Owen Jones told to ‘seek help’ over ‘deeply morally repugnant and wrong’ Hamas claims

Owen Jones has been told to “seek help” over “deeply morally repugnant and wrong” over claims he reportedly made online.

In a video on YouTube, Mr Jones talked about his reaction to watching footage of the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7. Mr Jones, along with other journalists, was invited to a screening of the footage earlier this year.

Discussing the footage, Mr Jones questioned whether or not Hamas committed some of the crimes that have been ascribed to them as it was not in the footage shown to journalists.

While Mr Jones does not deny that the atrocious crimes may have happened, his reaction to the footage shown by the IDF (Israeli Defence Force) has created a wave of anger on X.

In response to Mr Jones’s comments, TalkTV presenter Julia Hartley-Brewer said Mr Jones was “morally lost” and that he should “seek help”.

Ms Hartley-Brewer added: “I genuinely think that what you are doing and what you are saying is so deeply morally repugnant and wrong.

“An inability to see any other side than the one that you think will get you the most likes on Twitter. I genuinely think that you are sick.

“I genuinely think that you need help and I think an awful lot of your fellow travellers are in the same boat.”

Ms Hartley-Brewer wasn’t the only leading figure to criticise Mr Jones. Former Conservative UK Foreign Minister and London Mayor candidate Zac Goldsmith was fuming at Mr Jones’s thoughts.

He wrote: “I saw the video. I tried but couldn’t find words to describe the sheer depravity. After, I suggested some of the people denying or excusing it should be invited to a viewing.

“No human being could possibly fail to be shaken by the scenes of brutality. Or so I thought. Then Owen Jones came along.

“His impulse while watching that indescribably distressing Hamas footage was to sit there scribbling notes & looking for opportunities to nitpick, minimise & obfuscate.

“Hamas of course have approvingly noted this ‘journalist’s’ commentary but any normal person who has seen the footage or read descriptions of it will now understand that Jones has a sickness that goes far beyond mere antisemitism.”

Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate Nick Timothy and author Jake Wallis Simons also wade into the debate. Mr Timothy simply wrote that there was “something seriously wrong with Owen Jones”.

Mr Simons, the editor of the Jewish Chronicle, said: “The Owen Jones video is just so morally crass and insensitive to the realities. Makes you weep once again for humanity as if we haven’t wept enough.”

Following a post from an Israeli TV anchor that Mr Jones was “denying/justifying Hamas war crimes” he took to X to post his response.

Alongside his video on the footage, he wrote: “This, from an Israeli news anchor, is a straightforward lie. In the video I make clear that Hamas is guilty of serious and grave war crimes, and in no shape or form do I justify them. There’s not even a pretence of honesty here.”