News and Views 4th October 2025 

 

Israel / Gaza 

• Trump says Hamas is ready for peace. Hamas has announced that it welcomed parts of the US proposal to end the war in Gaza, while hinting at resistance regarding other sections. The group said it is willing to release all hostages in an effort to re-enter negotiations. Trump responded by calling Israel to stop bombing Gaza "immediately". Israel said it will work in full cooperation with the President and his team to end the war, and has already shifted to solely defensive operations. But Hamas said it rejects Tony Blair's inclusion on a 'Board of Peace' and also refused to completely disarm. Somewhat prematurely, Trump stated, 'We are very close' to achieving peace in the Middle East.
• Hamas leader rejects Trump’s plan for Gaza. Previously, the head of Hamas' military wing in Gaza was understood to have rejected Trump's peace plan and was determined to continue fighting Israel. Trump said his 20-point proposal would end the war in Gaza immediately if both sides accepted it (read the full plan here). Israel had already agreed to the proposals – as, too, had eight Arab and Gulf State nations — and even the Palestinian Authority, which had opposed Trump’s plans in the past. The 20-point plan included an immediate ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces, the freeing of all remaining Israeli hostages, as well as disarming Hamas and removing it from power. It also offered the prospect of a Palestinian state — if Hamas complied with the plan and the Palestinian Authority agreed to sweeping reforms of its policies and anti-Israel culture. 
• Conditions favouring Hamas. In Hamas’ favour, Israel would release nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees – including 1,700 Gazans detained since 2023. Hamas members who disarm and accept coexistence with Israel would be given amnesty and allowed to leave if they choose. Israel would not annex or “occupy” Gaza, and Gazans would not be forced to leave Gaza – though those who do wish to leave will be able to do so and will be free to return. Nevertheless, it was expected that Hamas would reject the plan, which they saw as designed to finish the group, whether they  accepted the deal or not. A senior figure within the terror group said the proposal “serves Israel’s interests” and “ignores those of the Palestinian people”. In particular, Hamas were seen as being unlikely to agree to hand over its weapons, and to the deployment of an international stabilisation force. 

Manchester Synagogue Attack

• Islamic terror attack on Manchester synagogue. 35-year-old Jihad Al-Shamie, who arrived in the UK from Syria as a child, is named as the Islamist terrorist who killed an innocent Jewish man at a Manchester synagogue on Thursday morning. There have been unconfirmed reports that Hamas were behind the attack. Two men aged in their 30s and a woman in her 60s have been arrested on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack.
• Anti-Israel protestors take to Manchester streets hours after synagogue attack. Meanwhile, within hours of the attack, and just miles from where it took place, the streets of Manchester were filled with protestors – ironically not those protesting against Islamism, rather, pro-Palestinians. The police also allowed an anti-Israel demonstration near Downing Street in central London, where 40 were arrested in clashes with police officers and where one protestor angrily stating, “I don’t give a f--- about the Jewish community right now.” Other demonstrations were said to have taken place in Edinburgh, Glasgow and other cities across the UK. Further huge demonstrations are planned across Britain this weekend – being permitted by the police, albeit with a feeble plea from the Home Secretary that protestors step back 'for at least a few days' after the synagogue attack.
• UK government accused of not doing enough. Israel has accused Keir Starmer of failing to curb a “toxic wave of anti-Semitism” in Britain since October 7^th. Benjamin Netanyahu said, “weakness in the face of terrorism only brings more terrorism.” In a damning statement, Gideon Falter, the chief executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, said the blood of British Jews was on the hands of police chiefs, universities, the BBC, and 'virtue-signalling politicians' for pouring fuel on the fire of extremism. Many other commentators – Jewish and non-Jewish - have said similar. Writing in The Telegraph, Danny Cohen complained that those in positions of authority simply haven’t done enough. “On marches, people have been allowed to display virulently anti-Semitic, pro-terrorist signs without consequence. Jews have experienced racism in the NHS, at schools and universities, in the workplace and outside their places of worship. This has formed a steady, ever-louder drumbeat of Jew-hate. Anti-Semitism has become normalised, the only acceptable form of racism.” Writing in The Daily Mail, Stephen Pollard wrote, “As horrifying as this incident may be, I doubt that any of Britain’s 287,000 Jews will be surprised that such an event has come to pass.”
• The whole of Britain’s elites are part of this, says Melanie Phillips. Characteristically, no-one has written in stronger terms than Melanie Phillips. She writes that “for the past two years since October 7, Starmer’s government has allowed gross incitement against Jews to run riot unchecked. (On our streets there has been) “a constant chanting not only to destroy Israel but also to kill Jews … One demonstrator was captured on video saying “All Zionists must die” … And yet the police have done absolutely nothing to arrest these people … For the past two years it’s been open season on Jews in Britain … So many of his (Starmer’s) own members of parliament are stoking this very hysteria and stoking the Jew hatred that has followed … Yet, no one in Britain is allowed to speak of the rampant Jew hatred in the Muslim community in Britain and around the world without being smeared as a bigot … The Palestinian cause itself is driven by genocidal hatred of Jews — not just of Israel, Jews ... Starmer, his government and his Labour Party are part of this monstrous exercise. So are the media, led by the BBC, Sky and the Guardian, the universities and the schools, the Church of England, the arts, the cultural establishment — the whole of Britain’s elites are part of this.” (Read her full blog here)

