They say a picture is worth a thousand words. And in truth, I really don’t need to write this piece at all. All I need to do to make my point is to publish the picture above. Because it says almost everything that needs to be said not just about Hamas, about the hostage release, and about what is happening in Gaza but also about the state of the West and about those useful idiots in the West who march in support of Hamas.

All that in one photograph.

It’s not just that it shows a braying army of armed men and one solitary woman (although there were, of course, two other women in the car who were also being released from 471 days of captivity). Yes, that matters, because when we focus on Hamas’ bestial behaviour we sometimes forget that it is an Islamist group which hates women and uses them as chattels – in this case, as valuable hostages to be traded. And we should never forget that, because not only do we need to understand Hamas in order to defeat it, we need to understand this in order to set about defeating its support in the West.

It’s not just that it’s another example, on its own sick terms, of how professional Hamas is in how it operates. This was not some spontaneous gathering of an out of control mob but a carefully planned piece of propaganda, designed down to the last detail to show the world that Hamas is in control. Take the ‘goody bags’ given to each of the released hostages, with a map of Gaza, pictures from their captivity and a perverse certificate marking their time as hostages. These weren’t assembled ad hoc on the day but will have been plotted long before for the moment of release – as was every other element of the scene when the hostages were handed over to the Red Cross.

The chaotic scenes in Gaza (Getty)

But sitting here now, the day after the hostage release and two days after tens of thousands demonstrated their support for Hamas in London (and don’t you dare try and tell me that’s not what they were doing) it’s that picture – and the other image of a Hamas fighter on the roof of a Red Cross van - which tells the real story. The story, that is, of how so many in the West are taken in by tales of resistance and colonialism and have bought into the idea that they are on ‘the right side of history’ as they march with their keffiyehs and chant From the River to the Sea.

Take this tweet. I’m sure “Malcolm” genuinely thinks Emily Damari really is looking in loving admiration at the ‘Resistance fighter’. And that’s the issue.

Tell them that Hamas murders women, kidnaps them and rapes them (and, as they did with Shani Louk’s body when they brought her to Gaza on October 7, drags her body in the back of a truck to be spat on) and they will look at you as if you are mad, as if you are the one in need of education because you don’t understand why they are resistance heroes.

Yes, there are some genuinely evil types on the hate marches. But most, I am sure, are clueless, hoodwinked by the story being told and oblivious to the reality of Hamas.

Rationally, you would think that images such as those from yesterday might give pause for thought and reflection that perhaps all is not as they believe it to be. But rationality is, of course, the one quality that is in the shortest supply here.