Who said "Land swap...precludes any possibility of a Palestinian State"?

Well it was Norman Finkelstein finding his old form in an interview with Jamie Stern-Weiner at the New Left Project:

Jeremy Ben-Ami, who heads J Street, the main liberal Zionist lobby in the U.S., welcomes renewed peace talks as a potentially "historic opportunity" to reach a two-state settlement. You've been a close observer of the peace process for more than two decades. Can renewed talks produce a "historic" moment, or should we expect more of the same?

When folks like Jeremy Ben-Ami speak of the "two-state solution", they are talking about two states divided by the pre-June 1967 border, with, they are always careful to add, land swaps. By "land swaps", they mean Israel’s annexation of the major settlement blocs and giving Palestinians some territory in return.  In fact the delineation of their proposed border is very clear. It's the route of the Wall. Israelis speak fairly openly of the Wall as the "future border", to quote Israel's current Minister of Justice Tzipi Livni.

That kind of two-state settlement precludes any possibility of a Palestinian state. Israeli retention of the settlement blocs of Ariel, Karnei Shomron and Ma'ale Adumim would trisect the West Bank, appropriate some of its most valuable land and resources and cut off East Jerusalem. When people talk about the terms of a final settlement they often focus on percentages—what percentage of the West Bank will Israel retain, and so on—which misses the point made by the Palestinian delegation to the Annapolis talks: it's not just about percentages. East Jerusalem comprises just 1% of the West Bank, but a Palestinian state in its absence is unthinkable. Greater East Jerusalem—the triangle going from East Jerusalem to Ramallah to Bethlehem—accounts for 40% of the Palestinian economy.

However, I agree with Ben-Ami that we are approaching a potentially historic moment. Why? Because Palestinians are now the weakest they have ever been.

Finkelstein identifies four factors colluding to put the Palestinians in their weakest ever position and he is withering in his criticism of the PA which is nice.  For me the most interesting bit is where he speaks of the fickle and therefore unpredictable nature of public opinion and behaviour in responding to events.  He uses two contrasting examples of the civil rights in the American South in the 1960s and Egypt today:

Anyone who predicts these things with any degree of confidence is a charlatan. The Montgomerybus boycott was completely spontaneous, as were the original student sit-ins in Greensboro. When Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat, the NAACP’s plan was to go through the legal system to get a favourable court ruling. What happened—a mass popular boycott—was spontaneous. Imagine these working people, walking to work or going in makeshift car pools for a year.  A year, getting up in the wee hours of the morning.  Who could have guessed that they would find the inner moral resources to make that kind of sacrifice?

So you can never predict these things. But we should also be careful to avoid predicting in the other direction. When I was speaking about changes in the Middle East the past couple of years, I always described developments in Egypt and Turkey as irreversible except in the event of a military coup in Egypt, which—I always added—I considered highly improbable. Why improbable? Because who would ever have thought that there would a popularly mandated military coup in Egypt? I could not, in my wildest imagination, predict that the secular liberal-left in Egypt would support a military coup. That's a shocker. The inaugural act of the putschists in Egypt was to shoot dead dozens of worshippers at 3.30am during morning prayers.  The secular liberal-left uttered not a word. Nothing. Who would have guessed that a year ago?

Insightful stuff. The whole thing is worth a read here.

SOAS Palestine Society 9th Annual Conference – Self-critique Two Decades After Oslo – 2013

On 5-6 October 2013, the Palestine Society at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London will hold its ninth annual conference, Self-Critique Two Decades After Oslo.

Twenty years after the signing of the Oslo Accords, much continues to be written about the structural and subsequent failings of the Accords to achieve justice for the Palestinian people. While conventional views still regard Oslo as a winning formula that only suffered from a lack of implementation, critical analysis of the Oslo process agrees that the Accords only accelerated the Zionist settler colonial project, allowing Israel to lay siege and further expand its grip on Palestinian land, while expelling and destroying the lives of more Palestinians. This conference aims to move beyond this critical consensus and identify the internal failures prior to, and at the moment of, the conception of the Oslo Accords, as well as in its aftermath. In doing so, we will attempt to understand how Oslo has transformed Palestinian life and struggle. The conference situates itself within a long history of self-criticism after defeat – a self-criticism aimed at assessing the strategic failures of the movement, and formulating the necessary steps ahead. This is a self-criticism premised on a commitment to the political rebuilding of the Palestinian liberation movement, and the struggle against settler colonialism.

