Opinion

Sorry, Ed Sheeran had every reason to know about Macklemore’s anti-Israel vitriol

The red-headed crooner must have assumed that all that nice talk of unity no longer extended to Jews – which is precisely the message coming from so much of our toxic culture industries these days

By Liel Leibovitz

3 min read

Ed Sheeran (L) and Macklemore perform on September 20, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Image: Getty Images)

Israeli airstrike targeted a branch of the Al-Qard Al-Hasan finance group linked to Hezbollah in the southern city of Tyre on October 21, 2024 (Image: Getty)

By Tamir Morag

How Israel and the US have crippled Hezbollah’s financial backbone

7 min read

Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi and his wife are presented with The Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation by The Most Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally, Archbishop of Canterbury, at Lambeth Palace on September 11, 2026. (Image: Neil Turner for Lambeth Palace)

By The JC Leader

The Church of England’s lapse of judgment

2 min read

Armed Police near the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue following the terror attack on Yom Kippur, on October 2, 2025 (Image: Getty)

By Keren David

Terror won’t scare us away from Jewish life – we’re too stubborn, resilient and contrary for that

3 min read

Latest from opinion

‘Should we counter-boycott Macklemore at simchahs?’: Letters to the Editor, September 25 2026

4 min read

Aziz Abu Sarah (left) and Maoz Inon at a previous meeting (Photo: courtesy)

Manchester

Manchester needed this conversation about peace

A diversity of Anglo-Jewish voices should be given a platform beyond the capital

By Juliette Coleman

2 min read

By Dov Forman

The genocide slur at my UCL graduation was bad enough – the applause was outright chilling

The thing I couldn’t stop thinking about was not the protesting student, but the people in the room cheering that twisted accusation

5 min read

The vice-provost applauds as a student walks across the stage holding a banner that read 'UCL funds genocide' (Image: UCL)

By Moumen al-Natour

I’m from Gaza – peace will only come if we rid our mosques and schools of radicalism

Disarming Hamas is crucial but we must also dismantle the extremist ideas fuelling the violence. For decades, the educational and religious systems were exploited to steer Palestinian consciousness exclusively toward war

2 min read

Young Palestinians show their skills during a military graduation ceremony at a Hamas summer camp in al-Burij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip (Photo: Getty Images)

By Stephen Pollard

Ed Miliband’s show of Jewish pride: Kicking Israel on Yom Kippur

Whether he is wrecking Britain’s alliance with its most important Middle Eastern ally or ordering a fruity vegan flapjack, our friends and foes alike must surely conclude that our Foreign Secretary is a bad joke

3 min read

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband (Image: X)

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Leaders

Labour’s dangerous turn on Israel and our shared resolve

The misguided sanctions and Miliband’s inflammatory rhetoric damage bilateral relations and risk fuelling anti-Jewish sentiment at home. Yet this Rosh Hashanah, as always, we will gather with seriousness and joy and face the challenges ahead together

By The JC Leader

2 min read

Ed Miliband in the House of Commons on September 8, 2026 (ParliamentTV)

By The JC Leader

Labour must listen to Jewish leaders about the dangers of sanctioning Israel

Repeated ministerial declarations that antisemitism has ‘no place’ in Britain ring increasingly hollow unless accompanied by an understanding of the environment in which contemporary antisemitism flourishes

2 min read

Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis with Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband (Image: Office of the Chief Rabbi)

By The JC Leader

How the Green Party is embracing the politics of Palestinian extremism

When even a Jewish-Arab peace group that speaks of ‘apartheid’ and ‘genocide’ is deemed beyond the pale, the argument is no longer about Israel’s policy, but its very legitimacy

2 min read

Green Party MP's, members, activists and supporters gather on Bournemouth beach for a 'Red Line for Palestine' protest on the second day of the Green Party Conference, on October 04, 2025 in Bournemouth. (Getty Images)

By The JC Leader

The success of Israeli players in English football matters beyond the pitch

At a time when there are persistent attempts to turn the Jewish state into a pariah, clubs such as Southampton and West Ham have refused to allow politics to dictate whom they employ, judging Manor Solomon and Daniel Peretz as sportsmen rather than symbols

2 min read