Lawmaker Slammed After Likening Gray Squirrels to Hamas

A British lawmaker was criticized after bizarrely likening gray squirrels to Hamas during a debate Tuesday. Jim Shannon, a member of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party, spoke in Westminster about a debate over controlling the U.K.’s gray squirrel population. After praising a local group working to protect red squirrels in his constituency, Shannon said: “Gray squirrels are the Hamas of the squirrel world.” A spokesperson for the U.K.’s Campaign Against Antisemitism told the Belfast Telegraph: “While Jim Shannon likely does not mean any harm by his comments, they risk [trivializing] the atrocities that Hamas has committed over decades, culminating in the massacre of October 7. All parliamentarians should be measured in their choice of words.” Gray squirrels typically outcompete red squirrels for food and space when they’re introduced in the same area, driving red squirrel population numbers down.