In its embrace of self-criticism, the conference will focus on the ways Palestinian leadership and elites have become embedded in the logic of settler colonialism, embraced neoliberal capitalism, and reproduced social and political accommodation of the Oslo process. However, it also aims to widen our lens, and examine the growing socialisation and reproduction of Oslo logics in Palestinian political and social life, and the ways in which Palestinian resistance against Oslo and Israel, and international solidarity with that resistance, has reproduced the very conditions it seeks to overturn. In particular, we hope to highlight the context and consequences of the re-orientation of the liberation struggle into a legal and rights-based approach; the political, geographical, and social separation of the Palestinian body politic in movement discourse and strategy; the proliferation of an unaccountable “political solution/vision market” and unchecked practices of solidarity; and growing alienation and distancing of Palestinians from others engaged in similar struggles against settler-colonialism.

With this conference, SOAS Palestine Society hopes to build on its long-standing commitment to rigorous movement thought and analysis in an emancipatory space.

Check the Conference Programme here: soaspalsoc.org/conference/programme/

 Illustration by Nidal El-Khairy (http://nidalelkhairy.blogspot.be/)

Four Step Hasbara - Fifth Anniversary

Well apologies to readers, especially those who said there should be a celebration on the fifth anniversary of the publication of Evildoer, Gabriel Ash's guide to the permanently vexed, How to make the case for Israel and win.  The publication date itself was 18th July 2008 - how time flies - so I missed the anniversary by a week.  Apologies again but here it is, again:

July 18, 2008

How to make the case for Israel and win

To the benefit of the many not-very-bright zionist wannabe apologists who read this blog assiduously, I decided to offer a clear and simple method of arguing the case for Israel. This clear and simple method has been distilled from a life spent listening to and reading Zionist propaganda. It is easy to follow and results are guaranteed or your money back.

So don't hesitate! Take advantage NOW of this revolutionary rhetorical system that will make YOU a great apologist for Israel in less time than it takes to shoot a Palestinian toddler in the eye.

Ready? 1..2..3..GO!

You need to understand just one principle:

The case for Israel is made of four propositions that should always be presented in the correct escalating order.

1. We rock
2. They suck
3. You suck
4. Everything sucks

That's it. Now you know everything that it took me a lifetime to learn. The rest is details; filling in the dotted lines.

You begin by saying how great Israel is. Israel want peace; Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East; the desert blooms; kibutz; Israelis invented antibiotics, the wheel, the E minor scale; thanks to the occupation Palestinians no longer live in caves; Israel liberates Arab women; Israel has the most moral army in the world, etc.

This will win over 50% of your listeners immediately. Don't worry about the factual content. This is about brand identity, not writing a PhD. Do you really think BP is 'beyond petroleum'?

Then you go into the second point: They suck. Here you talk about the legal system of Saudi Arabia, gay rights in Iran, slave trade in the Sudan, Mohammad Atta, the burqa, Palestinians dancing after 9/11, Arafat's facial hair, etc.

There is only one additional principle you need to understand here. It will separate you from the amateurs. You need to know your audience. If you've got a crowd already disposed to racist logic, go for it with everything you have. But if you get a liberal crowd, you need to sugar coat the racism a bit. Focus on women rights, human rights, religious tolerance, "clash of civilizations", terrorism, they teach their children to hate, etc. Deep down your audience WANTS to enjoy racism and feel superior. They just need the proper encouragement so they can keep their sophisticated self-image. Give them what they crave and they'll adore you! But be careful not to 'mix n match,' because it will cost you credibility.

When you're done, there will always be dead-enders insisting that abuse of gays in Iran does not justify ethnic cleansing in Palestine. Take a deep breath, and pull the doomsday weapon: You suck!

You're a Jew-hater, Arab-lover, anti-Semite, you're a pinko, a commie, a dreamer, a naive, a self-hater, you have issues, your mother worked for the Nazis, Prince Bandar buys you cookies, you forgot you were responsible for the holocaust, etc. The more the merrier. By the time you end this barrage, only a handful would be left standing. For mopping them up, you use the ultimate postmodern wisdom: Everything sucks.

