Israel/Palestine

See our publications on Israel/Palestine, and articles on fighting left antisemitism.

Ceasefire, end siege, free hostages, reconstruct Gaza

Israeli minister Benny Gantz recently issued a threat that if the Israeli hostages held by Hamas are not released by 10 March, the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, a planned assault on Rafah, where half of Gaza’s population is now sheltering, would take place. Such an assault would inevitably lead to many thousands of civilian deaths, as homeless refugees would have no means of escaping the Israeli onslaught. At the time of writing, negotiations between Israel, the US, Egypt, France and Qatar, the latter acting as a mediator for Hamas, were continuing, with a view to reaching a...

Reinstate Lambeth councillors!

The right-wing Labour council group in Lambeth, south London, has suspended four councillors from the Labour whip for defying orders to vote against a Green motion (in January) for a ceasefire in Gaza. The suspension came on 26 February — after the whole Labour leadership had come out for an immediate ceasefire (21 February) and long after London Labour mayor Sadiq Khan and several Labour councils had made that call. Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Labour MP for one of the Lambeth constituencies, has condemned the suspensions. Sonia Winifred, suspended for three months, has resigned from her council seat...

Antisemitism and Israel

For sixty years, the Anti-Defamation League has been profiling Americans to try to monitor antisemitic beliefs. For the first half century of doing that, they found a fairly steady and ongoing decline in anti-Jewish sentiment. They would ask people if they agreed with a number of statements about Jews. Things like: Jews don’t care what happens to anyone but their own kind. Jews do not share my values. Jews are more willing than others to use shady practices to get what they want. Over many decades, belief in many of those once-popular anti-Jewish tropes began to decline. American Jews...

Dr. Rula Hardal: two states, one homeland

A speech given by Dr. Rula Hardal, the Palestinian CEO of A Land for All, a Palestinian-Israeli NGO which advocates for a confederal two-states settlement, at an anti-war rally in Tel Aviv on 29 February 2024.

Netanyahu out! End the war!

A coalition led by the left-wing Arab-Jewish social movement Standing Together and Women Wage Peace has called another anti-war protest in Tel Aviv for Thursday 29 February. Larger numbers have taken to the streets in Israel to oppose Netanyahu and demand immediate elections. As yet most criticise Netanyahu’s handling of the war, but not necessarily the war itself. It falls to Israel’s anti-war left to persuade them that the cause of security and independence for Israeli Jews is not counterposed to the cause of security and independence for Palestinians, but rather bound up with it. As...

Ceasefire, peace, two states

At the time of writing, the “outlines” of a six-week Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement are under discussion. The report said: “The deal apparently provides, in a first phase, for the release of some 40 hostages in return for the release of Palestinian security prisoners and a truce in the fighting of some six weeks. These would be female, elderly and ill hostages. The number of Palestinian prisoners has not been finalised, it says, but is not believed to be in the thousands.” But Israeli officials have said a definitive agreement was still “far off.” Israeli cabinet member, and Benjamin...

Labour and Gaza: now back Standing Together

The Labour leadership has moved to support an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. That is good, although very, very late: local Labour Parties have been passing ceasefire motions since October, and Labour councils have come out in favour too. The procedural chaos surrounding the UK Parliament vote on 21 February does not reflect well on any party involved (see Antidoto column, page 4). The Labour text passed is, on the Labour leaders’ own account, worded so as to chime in with Australia, Canada, and New Zealand government policy. Why? To appear “statesmanlike” and coax some Tory MPs to vote for it...

Playing parliamentary games on Gaza

On 21 February, Parliament passed a motion calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and condemning the proposed ground offensive in Rafah. All of which is good. Beyond that, however, the rest of what happened in the Commons that night was a disgrace with the cause of peace in Gaza overshadowed by cynicism, opportunism and hypocrisy on all sides. The SNP was clearly motivated at least as much by a desire to embarrass Labour as it was by concern for the people of Gaza. The Labour leadership was mainly concerned to avoid another rebellion and see if they could put a wedge into the Tories. The...

Jewish identity in Britain today

How to understand historically developed Jewish identity has been a vexed question for the socialist left. Is Judaism merely a religion? Or is there a Jewish ethnicity, nation, or “race”?

This website uses cookies, you can find out more and set your preferences here.
By continuing to use this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.