur at these protests. There’s another item of clothing that is possibly even more popular. It’s the keffiyeh: a type of traditional Palestinian scarf that is typically used as a headdress. And it’s being worn by lots of Left-wing students – even those who happen to be white.

Which is fascinating. Because, for the past decade, Left-wing students in both Britain and America have been telling us, very loudly and angrily, that white Westerners shouldn’t wear the traditional clothing of other ethnic groups – because this is “cultural appropriation”. And “cultural appropriation”, they’ve repeatedly warned us, is offensive, hurtful, and almost certainly racist.

In 2019, for example, the students’ union at the University of Sheffield declared that it was insensitive to wear a sombrero. In 2018, the students’ union at the University of Kent decreed that it was unacceptable to dress up as a Native American (or “Red Indian”, a term which is itself now considered unacceptable). And in 2015, hundreds of students at Yale staged furious protests after a female lecturer said people should be free to wear whatever costumes they wished, including those from other cultures. Shortly afterwards, she resigned.

Perhaps, however, this lecturer was simply ahead of her time. Because in 2024, it’s apparently deemed wholly acceptable – even admirable – for white Westerners to don the clothing of another ethnic group. As long as they’re doing it to demonstrate their hatred of Israel, anyway.

To be clear: I’ve got nothing against white people wearing the keffiyeh. All I’m saying is that, when Left-wing activists decide to make abrupt changes to the rules they’ve sought to impose upon society, I wish they’d let the rest of us know. Say, by sending out a helpful memo or press release. “ATTENTION ALL CITIZENS. Cultural appropriation is no longer considered a heinous offence against marginalised and oppressed minorities. Instead, it is now considered a noble expression of solidarity with them. Please update your records accordingly.”

Something along those lines. Just as a courtesy. Otherwise, it’s not easy for the rest of us to follow the rules, if we’re no longer sure what they are.

LGB tea

Over the course of my lifetime, one of the most striking linguistic developments has been the changing usage of the word “queer”. When I was growing up, it was a term of homophobic abuse, used only by bigoted thugs. In recent years, however, the word has been successfully reclaimed. As a result, many people are now proud to call themselves “queer”.

Until yesterday, however, I didn’t realise that food could be queer, too.

But it turns out it can. Boston University, reports the New York Times, has just hosted “the inaugural Queer Food Conference”. Around 160 attendees paid $45 (£35) a head to discuss “queer food”, analyse “food spaces” from “queer, Marxist, feminist and anti-colonialist perspectives”, and celebrate foods that “challenge binaries and any kind of normativity”. (One speaker, “a non-binary transgender lesbian”, cited okra. “The way you slice into okra and it’s crunchy and ooshy-gushy – a lot of people think it’s weird. But okra is queer.”)

For me, at least, this is a real eye-opener. I must admit, it had never previously occurred to me that the food on my plate might have a sexual orientation, or a gender identity.

But then, I suppose that’s just my cisgender heterosexual privilege showing.