News and Views 5th September 2025 

Israel

• 72% of genocide ‘scholars’ did not back anti-Israel resolution. Many mainstream media outlets have reported the International Association for Genocide Scholars as having declared that Israel is committing 'genocide' in Gaza. Eg, read here, here and here. Some go as far as claiming that “86% of experts now agree Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.” The reality is very different.  Of IAGS' 500 members (at the time), only 28% took part in the vote. That’s about 111 IAGS members in total - just over one in five. As Israel Today pointed out, 72% of IAGS members did not vote for this resolution. They abstained, ignored, or refused to put their name to it.
• But much worse than this, it transpires that almost anyone can join IAGS for a token fee. The group is riddled with activist operatives and even outright pranksters, including someone registered as ‘Adolf Hitler from Gaza’. As such, the IAGS report is packed with errors and misleading claims, and has since been comprehensively debunked. Furthermore, another report, pro-Israel but independent of the Israeli government, was released by the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (BESA) around the same time as the IAGS ‘report’ - yet was almost completely ignored by the mainstream media. Entitled Debunking the Genocide Allegations: A Re-examination of the Israel-Hamas War, 2023–2025, it systematically dismantles the genocide narrative with detailed legal, military, and factual analysis.
• Genocide scholars’ leadership had an agenda. Dr Sara E. Brown, a more reputable member of IAGS, being director of the American Jewish Committee office in San Diego and holding a Ph.D. in comparative genocide studies, said that the group pushed through the resolution accusing Israel of genocide without holding a debate. “It was just forced through without the usual transparency”. The association also did not allow dissenting opinions to be published on its list-serve, and declined to release the names of the members who drafted the resolution. “The leadership, in my opinion, had an agenda,” Dr Brown concluded.
• The exposure of IAGS and the international media’s utter failure to fact-check the ‘Israel is committing genocide’ report should be one of the most humiliating media scandals in recent memory, insists Dr Norman Fenton (though the same media are unlikely to bring it to our attention). Where, for example, was BBC Verify? Fenton calls it the complete “collapse of basic journalistic standards when the story fits a fashionable narrative ... When it comes to Israel, many of our biggest news outlets have stopped reporting and started campaigning.”

Middle East

• Will a Druze-Christian state emerge in the Middle East? A number of commentators are wondering whether a new Christian-friendly country could possibly be emerging in Syria. The Druze, supported by Israel but viciously attacked by Islamists, are now in full control of the southern Syrian region of Sweida, home to almost half a million people, tens of thousands of whom are at least nominally Christians. If it happened, Sweida would become the first overwhelmingly non-Muslim state established in the Middle East since Israel in 1948. Another, more remote, possibility is that Syria’s Druze could establish a protected contiguous swath of territory together with the Syrian Kurds, who live in the east and north of the country. Read more here and here.

Persecution of Christians

• Christians in Turkey face growing wave of hate crimes. There are increasing signs that Islam is tightening its grip on the culture and the politics of Turkey. At the same time, Christians across the country are facing mounting hostility. The latest Human Rights Violation Report from the Association of Protestant Churches highlights a surge in hate crimes, state pressure, and restrictions on both local and foreign believers. It also notes a rise in both “written and oral hate speech” compared with previous years. Churches have been targeted with gunfire, vandalism, and threats. One Christian teacher lost her job without explanation and was later warned to “be careful which associations you attend and the foreigners you make friends with.” Protestant churches, numbering just over 200 nationwide, also face challenges in renting worship space, obtaining legal recognition, and training clergy.
• New film documents Russia’s persecution of Christians in Ukraine. A new documentary, ‘A Faith Under Siege’, shines a light on the growing persecution of evangelical Christians in Ukraine, a crisis that remains largely unknown in the West. The hour-and-a-half long film features firsthand accounts of pastors, aid workers and believers who have been captured, tortured or forced to flee because of their faith. Executive producer Colby Barrett explained that many Christians “stayed in these war-torn areas to help and to minister to their folks and to others, to provide aid … when the Russians took over and found these evangelicals, they found them very threatening …. (because they) are very loyal to our leader, Jesus, and not so much to political leaders." The documentary does more than expose Russian war crimes; it also serves as a call to action for Christians worldwide to pray and stand with their brothers and sisters in Ukraine. It can be viewed for free here.

