Genocide-denying Islamophobe says Polanski is ‘inciting hatred’

It’s the Sunday before the local elections, and you know what that means. That’s right; it means journalists and politicians have joined forces to trash the party which opposes them from the left — i.e. the anti-establishment Green Party and its leader Zack Polanski.

We’ll be seeing a whole host of genocide-loving politicians and journalists going after Polanski today, with the next up to bat being the rancid Melanie Phillips:

Melanie Phillips accuses @ZackPolanski of inciting hatred because he says Israel is committing genocide.

Israel is committing genocide, & when it comes to who actually incites hatred, lets remember that mass murderer Anders Breivik quoted Phillips multiple times in his manifesto pic.twitter.com/jX1aIin3yb

— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) May 3, 2026

Rancid arguments against Polanski

In 2018, we reported that Phillips wrote an article for the Times titled:

Islamophobia is a fiction to shut down debate

In her piece, Phillips uses a version of the argument you’ll remember awful children making (‘I can’t be homophobic, because that would mean I’m scared of gay people’):

A phobia is not a prejudice but a mental disorder. An irrational terror, it debilitates the victim for whom we feel sympathy. Yet Islamophobia is used to turn people into social pariahs. This is why. A mental disorder has no rational basis. A prejudice is merely a hateful viewpoint. Unlike a phobia, prejudice does not lie outside reason altogether — which makes a phobia literally unthinkable.

In recent years, she’s doubled down on the Islamophobia for some reason:

Remember when it was revealed that Israel's internal analysis concluded that the only way to reverse the disastrous plunge in Israel's standing was to fuel Islamophobia and portray Israel as the defender of the "West"?

Well, here you have it. Melanie Phillips' speech in NY. pic.twitter.com/4y9GbFhrxz

— Trita Parsi (@tparsi) November 24, 2025

British journalist Melanie Phillips says that Jews in the West should “move from defence to offence” and spread statements such as “everything Israel does is in accordance with international law” and that “there is no such thing as the Palestinians”. pic.twitter.com/4tetLziKtK

— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) April 30, 2025

In the clip at the top, Phillips is speaking to host Trevor Phillips, who had just interviewed Zack Polanski:

.@ZackPolanski: "Antisemitism and Jewish safety is not some abstract concept for me. In fact, in the last 6 weeks alone 2 people have been arrested in relation to antisemitic actions towards me and yesterday the Times newspaper published a vile antisemitic cartoon.." pic.twitter.com/a70PYKalz4

— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) May 3, 2026

Polanski also said:

#trevorphillips tries to argue that because some people say the pro Palestinian marches are hate marches, they are.@ZackPolanski is spot on, there is nothing hateful about marching in support of the Palestinians & against Israels brutal occupation & genocide. pic.twitter.com/jD5jNdZPEg

— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) May 3, 2026

Phillips says the following about Polanski to Trevor Phillips:

I think he has a menace to public safety and his remarks to you were absolutely despicable.

I counted at least six references to the fact that he was Jewish. He is using his Jewish ancestry as a shield to protect him from what he’s doing. He himself is inciting hatred.

Again, in his interview with you, he repeated the canard that the Israelis are committing genocide. Now, that is false.

The problem with Phillips’ argument is that we all watched Israel commit this genocide. The UN and various human rights groups agree — including some Israeli ones.

The evidence that Israel is committing a genocide includes:

• The high proportion of civilian casualties.
• Siege and starvation being used as weapons.
• The targeted bombing of hospitals and medical workers.
• Expressed ‘genocidal intent’ by senior Israeli politicians.
• Forced displacement.
• Sexual violence.

Phillips continued:

It is inciting hatred because if people are committing genocide, you have to destroy them.

While it’s true that stopping genocide in the past has required military intervention, it would actually be possible to politically and financially isolate Israel to the point where it has no option but to stop. It’s also just not true that stopping a genocide requires the total annihilation of the people committing it. Germany still exists as a country, after all.

Counter

In another clip provided by Saul Staniforth, former union leader Mick Lynch said:

It’s too much to say that Jack Polanski is inciting hatred and antisemitism. He’s not doing that. He’s seeking to find a way where he can be an agent for peace, in my opinion. But he’s not inciting any hatred against Jews. I’ve never seen him do that, and he didn’t do that in his interview.

In response, Phillips said:

How can he be an agent for peace if you accuse people of committing genocide?

She smirked as she said this, but really it’s like asking how can someone be anti-murder if they accuse a murderer of committing murder.

Lynch responded:

Because he believes in peace, and he believes that the Israeli state has committed mass murder in Gaza, and it’s facilitating the murder of hundreds of people on the West Bank.

In a move that shocked no one, genocide-denier Phillips responded by once again denying the genocide.

And this is the sort of person the British establishment thinks is acceptable.

Featured image via Barold