Category: BDS

anti-Semitism, BDS, extremism on campus, The I/P conflict, UK

An open letter to Theresa May, Home Secretary of the UK

Rt Hon Theresa May MP I spent the weekend of the 17 and 18th October 2015 at the School for African and Oriental Studies (SOAS) to attend a conference. SOAS was one of the specific universities “named and shamed” as an institution that gives a platform to extremists. The conference was the 10th Annual Conference of the SOAS Palestine Society titled ‘Settler and Citizens: A … Continue reading An open letter to Theresa May, Home Secretary of the UK

David3 Comments
anti-Semitism, BDS, extremism on campus, The I/P conflict, UK, USA

From the university to an attack on the streets of Israel, the true cycle of violence.

I have just spent two days inside SOAS, at the Centre for Palestine Studies as a delegate at the 10th Annual Conference of the SOAS Palestine Society titled ‘Settler and Citizens: A Critical View of Israel’. In the 1920’s and 1930’s Zionist groups across the globe met in order to further the Zionist cause. The basic messages were simple; encourage, build, promote, purchase, financially assist … Continue reading From the university to an attack on the streets of Israel, the true cycle of violence.

David17 Comments
anti-Semitism, BDS, extremism on campus, The I/P conflict, UK

An open letter to Professor Gabriel Brahm

Gabriel, I was present at the conference at Exeter and have just read your piece in the Jewish Chronicle, in fact a cross post at the JLC website had ‘urged me to do so’. The piece is also reproduced on the Times of Israel website. I had been one of those critical of the initial agreement and had provided my account of my experience at … Continue reading An open letter to Professor Gabriel Brahm

David2 Comments
anti-Semitism, BDS, The I/P conflict, UK

My weekend with the antisemites (and 2 Zionists) at Exeter

I have just returned from Exeter, where the university held a 3-day conference discussing ‘Settler Colonialism in Palestine’. Far smaller and less organised than the conference that the University of Southampton cancelled, this collection of anti-Zionists ranged from well- known ‘academics’ from the US, Beirut and Australia to several ‘wannabees’ currently working on research at Exeter; these ‘wannabees’ are Ilan Pappe’s academic children. I always … Continue reading My weekend with the antisemites (and 2 Zionists) at Exeter

David6 Comments
BDS, The I/P conflict, UK

The anti-Zionist Exeter conference

Over the last two days, it became abundantly clear exactly how far off base the JLC is, how removed they are from events on the ground, and how little they understand the anti-Zionist argument developing within the extreme left. I am now certain they are stuck in the 1980’s, when Europeans still went to the Kibbutz and people romanticised over Entebbe. The idea that the … Continue reading The anti-Zionist Exeter conference

David3 Comments
anti-Semitism, BDS, The I/P conflict, UK, USA

The festering swamp of anti-Zionism

I personally dislike sweeping statements and generalisations. It is unfortunately true in a world in which you need to occupy someone’s attention with 140 characters of less, nobody has any time for clarification, but real world issues tend to be complex and nothing is ever absolute. An absolute statement I see repeated often in the I/P argument is that anti-Zionism is antisemitism; a theory born … Continue reading The festering swamp of anti-Zionism

David2 Comments
anti-Semitism, BDS, The I/P conflict

My Yom Kippur with Max Blumenthal

Having spent a July evening listening to Max Blumenthal at his book launch for his written account of last year’s conflict between Gaza and Israel, it then became a struggle to find an opportunity to read the book itself. I engage anything and everything on the Israel / Arab conflict and usually it is critical to do so with internet access close at hand as … Continue reading My Yom Kippur with Max Blumenthal

David3 Comments
anti-Semitism, BDS, The I/P conflict, UK

You do not confront anti-Semitism by waving a white flag

Imagine if you can, a marketplace of ideas in a small city somewhere on the coast in South West England. The owners of this market by law must ensure free trade, free that is for as long as it does not promote violent extremism. Within this market are people who despise the Jewish state, creating for themselves a corner of the market, refusing to deal … Continue reading You do not confront anti-Semitism by waving a white flag

David2 Comments
anti-Semitism, BDS, The I/P conflict, UK

Anti-Semitism in London, absolutely shameful

It is 09/09/2015. In the Middle East, millions are oppressed by their own leaders, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed, and untold numbers are still making their escape. Today the democratically elected leader of the only nation in the Middle East that provides freedom and protection for all its citizens came to visit the UK, and in London, at the very heart of … Continue reading Anti-Semitism in London, absolutely shameful

David17 Comments
anti-Semitism, BDS, UK

Is the British Labour Party about to become a party of hate?

My areas of interest mainly relate to anti-Semitism and Israel, so I don’t often find myself writing on political issues in the UK. When the issues did connect, it was in relation to extreme right wing movements, with British Nationalist or white supremacy groups targeting the Jews in the same ways classic anti-Semites have being doing throughout recent history. Following the holocaust, Jews received something … Continue reading Is the British Labour Party about to become a party of hate?

David4 Comments