War, genocide, racism, oppression are everywhere. From the Roma in Italy to the Native-Americans in the U.S., the weak are victimized. Why pick on Israel? It's the way of the world. Look! Right is only in question between equals in power; the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must. Ethics, schmethics. Life is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Eat, drink! Carpe diem! The Palestinians would throw us into the sea if they could. Ha ha!

Trust me, that's as far as words can go. If you followed this method faithfully, you've done your work. You should leave the few who are still unconvinced to the forces of order.

Congratulations!
You are now ready to 
apologize for Israel like a pro.

Note that there was no update necessary for the hasbarules haven't changed a bit.

BDS, Threats and the Burdon of Proof

I posted a couple of days ago on Eric Burdon's cancellation of a gig in Israel. According to his management people they had "been receiving mounting pressure, including numerous threatening emails, daily" and said that "The last thing I intend do is put Eric in jeopardy.”

Well the hasbara machine had gone into overdrive with the Jewish Agency touting the notion that the BDS movement revolves around threatening behaviour.

In my post I mentioned that "I don't understand why these management people haven't published the threats or complained to the police." Now Electronic Intifada is making the same point but after some investigation:

The Electronic Intifada reached Elizabeth Freund, Burdon’s New York based press agent, by telephone this morning to ask about the nature of the threats and whether they had been reported to any law enforcement agency.

Freund told The Electronic Intifada she had no information and referred further inquiries to Burdon’s “management.” Freund said that she would forward The Electronic Intifada’s emailed inquiry to Burdon’s manager.

Two additional emails sent to Marianna Burdon, at an address posted on Eric Burdon’s official website, have received no response.

 It's sad that Eric Burdon would rather have people believe that he didn't make a moral decision to boycott the last of colonial settler states but where's the evidence that he was threatened with anything other than a stain on his reputation?

Most Israelis support whatever Netanyahu supports

Here's a ludicrous report in The Jewish Chronicle headed, Majority of Israelis back any peace deal.  Wow! They're so yearning for peace those Israelis.  So what's all this about?

Over 50 per cent of Israelis would support any peace agreement submitted to a referendum by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a recent poll has found.

Out of the 511 participants, 39 per cent said they would be in favour of any plan, 16 per cent said they would probably be in favour and 20 per cent were undecided. Twenty per cent would vote against the plan and 5 per cent would be likely to vote against a plan.

Do you have to look closely to see that the poll is actually about peace per se? It's about whatever peace deal Netanyahu might come up with.

That's presumably not peace according to most people's reckoning. So what's the JC on about? This appears to be one of those zionist briefings where the faithful are being encouraged to promote the zionist "no partners for peace" line.

To the Wizard of Oz, a Son?

I just saw the following Thomas Paine quote:

“something kept behind a curtain, about which there is a great deal of bustle and fuss, and a wonderful air of seeming solemnity; but when, by any accident, the curtain happens to be open and the company see what it is, they burst into laughter.”

It's actually from Mike Marqusee's post titled, Thomas Pain on the "master fraud" of monarchy.

I assumed that, L.Frank Baum, the writer of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz must have been influenced by Thomas Paine but apparently not, not according to two Wikipedia entries here and here, anyway.

Eric Burdon cancels Israel gig but why?

The Independent is reporting that Eric Burdon has cancelled an appearance in Israel because of "threats".

 in a statement, Mr Burdon’s management, said: “We’ve been receiving mounting pressure, including numerous threatening emails, daily. The last thing I intend do is put Eric in jeopardy.” The nature of the threats is unclear, but according to Israel Radio this morning, Mr Burdon was not willing to risk his life to come to Israel.

 I can understand a person fearing for their safety given the reporting on Israel but I don't understand why these management people haven't published the threats or complained to the police.

Also, The Independent managed to open its article with a major howler.

He once sang, ‘You Gotta Get Outta This Place,’ but now Eric Burdon is not even turning up at all having deciding to withdraw from a planned concert in Israel

The song was We Gotta Get Out of This Place . Maybe the word "we" got nabbed for all that Royal nonsense.

Eric Burdon was just about to be on BBC Radio Scotland but not a word about Israel. Maybe they were too scared.

