A recent chance encounter in London鈥檚 Heathrow Airport offered a troubling glimpse of the extent to which anti-Israel hate is penetrating youth culture in the United Kingdom.

The encounter in question was not with a person, but rather a newspaper鈥攖he latest issue of The Skinny. Distributed free to the more than 200,000 travelers who pass through Heathrow daily鈥攁nd many others, elsewhere鈥�The Skinny is the second largest magazine of culture and listings in the United Kingdom. Its format and radicalism鈥攑olitical as well as cultural鈥攁re reminiscent of The Village Voice.

The anti-Israel trend in the UK music scene has been in the news in recent weeks. The rappers Kneecap and Bobby Vylan stirred controversy at England鈥檚 Glastonbury Festival by leading the crowd in chants of 鈥淔ree Palestine鈥� and 鈥淒eath to the IDF.鈥� The new issue of The Skinny makes clear that those ugly appeals for violence were far from isolated phenomena in the UK.

The August edition features a two-page spread about 鈥淲elcome to the Fringe, Palestine,鈥� which is billed as 鈥渁 four-day mini-festival of theatre, dance, comedy, food, storytelling, music and poetry created by Palestinians.鈥� The reviewer emphasizes that 鈥渆ach piece [of the festival] is unapologetically political鈥� and promotes 鈥淧alestinian resistance鈥� against 鈥淶ionist occupation and genocide.鈥� The festival鈥檚 approach of 鈥渁rt as politics鈥� is urgently needed 鈥渋n a moment where international conversations on Palestine are policed, sanctioned, [and] sanitized by mainstream institutions,鈥澛� the reviewer asserts.

That鈥檚 a curious claim at a moment when supporters of the Palestinian Arab cause are being featured prominently throughout the international news media鈥攊ncluding in The Skinny itself.

The 鈥淔ilm of the Month鈥� selected by the editors for this issue is Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk, described as 鈥渁 portrait of resistance amid Israel鈥檚 ongoing genocide in Palestine.鈥� It stars a photojournalist in Gaza, Fatima Houssana, who 鈥渢ells of starvation, including her own.鈥� Curiously, though, a half-page color still from the film, accompanying the review, shows Ms. Houssana smiling broadly and looking fit.

Another odd accusation mentioned by the reviewer is Houssana鈥檚 claim that Israel 鈥渁ppropriated鈥� hummus and falafel from the Palestinian Arabs. That accusation has been a staple of anti-Israel propaganda for decades. But in fact, the roots of hummus trace to the Syrian city of Aleppo, and falafel is believed to be of Egyptian origin.

The intersection of extremism and fake victimhood is amply illustrated in The Skinny鈥檚 fawning interview with actor-playwright Khalid Abdallah. His latest work focuses on what he calls 鈥渢he extraordinarily beautiful鈥� Egyptian revolution of 2011 and 鈥渢his moment in Palestine.鈥�

Abdallah alleges that when his play was first performed, around the time of the first anniversary of October 7, 鈥渢he word genocide was difficult to utter inside a theatre,鈥� a claim for which there is no evidence.

The Skinny鈥檚 interviewer neglects to mention that the 鈥渂eautiful鈥� Egyptian revolution in which Abdallah proudly participated helped pave the way for the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood to take power there.

Even the author of a new play about rebels in India in 1857, given a platform in The Skinny, cannot resist pivoting to the Jews. The 鈥渉orrible [British] colonialism鈥� in India has 鈥減arallels with what is happening in Gaza,鈥� Niall Moorjani asserts.

One can hardly turn a page of The Skinny without encountering additional examples of such malevolence. There is a large photo glamorizing a Palestinian rioter. There are generous blurbs for a play extolling the Second Intifada (in which more than 1,000 Israelis were murdered); an 鈥淓mbroidery from Palestine鈥� exhibit 鈥渨ith social and political depth鈥�; and a reading by the 鈥渋ncredible鈥� Gaza poet Dareen Tatour, with a photo of Tatour wearing a shirt illustrated by Naji al-Ali, a Palestinian cartoonist notorious for using antisemitic imagery.

Yet nowhere in the 128 pages of this month鈥檚 issue of The Skinny can one find a single article, interview, blurb or even brief mention of any Israeli-authored play, film, book or poetry reading in the United Kingdom. Which prompts the obvious question: Who, really, is being 鈥渟ilenced,鈥� 鈥減oliced,鈥� or 鈥渟anctioned鈥� ? It certainly isn鈥檛 the Israel-haters whom The Skinny is pushing to the forefront of the UK鈥檚 cultural scene.

Dr. Medoff is founding director of The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies and author of more than 20 books about 91传媒 history and the Holocaust. His book will be published on October 1, 2025, by The 91传媒 Publication Society / University of Nebraska Press.)