It begins with a rat. Not in a sewer, nor scuttling across a battlefield — but on Instagram. A cartoon emoji beneath the phrase “Zionism explained in less than 2 mins” and shared with 1.2 million followers after being shared by a national icon. It is the sort of casual cruelty that slips by in an age of curated activism and consequence-free provocation — a digital wink to an audience that increasingly confuses virtue with venom.

The national icon? Gary Lineker — footballing royalty turned presenter, who decided to share a post from The Palestine Lobby account. A post redolent, to say the least, of language used by the Nazis to portray Jews as pests, subhuman, diseased. The similarity is not clever, nor is it accidental. This post was filth. Polished and posted in the language of modern social justice, but filth all the same.

And then came the denial. Lineker's spokesperson said Gary "did not notice a rodent emoticon added by the author of the post" and that "if he had, he would not have made any connection".

As though the problem were an errant keystroke, an overlooked caption, a digital smudge. Well, Mr Lineker. You should have noticed. And if you didn’t, the problem is even more profound.

Let us be absolutely clear. Zionism is not a slur. It is not some sinister cabalistic force. It is the movement of a people — battered by centuries of exile, persecution, and

genocide — seeking the dignity of self-determination in their ancestral home.

You may disagree with Israeli policy. Many do. But to reduce Zionism to vermin is not critique. It is bigotry in its most ancient form.

For Lineker, this is the latest bead on a string of provocations cloaked in moral self-righteousness.

He has dabbled in the fashionable sport of Zionist-baiting with all the self-assured ignorance of a man who has never had to fear being the Jew in the room.

Ignorance is no alibi when your actions contribute to the slow, creeping legitimisation of hate.

The internet, after all, is not a vacuum. When figures of influence traffic in these tropes — even unwittingly — they feed the algorithmic infernos of those who mean to do real harm.

What begins as a post ends in a protest, a smashed window, a synagogue desecrated.

So where is the BBC? His Rest is Football podcast is available on BBC Sounds. He's also set to front the BBC's coverage of the FA Cup 2025/2026. Where is the standard it claims to uphold — impartiality, responsibility, a commitment to public trust?

Of course, this is the same broadcaster that finds calling Hamas "terrorists" controversial.

There are things that cannot be tolerated in a civilised society. Among them: the trivialisation of hate symbols, the demonisation of Jewish identity, and the cowardice of institutions that look the other way for fear of offending a celebrity.

Gary Lineker should be removed from all presenting duties. Not out of malice. Not out of vengeance. But out of principle. He is free to express himself — but the BBC is free to

decide whom it holds up as a representative of public decency.

There comes a time when the line must be drawn. Not in pencil. Not in sand. But in ink. Permanent, visible, and unflinching. We are there now.