California Prisoners' Hunger Strike

Here's a statement from the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network:

As California prisoners' massive hunger strike against long-term solitary confinement, group punishment, and other cruel and inhuman policies of the CDCR (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation) enters its second week, Governor Jerry Brown is on a two-week vacation to Germany and Ireland.  To add insult to injury, it includes a visit to the Dachau concentration camp.

It is shocking for the Governor to have chosen this time to go on vacation while the CDCR refuses to meet the hunger strikers' five just demands that would end the torture of prisoners in the state he is supposed to be responsible for governing.  The International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network is outraged that Brown dares to exploit the Nazi genocide to distract from his complicity in the repression and racism against prisoners, disproportionately people of color and low income people, women and transgender people, in order to make money for the lucrative prison industry in California. 

The racism that allows Brown to be silent about a massive hunger strike is the same racism that allows for the massive and disproportionate incarceration of Black and Brown people in California and nationwide. "No other country in the world imprisons so many of its racial or ethnic minorities. The United States imprisons a larger percentage of its Black population than South Africa did at the height of apartheid." To bring these statistics closer to home, "In Washington, D.C. ... it is estimated that three out of four young black men (and nearly all those in the poorest neighborhoods) can expect to serve time in prison."

The rest of the statement is on the IJAN site.

Blair's Hypocrisy and the Riddle of the Sphinx

From Private Eye magazine number 1344:

The same page (5) has a brief summary of Blair's love affair with democracy in Egypt:

Who better to offer a hopeful sermon to strife-torn Egypt than roving Middle East vicar, Tony Blair?

"I am a strong supporter of democracy," the great peacemaker wrote in Sunday's Observer.  "This struggle matters to us.  The good news is that there are millions of modern and open-minded people out there.   They need to know we are on their side, their allies, prepared to pay the price to be there with them."

The former PM knows Egypt well, of course.  As we pointed out after the 2011 revolution that toppled president Hosni Mubarak, Blair was happy to take his Christmas hols in the country no fewer than five times between 2000 and 2005 when the Egyptian dictator's regime was at its zenith.  At the first of those visits, Blair was "a guest of the Egyptian government at two private government villas at Sharm-el-Sheikh", according to his entry in the register of MPs' interests, while on at least one subsequent trip Mubarak paid for the flights.  Can this be what the vicar means about showing pro-democracy Egyptians that "we are on their side" and, er, "prepared to pay the price to be there"?

Of course as neoconservatism's ambassador at large, indeed, the man who puts the Con in NeoCon, Blair can excuse anything that doesn't quite tally with his professed commitment to democracy.  And here's a little nugget reported in The Observer (Guardian online)  that the Eye missed out:

"I am a strong supporter of democracy. But democratic government doesn't on its own mean effective government. Today efficacy is the challenge." 

Leaving it to The Observer to note:

Having taken this country to war in Iraq in 2003 despite huge public opposition, including a march by more than a million people through London, Blair now argues that shows of public unrest such as that in Egypt – fuelled and organised through social media – cannot be ignored.

I don't know, maybe there is a certain consistency there.  Lots of people on the streets in Egypt, send in the army.  Lots of people on the streets of the UK, send in the army...to Iraq.

PS: I was looking on google for a quote about Blair from former Tory MP, Matthew Parris.  I couldn't find it but here's Parris on Blair from Wikipedia:

I believe Tony Blair is an out-and-out rascal, terminally untrustworthy and close to being unhinged. I said from the start that there was something wrong in his head, and each passing year convinces me more strongly that this man is a pathological confidence-trickster. To the extent that he ever believes what he says, he is delusional. To the extent that he does not, he is an actor whose first invention — himself — has been his only interesting role.

What I find interesting about this quote in the Matthew Parris Wikipedia entry is that the quote itself says nothing specific about Parris though it does sum up Blair.  It would be more appropriate for Blair's own entry.  It appears that hatred of Blair is so widespread some people will use any outlet to vent it.

Blair role as Israel lobbyist exposed....by Cameron

It took a little time but Tony Blair has finally disagreed with UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, about something.  Look at The Guardian:

Since his departure from No 10 just over six years ago, Tony Blair has gone out of his way to be polite about his successors.