Digital ID cards

Opposition to digital ID cards. More than 2.6 million people have already signed a petition against plans for new digital ID cards in the UK. A Daily Mail poll showed that no more than a quarter of people back the scheme; a Telegraph poll of over 100,000 readers suggested 55% were opposed to the plan. Arguments against the scheme include:

•   Britain already has a perfectly adequate ID system in force; National Insurance numbers have long been required to get a job, benefits, etc - everyone who works has one. British citizens also have a wide range of other IDs already (such as driving licences and passports).
•   The plan is anti-democratic. There is no mandate from the voters for the Government to do this. 
•  While Germany, Spain, Sweden and France already have ID cards, the UK has very particular challenges to overcome, as well as a heavy social media policing system that leads to around 30 speech arrests a day.
•   The scheme will do nothing to stop the migrant boats crossing the Channel.
• Step towards mass surveillance and digital control. More significantly, critics are deeply worried that Starmer's plan is a step towards mass surveillance and digital control – being about creating a national database that risks, over time, becoming connected to much of what we do. Compulsory ID cards are a feature of many authoritarian governments around the world, including Russia, Iran, Belarus, North Korea, China and Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. 
• Petition link. There are also concerns about former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair’s alleged secret lobbying on behalf of Oracle, a tech giant considered a frontrunner to provide the UK’s new digital ID cards. New signatures are currently being added to the Do not introduce Digital ID cards Petition at the rate of around several per second. 

Cousin Marriages

• NHS says it's beneficial to marry first cousins. The NHS released guidance last week, via its England's Genomics Education Programme, advocating the benefits of marriages between cousins, which practice is common in the British Pakistani community. The guidance says that the chance of children of first cousins being born with a genetic condition, “is a small one”, and that, in any case, there are many other factors that also lead to children having genetic conditions (smoking, alcohol use, etc) yet these are not banned. It claims; “most children of first cousins are healthy” and that inter-marriage offers benefits which include 'stronger extended family support systems and economic advantages.
• 'Cousin marriage is incest, plain and simple.’ In fact, figures show that up to 20% of the children treated for congenital problems in cities such as Sheffield, Glasgow and Birmingham are of Pakistani descent, compared with 4 per cent or lower in the wider population – and treating these problems costs the NHS billions. Horrified at the NHS guidance, Tory MP Richard Holden said marriage between first cousins 'destroys integration, women's rights and the health of those involved … 'Our NHS should stop taking the knee to damaging and oppressive cultural practices’. Dr Patrick Nash, an expert on religious law and director of the Pharos Foundation social science research group in Oxford, stated; 'Cousin marriage is incest, plain and simple, and needs to be banned with the utmost urgency.” The NHS eventually deleted the article following a predictable backlash. Read also here.

