The ‘antisemitic’ cuddly octopus on University Challenge is the most ludicrous psy op going

Conservative Baroness Jacqueline Foster has paid damages and apologised to a doctoral student. Foster claimed Melika Gorgianeh and her team’s cuddly octopus mascot on University Challenge was antisemitic. This in itself is perhaps the most ludicrous psy op to date.

Baroness Foster: that octopus is antisemitic!

The psy op is part of a longstanding wider campaign to shut down free speech and expression on Israel and Palestine. But it’s clear this campaign is reaching bizarre new heights. For instance, Labour’s Keir Starmer continues to target left-wing Jewish people for alleged antisemitism.

Antisemitism is a real issue and octopuses have been use in antisemitic posters. But the weaponisation of antisemitism to try and scare the public in to silence is also a problem. Context is everything – it’s literally a cuddly toy with zero antisemitic setting. And this was upheld in the courts.

Gorgianeh said:

The false allegation of antisemitism has had a profound and deeply damaging impact on my life. I was a student appearing on my favourite TV quiz show. All of a sudden, lies told about me, and only me, led to me receiving death threats and to my mental health deteriorating.

Backing the government’s pro-genocide position

Tory peer Foster is openly backing the Tory government in its support of Israel’s in-motion genocide in Palestine. She does this while accusing a Muslim student of antisemitism for a soft toy Octopus mascot.

On top of this, the Conservatives are still licensing arms sales to Israel while the International Court of Justice has said there is a case the state is committing genocide in Gaza. Exporting arms when there’s a risk they could be used to violate international law is against the UK’s own law.

Foster accused countries supporting the genocide investigation as having a ‘financial interest in South Africa’, which led the case.

Shutting down free speech

The corporate media, from the Guardian to the Mail, participates in the campaign to shut down free speech and expression. Academics at the Media Reform Coalition found the corporate media to have presided over a “disinformation paradigm” when it reported on alleged antisemitism in Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour.

The case study found 29 outright false statements, 66 clear distortions and overwhelming source imbalance in favour of those attacking the Corbyn-led movement. They analysed 250 articles and televised news segments.

Additionally, the Guardian has fired numerous employees for criticising Israel.

Baroness Foster: ludicrous

Baroness Foster supports the government’s position on the genocide of brown people in Palestine. Then she accuses a Muslim student of antisemitism for a cuddly toy octopus. The double standard is earth shattering and racist.

This accusation is part of a psy op campaign that now looks nothing short of hysterical. And it represents how ridiculous the weaponisation of antisemitism has become.

Featured image via Miqdaad Versi- X