What the hell is going on?

Reactions to Prince William and Kate Middleton getting political, a McDonald's customer loses it over "Israel" wrapping, the new (Islamist) city of London, and more.

Joshua Hoffman

Feb 25, 2024

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You can also listen to the podcast version of this essay on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify.

Editor’s Note: Hi, it’s Joshua Hoffman, the founder of Future of Jewish. We are experimenting with a new weekly series called “What the hell is going on?” — in which we bring you the most bizarre, outlandish, and surreal developments from around the Jewish world during the past week.

Please let us know in the comments if you enjoy (or do not enjoy) this series.

The Prince and Princess of Wales, also known as Prince William and Kate Middleton, decided to put out a statement on X (formerly Twitter) about the Israel-Hamas war, which said in part:

“I, like so many others, want to see an end to the fighting as soon as possible … Sometimes it is only when faced with the sheer scale of human suffering that the importance of permanent peace is brought home.”1

The four-paragraph statement made zero mention of Israel or Jews, but some of the comments were hilarious:

“I’m more concerned about the conflicts of multiple countries played out on our own streets at a now weekly rate, but you go ahead and focus on the Middle East.”
“A word of advice. Pitch up, smile, cut the ribbon, go home, remember why you have the job, keep quiet, be grateful. But whatever you do, stay out of politics.”
“You are not meant to be involved in politics. Should you wish to do so, you should stand for election.”
“Will the monarchy be issuing statements for every conflict in the world, or just this one?”
“So now you are part of politics??? We might as well have a republic then.”

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said that “what’s happening in the Gaza Strip isn’t a war, it’s a genocide” which “hasn’t happened at any other moment in history” except one time: “when Hitler decided to kill the Jews.”

Meanwhile, this is how U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken — a Jew who has recently told stories about his grandfather fleeing Russian pogroms, and about his stepfather surviving concentration camps during World War II — received the president of Brazil a few days after he compared Israel to Hitler:

Secretary Blinken and Brazilian President Lula da Silva shake hands and smile for a photo while standing behind a wooden table. A large world map hands on a white wall behind then. — Secretary Antony Blinken/X

What great diplomacy.

Under the guise of “Palestinian unity” — which has never existed in the history of the Palestinians, but hey, it’s 2024 and there is always room for “new beginnings,” right? — Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said his faction is “ready to engage” with Hamas, the world’s fifth-most active terror group.

Asked about making common cause with a group that carried out atrocities on October 7th, Shtayyeh indicated that the world needs to move on from the Hamas-led massacre, saying: “One should not continue focusing on October 7th.”

Forget the repugnant insensitivity of this comment for a second. Why would the Palestinian Authority be so eager to form an alliance with the world’s fifth-most active terror group?

Well, it actually seems like a perfect fit, since the Palestinian Authority is an outgrowth of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which was the largest, wealthiest, and most politically connected terrorist organization in the world, according to Major General Ion Mihai Pacepa, the highest-ranking Soviet defector during the Cold War.

Universities such as Harvard, Penn, and Columbia are likely to see their legal bills spike as they respond to U.S. congressional investigations and lawsuits over their handling of antisemitism complaints in the wake of the Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel.

Meanwhile, Harvard faculty just posted on social media an explicitly antisemitic poster depicting a Jewish hand controlling the Black mind. With professors like these, it is easy to see why we Jewish students do not feel safe in class.

The chaotic debate over a ceasefire in Gaza reverberated through Britain’s Parliament as the speaker of the House of Commons faces calls to resign, and lawmakers say they fear for their safety amid pressure from all sides of the issue.

“British politicians are telling off Israel for fighting Islamists they themselves are also scared of,” wrote comedian Lee Kern.2

Then, the words “from the river to the sea” were projected onto the Big Ben tower.

British Police forced a Jewish nonprofit to stop showing digital images of Israeli children who had been taken hostage by Hamas because these images were “breaching the peace,” but an antisemitic projection onto one of the UK’s most prominent symbols of parliamentary democracy is fair game.

Welcome to the new (Islamist) city of London.

The UN issued a short press release claiming that IDF soldiers raped Palestinians. Mind you, zero evidence was presented. The release says “allegedly,” “reports,” or events “reportedly” occurred 15 times — meaning, we just heard it might have happened.

No times, no dates, no names, no testimonies. Just a generic claim of “reported” sexual crimes by Israeli soldiers — “something so rare that IDF soldiers have been accused of racism for their disinclination to sexually assault Palestinians,” wrote Israeli journalist Haviv Rettig Gur.3

Ireland told the International Court of Justice (the World Court) that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank makes Palestinian statehood non-viable.

Which is funny, because any semblance of Palestinian statehood currently makes the entire State of Israel non-viable.

So, also, there’s that.

U.S. politician Cori Bush used her experience “as a survivor of rape” to accuse the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC of “exploiting rape” to “try to manipulate the public and force those calling for a ceasefire into submission.”4

One X user hit the nail on the head: “‘As a rape survivor, I support mass rapists’ is quite the take.”5

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, better known as UNRWA, published a photo of buildings in Gaza in rubble, with the words overlaid:

No one can claim “I did not know.”

At the same time, UNRWA’s response to the revelation that it employs hundreds of Palestinian terrorists, that its buildings lead to underground terror tunnels, that its educational curriculum includes blatant antisemitism, and that a Hamas data center was located directly under its Gaza headquarters, is: We did not know.

U.S. President Joe Biden felt the need to clear some things up, saying on X:

“I won’t mince words. The overwhelming majority of Palestinians are not Hamas. And Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people. In fact, they’re also suffering as a result of Hamas’ terrorism. We need to be clear-eyed about that reality.”

Why, then, have so many people and polls said for such a long time that if the Palestinians held an election, Hamas would win?

Broadway theater fans might be familiar with Broadway Cares, the philanthropic arm that helps people across the U.S. receive lifesaving medications, health care, nutritious meals, counseling, and emergency financial assistance.

Donations are often solicited at the end of a Broadway show: A cast member makes a compelling speech about helping people in need in the theater community. Audience members then leave donations in collection buckets stationed at the theater’s exits. Sometimes, posters signed by the show’s cast are available for purchase, with the proceeds purportedly going to support the organization’s stated mission.

Recently, Broadway Cares gave two grants totaling $400,000 to those in need in the Hamas-controlled terrorist enclave of Gaza. Meanwhile, multiple reports have suggested that Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups use the farce of “humanitarian” organizations to fundraise for terrorism. But hey, the show must go on.

At one of America’s McDonald’s locations, a customer ridiculed employees after taking her sandwich out of the bag and finding that the wrapper had the colors blue and white.

“Why is it blue and white?” she is heard asking an employee.

“Honestly, I don’t know,” he answers.

“I think you do know,” she tells him. “This is obviously in support of Israel. I think this is disgusting for them (management) to do this, and I know that you know in your heart clearly what this wrapper is for. This is in support to kill Palestinian kids, this wrapping. I was really shocked when I saw that and it really hurt my feelings.”