International Organisation Is Misrepresenting Its Own Definition of Antisemitism

Free Speech on Israel this week published my report on a controversial international definition of antisemitism. The Politics of a Definition, based on my doctoral research at the University of Oxford, reveals the untold story behind the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism. Across the world, pro-Israel lobbyists are promoting a highly problematic list…

Quick Thoughts on the ‘Labour Antisemitism Crisis’

I wrote to Mouin Rabbani for Jadaliyya about recent developments in the 'Labour antisemitism' controversy: The period since Starmer took office has underlined how little the “antisemitism controversy” had to do with concern over antisemitism. The substance of the leaked Labour report was all-but-suppressed in mainstream news sources, notwithstanding that it disclosed masses of new…

ISRAELI INTELLIGENCE

'Israel could halt intelligence cooperation with UK if Jeremy Corbyn wins election, Benjamin Netanyahu suggests'. How ever will we cope?

Labour Antisemitism: On the Doorstep

How I will respond to concerns about Labour antisemitism expressed on the doorstep. Posted here in case others find it useful. I joined Labour to get rid of all forms of oppression and injustice, including antisemitism. And it is precisely because I oppose racism, antisemitism, injustice that I am out here campaigning for Labour and Jeremy…

Interview on Gaza and Labour Antisemitism

In October 2017, I was invited by Tom Mills and Dan Hind to their excellent Media Democracy Podcast for a discussion about the Labour antisemitism controversy. I returned this week to talk about... the Labour antisemitism controversy. Good to see the political conversation has progressed over the past year. This time around, we also spoke…

Norman Finkelstein to Margaret Hodge: ‘You Haven’t a Clue What You’re Talking About’

Margaret Hodge publicly branded the elected leader of her party - a man who has dedicated his political life to fighting racism and oppression - a 'fucking racist and an antisemite'. She then likened having received a mild letter of rebuke from the Disciplinary Committee to Nazi persecution. Norman Finkelstein, a leading American Jewish scholar…

Smearing Corbyn

Norman Finkelstein and I were interviewed by The Real News about the current hysteria over antisemitism in the Labour Party: https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLhvPB4lyc4dQTWwC2-szBBqaHSKCoKjOl&v=zqXfauyxMX4 You can read my detailed assessment of previous outings of this sordid saga here and here. An interview I conducted with Norman about these issues in 2016 may be read here.

THE POWER OF MASS NONVIOLENT RESISTANCE IN PALESTINE – PART 3

Prior to the First Intifada, Palestinians in the Occupied Territories (OPT) seemed, in the eyes of foreign observers, “too intimidated, divided, and politically suppressed to ever develop a coherent alternative leadership”[1] while the international resonance of the Palestinian cause was at a historic low. The “focus of attention in the Middle East is shifting,” reported…

LABOUR MPS FOR FAMINE

Last week, MPs voted against an independent inquiry into prima facie war crimes perpetrated by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition in Yemen, and against suspending UK support for the Saudi Arabia coalition pending its findings. Amnesty International, Oxfam and other leading humanitarian and human rights NGOs have called for an immediate suspension of arms exports to Saudi Arabia. Yemen…

THE PARAMETERS OF MAINSTREAM DEBATE (IV)

[[Are you a Zionist in believing that Israel has the right to exist?]] Yes, Israel does have the right to exist and there has to be a two-state solution . . . I support the right of the State of Israel to exist . . . I do want there to be a long term…