Source: Alamy

Sam Gross, who blogs on The Times of Israel website, describes himself as ¡°a Swiss-born Briton studying Asian and Middle Eastern studies at Cambridge University¡± who is ¡°involved in pro-Israel activity¡±. In a 7 August post, titled , he argues that ¡°Hamas was trying their hardest to get Palestinian innocents killed¡± during the recent fighting in Gaza.

He says that Hamas was ¡°unequivocally successful¡± in ¡°the PR war¡±. He adds: ¡°Each person who decided Israel should lift the blockade on Gaza, who?thinks that Israel?needs to sit down and negotiate with Hamas, who is?convinced that Israel¡¯s actions are disproportionate, or that it committed war crimes, each one of those people represents a victory for Hamas ¨C in what can only be called the ¡®telegenically dead child?strategy¡¯.¡±

As well as criticising Labour leader Ed Miliband, Channel 4 newsreader Jon Snow and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, Mr Gross singled out the National Union of Students, whose national executive committee voted on 4 August to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel.

He writes of the NUS: ¡°This lot, having recently rejected BDS, adopted it during the operation [in Gaza]. Apart from the anti-Semitic undertones, it rewarded Hamas¡¯ strategy of making sure as many children as possible die, and encouraged them to do it in future.¡±

Underneath a picture of an injured Palestinian child, a caption reads: ¡°By giving in to Hamas¡¯ tactic of putting children in to harm¡¯s way, the NUS not only passed a motion that will target all Jews, but made horrifying?scenes like this one more likely to happen again.¡±

Comments below Mr Gross¡¯ post have dismissed the piece as ¡°utter muck¡±, ¡°nonsense on stilts¡± and ¡°clearly written by a team of comedy writers with very poor taste¡±.

Asked for a response, a NUS spokeswoman said in a statement: ¡°The motion passed by our national executive council commits us to ensuring that, as far as is practical, NUS does not employ or work with companies identified as facilitating Israel¡¯s military capacity, human rights abuses or illegal settlement activity, and to actively work to cut ties with those that do.¡±

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The statement added: ¡°NUS has reaffirmed our commitment to raising awareness of and combating all forms of racism, including but not limited to Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, that may and have occurred in response to recent events in Israel and Palestine.

¡°The national executive committee also reiterated NUS¡¯ support for a two-state solution.

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¡°We are committed to creating an atmosphere in which robust debates can take place without creating a climate of fear or intimidation.¡±?

matthew.reisz@tsleducation.com