Paul Kelemen on The British Left and Zionism

Paul Kelemen will be discussing his book, The British Left and Zionism: History of a Divorce in a webinar (an interactive discussion, a talk followed by Q&A) on the first Thursday of June - June 7th at 7pm UK time. You can register for that talk and join in wherever you are as long as you have an internet connection and a computer or suitable phone. Go to http://bit.do/spsc2018

As well as looking at the British left's embrace over decades of a violent settler-colonial project (can there be any other type of settler-colonial enterprise) Paul will also discuss the false antisemitism crisis engulfing the Corbyn'led UK Labour Party.

Before joining in the conversation on June 7th, participants might benefit from reading a short piece in the current Scottish Left Review, Does Labour need to talk about anti-Semitism? by Sarah Glynn. There is a brief summary of current research into levels of antisemitism in the UK before the author looks at the forces allied in the effort to neuter the threat Corbynism poses to ever more extreme concentration of wealth and privilege in British society and the British-Israel alliance.

With a more restricted focus on Scotland, Mick Napier's recent article in Common Space also insists on the distinction between anti-Zionism and antisemitism. Attempts to conflate criticism of Israel with antisemitism. It explains the ideological similarities and rationale for the numerous strategic alliances between Zionism and the forces of antisemitism, including the deranged motives of the Christian fundamentalist pro-Israel lobby in the US and Scotland.

31 May 2018

The Thursday July 5th talk is as billed - Prof Ella Shohat will talk about her book, On the Arab-Jew, Palestine and Other Displacements  The work was written over 30 years and tackles the record of Zionism in relation to Arab Jews, a term that Zionism seeks to make inconceivable. 

Ella Shohat insists she is an Arab Jew, from a Baghdadi family and now living in New York. She is Professor of Cultural Studies and of Middle Eastern Studies at New York University. See 5-minute http://bit.do/EllaShohat

See 5-minute video at http://bit.do/EllaShohat