But the former PM's patience finally snapped on Thursday when David Cameron sought to fend off questions about the business interests of the Tories' chief election strategist Lynton Crosby by drawing a comparison with Blair. Cameron said the former PM was a "good example" to compare to Crosby, saying "he does lobby me from time to time".

A spokesperson for Blair then hit back, saying nobody could "seriously compare" Blair's work as Middle East envoy with that of a business lobbyist. "Tony Blair does not 'lobby' David Cameron," the spokesperson said. "You cannot seriously compare Tony Blair's role as quartet representative, which requires him to talk to governments around the world about the Middle East peace process, to that of a lobbyist."

So there we have it. According to the British government Blair is no more than a sleazy Israel lobbyist. Of course, Blair denies it but who can believe anything Blair says?

FUCUPs Feedback?

Well no real news from the Fraser v UCU post mortem except this comment to Hasbara Central aka Harry's Place:

amie

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I was at a post Fraser v UCU symposium on antisemitism last week. There was much debate whether antisemitism was best countered as a form of racism in line with UK legislation or, because the anti racism narrative has gone in a particular direction, it should best be treated as a sui generis type of predjudice and discrimination. That aside, a trade unionist well known here who campaigns for Israel and Jewish trade union links with Palestinians, opined that things were much worse these days as back in his day, it was considered shameful to be antisemitic but today it has lost its stigma and the accusee would shrug "so what".

There was a chorus of vigorous disagreement, including from me. We said the stigma was now so great that everyone would vehemently deny the accusation (Galloway would probably sue you) and it was this very denial, this lack of acknowledgement of its variegate manifestations, that was the problem.

So what to do? Do they falsely accuse Israel's opponents, critics and victims of the old antisemitism, ie racism against Jews or do they run with a new antisemitism as in simply being an opponent, critic or victim of the racist war criminals of the State of Israel?

Sorry I'm late with this.

A commentor to the Ramadan Kareem post broke the sad news to me of the passing of Ilan Halevi on Wednesday on 10/07/2013.  Here's an obit from the Alternative Information Centre:

Ilan Halevi (1943-2013)

THURSDAY, 11 JULY 2013 06:38 MICHEL WARSCHAWSKI, ALTERNATIVE INFORMATION CENTER (AIC)

Our comrade Ilan Halevi has left us, and an important chapter in the Palestinian struggle for national liberation thus closes.

Ilan Halevi (Photo: Collectif Urgence Palestine)

Exactly a year ago, Ilan and I shared a platform at the University of France with the Palestine Solidarity Association (AFPS). If Ilan's body betrayed his fatigue and its many failures, his mind displayed the same clarity that I had known for more than four decades. A few months later it was in a hospital that I met him, further weakened and now with great difficulty in expressing himself clearly.

We do not inherit our identity but create it, on the basis of genetic and sociological data, and this identity is always multiple. Yet I have not known anyone with such a multiple identity as Ilan. Let Ilan speak for one last time: "I am 100% Jew, I am 100% Arab."

In deciding after the 1967 war to move to Israel, Ilan chose to be 100% Israeli. In 1968 he joined the anti-Zionist left group Matzpen, helping to strengthen the anti-colonial coherence of it programme and fighting for unconditional support to the Palestinian struggle for national liberation. After leaving Israel in 1974, he joined the ranks of the PLO and quickly became 100% Palestinian.

It is in the ranks of the PLO and Fatah in which Ilan became a leader. Here he could utilise his immense talents in writing but also in speaking and polemics in both the political sphere and diplomacy. Ilan's footprint in the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, as well as in his role as a Fatah representative in the Fourth Socialist International is indelible. His unmatched ability of persuasion could break many locks intended to isolate Palestine in the international arena. It is no exaggeration to say that Ilan Halevi has played a key role in the long process of recognition of Palestine by the international community.

Ilan devoted his entire life to the struggle, often at the expense of his family and always to the detriment of his health, which he allowed to deteriorate on the altar of his 100 percent commitment.

Palestine lost a son today, the PLO an officer, and his very many friends in Beirut, Paris, Tel Aviv, Bamako, Ramallah and San Francisco mourn a brother and a friend.

 Ilan Halevi wrote the book, A History of the Jews, Ancient and Modern.

