Stupidity: Israel lobbyists attack University Challenge over ‘anti-Semitic octopus’
Not anti-Semitic: sometimes a blue octopus is just a stuffed toy, and sometimes coloured clothes are just coloured clothes.
They have rightly been roasted for this.
After contestants from Christchurch College, Oxford, appeared on the BBC’s University Challenge quiz show with a stuffed toy octopus as their mascot, pro-Israel activists took to ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) to denounce them and the show, claiming it was an anti-Semitic trope.
Some also claimed that one of the contestants, Melika Gorgianeh, appeared to be wearing the colours of the Palestinian flag – until they had it pointed out to them that her clothes were not in the correct colours and any similarity was nothing more than a coincidence.
We all learned last month that the octopus (now they’re saying it has to be blue, but who cares?) is an obscure anti-Semitic canard, after Greta Thunberg was forced to remove a photo from her ‘X’ timeline.
Calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza, she was pictured with a blue octopus that happened to be a common tool used by neurodivergent people to express their feelings. In the image, it was showing sadness.
The backlash against the hysterical “anti-Semitism” screamers has been encouraging. Let’s have a look.
Busy day but let's have a quick look and see what's happening on Twitt… oh for fucks sake https://t.co/G4HM4Xcvah
— Ally Fogg (@AllyFogg) November 21, 2023
BBC going full on for Hamas in University Challenge. Greta’s octopus gets in on the act too pic.twitter.com/MPGLcbQcag
— #Marcher (@MarcherMedia1) November 21, 2023
City AM webmaster Jack Mendel had the right idea:
The University Challenge Octopus uproar, is ridiculous
IT'S A TOY OCTOPUS. That's it. Not a Nazi octopus.
Hysterical and paranoid response, with a number of people picking out Gorgianeh, in a headscarfe.. which feels like racism to me…..https://t.co/9xgQm7fjQq pic.twitter.com/otHMSOLOwW
— Jack Mendel ✍️ (@Mendelpol) November 21, 2023
The notion that a University Challenge team would bring a toy octopus as a mascot *on the BBC*, and actually it's some secret antisemitic Nazi messaging, is just so laughable and absurd. People go out of their way to be offended, convinced everyone is against them..
— Jack Mendel ✍️ (@Mendelpol) November 21, 2023
And look what he got in response to his well-reasoned thoughts:
Some of the replies to this are just ridiculous
People have lost their minds..
— Jack Mendel ✍️ (@Mendelpol) November 21, 2023
Some responses were less tolerant but more incisive:
I can explain on behalf of the BBC tbf. The issue here is that you are a silly dickhead. Hello police? Yes I’d like to report someone on University Challenge with a cuddly octopus doing a hate crime please? Hello?? Hello????? pic.twitter.com/CR4cOd2xWc
— Razor Marone (@Streettough) November 21, 2023
'Police!'
'What is your emergency?'
'An octopus!'
'Sorry?'
'There was an octopus! On TV!'
'And…?'
'I no longer feel safe!'
'Because you saw an octopus on TV?'
'Yes!'
'I see. We'd better send the Octopus Rapid Response Squad round right away, then…'#ItWasAScam— simon maginn (@simonmaginn) November 21, 2023
Considering the fact that Israel has been committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza strip, with a response to – yes – a terrorist atrocity that has been hugely disproportionate to the hurt that country received, it is not only astronomically stupid for its supporters to claim anti-Semitic tropes are turning up in places like this; it is also astonishingly offensive.
To those of you committing these offenses, This Writer can only say: clam up. You are not helping your cause. You are making yourselves, and Israel, look stupid, small-minded, bigoted and bloodthirsty.
To everybody who is being exposed to these offenses on a daily basis, my suggestion is: block these people. Remove them from your lives. De-legitimise and de-platform them. And when they squeal (because they will), remind them that it is the consequence of their own stupidity.
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I really am just sick of these confected waves of outrage, especially as they keep coming in the face of only tangentially-related imagery a lot of the time, and, worse, they are coming from Israel supporters at all. They are the quickest people in the world to be aggressive, abusive and accusatory, while also being the quickest to claim offence.
Pretty obvious the colours of the shirt of the student do relate to Palestinian flag ..and the Octopus was there to make an obvious political statement. The BBC is constantly pushing the envelope, presumably towards civil conflict. This is a media organisation that hides the crimes of war criminals like Blair. The British public cannot win and they even make us all pay for this crap…
You’re joking, aren’t you? This particular episode of University Challenge was filmed in March.
There was NO political statement being made by the octopus – unless you think one of the students liking their toy octopus is a political statement, in which case, more fool you.
And no – the colours of the student’s shirt don’t relate to the Palestinian flag. She’s from a completely different country.
Jack, have a look at flags for countries like the UAE, Kuwait, even Eritrea, and most particularly Jordan.
Your comment is disturbing, as it has “They all look the same to me!” undertones.
Just imagine….. going through life deliberately looking for things to make you feel unsafe and uncomfortable….
“Imagine all the People, living life in Peace” – was the song that the Pro-Palestinian Marchers were singing on their way home from the Demonstration in London.
Optimists don’t go looking for trouble only miserable Pessimists do that…
I thought at the time that perhaps this would happen but I discounted it as too ridiculous!
And there it is in music too:
Octopus’s Garden by the Beatles and the Red Octopus album by Jefferson Starship .