Immigration

• European countries with the most migrants. Visual Capitalist has produced a fascinating graphic of available migrant data according to country of birth across Europe. Liechtenstein tops the list of European countries with the most immigrants. 70% of its 40,000 residents were born abroad, and roughly two-thirds hail from outside the EU. Meanwhile, Germany tops the list with the most immigrants by absolute numbers alone. 16.9 million people, equal to one-fifth of Germany’s population, were born abroad, of which one in eight are EU-born. Poland and Romania sit at the bottom of the table, with only 3% of immigrants among its population. Not being part of the EU, Britain is not included in the figures - per the last census (2020-21), about 16% of the UK population is foreign-born.
• Albania’s ‘Little London’. In Golaj, a village of around 4,000 people in northern Albania, it is estimated that 60% of its young locals now live in the UK. Migration is so rife that the village school loses at least a dozen pupils to it every year and businesses and ­farmers struggle to find workers as the younger generation chase new lives in Britain. One villager said: “There’s no gangsters left here because they’re all in the UK.” Just a few miles from Golaj lies the town of Has, which has earned the nickname Little London because so many of its residents now live in Britain. It is said that every family in Has has one to three relatives in the UK. Albanian arrivals saw its peak in 2022 when around 12,000 arrived in the UK by small boat. Read also here. 

Persecution of Christians

• Nigeria's silent genocide: 32 Christians killed every day. Reports reveal that at least 7,087 Christians were massacred across Nigeria in the first 220 days of 2025—a daily average of 32 Christians killed per day. US comedian Bill Maher recently surprised his talk show audience by stating, “They are literally attempting to wipe out the Christian population of an entire country.” He further stated plainly: “If you don’t know what’s going on in Nigeria, your media sources suck. You are in a bubble.” As Maher rightly implied, what is occurring in Nigeria is genocide-by-silence. As reported frequently in PT News and Views, Islamist jihadist groups — Boko Haram, ISWAP, militant Fulani militias, and a new group, Lakurawa — are assaulting Christians with brutality: raids, abductions, massacres, rape, and torture. Even in Nigeria’s more “safe” zones, the violence is spreading. Yet, shamefully, next to none of it gets highlighted in the international media. 

 Other recent instances of the persecution of Christians from different nations include:

• Attacks on Indian believers have escalated dramatically following passage of Rajasthan’s anti-conversion bill, mirroring patterns witnessed in various other Indian states ( eg Uttar Pradesh, Haryana) after similar legislation.
• Authorities in eastern China have carried out one of the largest crackdowns on unregistered Christian churches in recent years, arresting more than 70 people in a sweeping operation targeting Bible study groups and house church gatherings.
• Indonesia has announced it will enforce new blasphemy law in 2026, raising concerns among Christians. It will effectively criminalise aspects of apostasy (ie Muslims becoming Christians), and severely restrict freedom of speech and association. Human Rights Watch called it ‘disastrous’.
• The recent murder of three Christians in Islamabad has shocked believers in Pakistan, as has the forced removal of a kidney from a Christian labourer in Faisalabad. Meanwhile, a young Christian man from Lahore may face the death penalty after being accused of breaking Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws – despite evidence he is innocent and that a fake Facebook account was used to frame him.

The BBC and Israel

• 'Honest Reporting' lambasts biased BBC Verify. A damning analysis by Honest Reporting on the BBC’s fact-checking unit, BBC Verify on its coverage of the Israel-Hamas war claims that BBC Verify is agenda-driven rather than providing fair and balanced verifications. It says the BBC ”selectively challenges Israel while presenting anything Hamas and the UN say without question.” After highlighting some of its latest reports to showcase the consistent and blatant bias against Israel, it concludes:
• “There’s a common thread with BBC Verify, and it’s in the use of tone and language. The reporters present the story in a way that raises uncertainty and makes Israel look like it is lying or covering up evidence of guilt in war crimes. It isn’t said straightforwardly, but the sentiment is planted. They never give credit to the evidence that is provided by Israel, and they deliberately put on blinders to accept Hamas propaganda. Most of the clips erase Hamas from the story and essentially absolve their responsibility in this war. BBC Verify sets out to cause intentional damage. There is nothing trustworthy about it. Instead of acting as a mouthpiece for terrorists and agenda-driven bodies, it’s time to start holding all sides to the same standard – otherwise, it’s not verification, it’s vilification.”