Church Issues

• Revival of Christianity in Silicon Valley. California’s Silicon Valley – that global hub for high-tech companies based near San Fransisco – has long been associated with countercultural movements and left-wing politics. But there has been a notable right-ward shift in recent years, as billionaires paid homage to Trump, donating millions to his election campaign. Along with it has occurred a “holy shift” – an interest in the Christian faith. Jay Kim, lead pastor at Westgate Church, commented, “The chaos of Covid and the rise of AI technology have caused some in Silicon Valley to confront existential questions in a significant way”. As recently as the 2010s, Silicon Valley cultivated a stance of pointed hostility towards the Protestant faith that underpins much of American life. 
• ‘Yes, we talk about Jesus’. Influential figures like Peter Thiel and Y Combinator CEO Gary Tan have contributed to this shift, normalising Christianity in a historically secular environment. Groups such as Acts 17 Collective (‘Acknowledging Christ in Technology and Society’) are leading the charge – “a community of thinkers, builders, artists and leaders ... We’re here to explore deeper questions together”, their website states. “And yes, we talk about Jesus.”  Its events feature tech leaders discussing their faith, followed by networking to music featuring “remixed worship beats”. It seeks to imbue the ambitious entrepreneurs of Silicon Valley with a fresh religious zeal. Read also here and here.
• Church growth in ‘spectacularly godless’ San Fran. In neighbouring San Francisco, traditionally one of the most irreligious cities in America, Google employee Matt Ridenour notes how “God is at work.” After an exodus of people during Covid and a crime wave in the city, “many young people are not only returning to the city but also to their faith”. For example, Epic Church hosts many Silicon Valley tech employees; post-pandemic, the congregation has grown from 300 to more than 800 – this in a city that’s renowned for being ‘spectacularly godless’.

European Jewry

• Jewish leaders afraid for future of Jews in Belgium. Belgium is the latest European country to sign a UN declaration backing future recognition of a Palestinian state – albeit only once the last hostage has been released and Hamas no longer exercises any form of governance over Gaza. Jewish leaders say they are 'afraid for the future of Jews in Belgium' (20,000 in Antwerp area alone). Raphael Werner, chairman of the Forum of Jewish Organizations, praised new Belgian initiatives to combat antisemitism. However, he also spoke of the growing antisemitism within Belgium’s political echelon, saying that many parties won’t accept meetings with Jewish organizations to discuss antisemitism “because of Gaza.”
• Abounding Belgium antisemitism. The Flanders Minister-President recently remarked, “I don’t know who the ‘biggest bas ..d’ in the conflict is: Hamas or Israel.” Elsewhere, a Belgian author sparked widespread condemnation after he wrote that “I want to ram a sharp knife through the throat of every Jew I meet”; also describing Benjamin Netanyahu as a “small, fat, bald Jew” who wanted to “wipe out the entire Arab world.” Yet the author was acquitted earlier this year by a criminal court of charges of, among other things, incitement to hatred, despite outcry from Jewish organizations over his violent antisemitic remarks. Joel Rubinfeld, President of the Belgian League Against Antisemitism concluded, “The main problem is not politicians; it’s the media feeding Belgian people every day with anti-Israeli content.”

Society and Politics

• ‘Overwhelmingly white’ countryside needs more halal food, report claims. The British countryside is “overwhelmingly white” and needs more halal food, a study by The University of Leicester’s Centre for Hate Studies has claimed. The report states there is a “psychological burden” that comes with “navigating the predominantly white spaces” of the countryside. The report also raises concerns that traditional pub culture is exclusionary, and that the rural British “monoculture” could contribute to developing 'far-right sentiment', as opposed to the diversity found in cities. The report comes after the British countryside was branded a "racist, colonial" white space by a number of wildlife charities. Read also here and here. Tim Bonner, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, said in response; “Ironically, those who peddle the narrative of a racist countryside are actually showing their own prejudice against rural people.” Read also.
• Mandatory digital IDs being considered by Labour. Every person in Britain could be issued with a digital ID card under plans being considered by Keir Starmer to tackle illegal immigration, amid a public backlash over the surge in Channel migrants and asylum hotels, as well as benefit fraud. The last Labour government tried to introduce ID cards, with the first issued in 2009, but the scheme was scrapped by the incoming Conservative-led coalition on the basis that it was an “erosion of civil liberties”. A poll of Labour members shows that the majority want to see digital ID cards, with less than a third opposed. The scheme is set to be discussed at an emergency meeting chaired by Starmer, aimed at accelerating work to shut down the UK’s 200 migrant hotels.

Covid and the Vaccines

• Both Covid virus and vaccines have ‘unleashed profound harm’, finds study by US scientists. A disturbing new peer-reviewed study suggests that the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for Covid-19 shows signs of ‘deliberate engineering’ and that these features, including the spike protein also found in the mRNA covid vaccines, are responsible for widespread health harms globally. The study by 11 scientific and legal experts was published in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons. According to the paper, ‘Far from benign, these vaccines have unleashed profound harm, disrupting nearly every system of the human body and contributing to unprecedented levels of morbidity and mortality.’ Dr Andrew Zywiec, the paper’s lead author, said the paper reveals a ‘pattern of harm too consistent, too pervasive to be dismissed as chance’. The study follows several other recent studies indicating that the modified Covid mRNA injections are unsafe, ineffective, contaminated, and in violation of international law. Read also here and here.