Degeneracy at the Jewish Chronicle: this time it's personal

Not just personal, sexist of course, but there appears to be some personal spat going on between a zionist blogger and a man in the thread.

I don't remember a time when the Jewish Chronicle was anything other than a wretched rag.  It's often racist, often dishonest but it seems to be plumbing new depths of late.  In fairness it's in the "your blogs" section that I noticed it but how does the following pass any kind of editorial standard?

MillisFilth's missus is a munter...

By Melchett Mike July 9, 2013

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=munter

The thread isn't much better but eventually the chap whose wife is subjected to the misogynistic abuse of the headline appeals for some editorial intervention.  That was three days ago and the blog is still in place.

UPDATE 13:19 pm 15/07/2013: The Jewish Chronicle appears to have removed the offending blog post but not the offending blogger.

Ramadan Kareem from the Army of Darkness

Palestine's Pinochet hails Egypt's Pinochet

In all the tumult I hadn't noticed that Mahmud Abbas had hailed the overthrow of the elected government of Egypt by the Egyptian army.  I first noticed this tweet from the UK Israel lobby group, BICOM:

Abbas welcomes removal of Morsi from power in Egypt, http://t.co/G8d7U052ph #Egypt
— BICOM (@BritainIsrael) July 5, 2013

I read the article and checked elsewhere and sure enough, Abbas said:

 “In the name of the Palestinian people and its leaders, I am honoured to congratulate you on assuming the leadership of the Arab Republic of Egypt in this transitory phase in its history.” Abbas went on to praise “the role played by the Egyptian armed forces… in preserving the security of Egypt and stopping it from sliding towards an unknown fate.”

 It didn't surprise me that Abbas supported the coup but it did surprise me that he could so brazenly speak "In the name of the Palestinian people and its leaders".

The whole thing reminded me of an article in al Ahram by Joseph Massad titled, Pinochet in Palestine:

Before the United States government subcontracted the Chilean military to overthrow the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende in 1973, it carried out a number of important missions in the country in preparation for the coup of 11 September. These included major strikes, especially by truck owners, which crippled the economy, massive demonstrations that included middle-class housewives and children carrying pots and pans demanding food, purging the Chilean military of officers who would oppose the suspension of democracy and the introduction of US-supported fascist rule, and a major media campaign against the regime with the CIA planting stories in newspapers like El Mercurio and others. This was in a context where also the Communist Party and the Leftist Revolutionary Movement (MIR) criticised and sometimes attacked the Allende regime from varying leftist positions.

Plus ça change huh?

McDonald's versus the Occupation, KFC versus Hitler

I see two big fast food chains are taking a stand against racist war criminals hot on the heels of each other.  First McDonalds refused to open a branch in the West Bank settlement of Ariel and now KFC is taking a stand against a modification of their trade mark from Colonel Sanders to Hitler for a fried chicken outlet in Bangkok.

Here's Daily Beast's Open Zion on the McDonald's story:

Israeli financial daily Calcalist reported on Wednesday that global behemoth McDonald’s won’t be opening a franchise in a shopping mall currently under construction in Ariel, Israel’s largest West Bank settlement—that, in fact, owner and general manager Omri Padan “refuses” to do so.

Rainer Jensen/DPA/Landov

McDonald’s Israel has clarified, however, that it’s always been company policy not to operate beyond the Green Line, and as the Israeli franchise has been a growing concern for twenty years, it requires a special kind of effort to see the refusal as anything new, or as a response to any sort of pressure. Sure it’s a boycott, but it’s a boycott that’s already a generation old.

Ok, McDonalds steering clear of the West Bank is nothing new but this Huffington Post report, picked up from this tweet is new and in its own way similar to the McDonalds story:

 Andrew Spooner @andrewspoooner

           Very bizarre Hitler Fried Chicken shop in Thailand. I kid you not. Complete with pic of Hitler in bow tie 

10:02 PM - 28 May 2013

TwitPic @TwitPic

Who'd have thought that fast food chains would be so principled?

What have Zionists learned from the Fraser v UCU case?

Well nothing appears to be the answer to that if this shindig at the Wiener Library is anything to go by:

The UCU, Antisemitism and the boycotts campaigns against Israel

Thu 11 Jul 2013

Time: 4.00pm - 6.00pm

The University and College Union (UCU) has passed anti-Zionist resolutions since 2005 and Jewish members have complained about antisemitic tendencies within the union. In 2012 Ronnie Fraser brought a case against the UCU complaining of institutional antisemitism in violation of the Equality Act. However, the employment tribunal handling the case ruled that his complaints of harassment were unfounded. Despite the evidence that was brought forward the judges did not recognise antisemitism in the union and instead accused Fraser of disregarding pluralism, tolerance and freedom of expression by trying to silence his political opponents.  This workshop seeks to analyse this case as well as antisemitism in unions and on campus, including anti-Israeli boycott campaigns. It explores why there is a reluctance to recognise anti-Zionist forms of antisemitism in the frame of anti-racism and anti-discrimination.

This event is organised by The Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust & Genocide and the International Study Group for Education and Research on Antisemitism.

Roundtable speakers: Ronnie Fraser, Eric Lee, Doerte Letzmann, Eve Garrard

Discussant: Robert Fine

Chair: Gunther Jikeli / Hagai van der Horst

Admission: Free, but booking is essential as space is limited.

Location: The Wiener Library, 29 Russell Square, London - click for map

Here are some brief notes on the speakers I know of:

Ronnie Fraser was the fall guy in the Employment Tribunal disaster back in March this year.  

Eric Lee is an anti-BDS activist in the Trade Union movement in the UK.

The "discussant", Robert Fine has lots of form for smearing anti-zionists and BDS campaigners. I wrote about him here.  Let's just say he's not a man of the highest integrity.

I'd never heard of Gunther Jikeli before but a bit of googling turned up a useful piece by Antony Lerman:

Günther Jikeli, co-founder of the International Institute for Education and Research on Anti-Semitism in London and Berlin, is under the false impression that the Fundamental Rights Agency of the EU endorses its predecessor’s ‘Working Definition’ of antisemitism

 I don't expect any balance to the views of the bogus bunch mentioned above so I am guessing the discussion will revolve around finding new ways of smearing Israel's critics as antisemitic and in so doing hindering or even outlawing international solidarity with the Palestinians.

By the way, I suppose it is needless to say that the Judeo-Nazis at Harry's Place are promoting this bit-of-a-do but two comments suggest that the zionists are still in disarray over the FUCU case:

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  It would have been helpful if this event had included as speakers people who are lawfare experts and anti-boycott experts from the Israeli community. As it is, the presenters seem, apart from Ronnie himself to be a selection of people from around the Harry's Place/Euston Manifesto/Engage consensus, which is exactly the group that was used so unsuccessfully act as witness fodder for what seems to have been a misguided legal action.Adding the group campaigning around a mysterious death of a lone Jewish man in Germany does not cut it.

  
  
  
  
  

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    zkharya  judyk113 • 5 hours ago

    
    

    [for what seems to have been a misguided legal action]

    Agree with that.

I see whilst Ronnie Fraser is happy to put his head above the parapet there is still no sign of the man who ought to be a "lawfare expert", Anthony Julius, but who knows, all these zionists making utter fools, not to mention liars, of themselves in pursuit of this "epic folly" might smoke Julius out soon enough.

Execrable? Moi?

Wonderful exchange at Harry's Place which of course I have to capture here because they delete their comments after a week, which means that in the medium run, they win the argument on their own site only but anyway, here's the exchange:

Harvela • 2 days ago

DA
Off topic , but I just came across this on the ever execrable
Mark Elf and Efficiency Website JSF

http://jewssansfrontieres.blog...

Are you not the least bit ashamed of the turgid BTL exchanges you participated in ?
Do you come here to gain a sense of normality so as to distance yourself from those incoherent ramblings . 

 

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  Discredited Andrew  Harvela • a day ago

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  "Are you not the least bit ashamed of the turgid BTL exchanges you participated in ?"

  A little bit here, but not there. Here it's mostly a curiosity about what madness they'll come up with next, there it's more serious and sober. It's like switching channels from Big Brother to Newsnight. The former is more entertaining and lighter on the brain. I suppose you could call the latter "turgid", but I prefer not to be a reverse snob.

  
  
  

   

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I could worry about "turgid" but I'm sure he only meant Newsnight not Jews sans frontieres or me. Actually I had to look up both "execrable" and "turgid".