Reading on the current tragedy in Israel/Palestine
I start with position statements by left groups and others, which may be useful if you are looking for a way of articulating a general position. All of them are flawed, but in different ways. Then there are personal reflection, some more analytical and some more emotional. Below that a little bit of analysis. And at the end some calls to action. Within each section, they're reverse chronological, so new material will start at the top of each section. I've bolded the pieces that are most worth your time.
Thanks to Daniel Randall whose collation for AWL of some of them (linked below) was the starting point for this post. I may update with more material.
Position statements
- ADDED: European Sociological Association Research Network 31 statement, 27 October
- ADDED: Statement by UCU union members in UCL's Jewish Studies department, 23 October
- Yachad UK statement on UK protests, 19 October
- Statement by Da'am Workers Party, Israel, 18 October
- Statement of Palestinian trade unions: stop arming Israel, 16 October
- Israeli activists call for a "return to politics based on humanistic and universal principles", 16 October
- "A threatening, horrifying reality": statement from Women Wage Peace, 15 October
- ADDED: "Side with progressive forces in Israel and Palestine for a lasting peace", by Oleksandr Bulin of SD Platform, Ukraine’s social democratic organisation, 15 October
- ADDED: Statement by Search for Common Ground, 14 October
- Statement by the Association for Iranian Studies, 13 October
- Joint statement by Mothers Against Violence, Breaking the Silence and other Israeli human rights organisations, 12 October (en Francais ici)
- "Palestinian people in the grip of imperialist war", statement by Marksist Tutum (Turkey), 12 October
- Black Lives Matter UK statement, 12 October
- From the Democracy and Workers Rights Centre, Palestine, 11 October
- Bernie Sanders' statement on the violence, 11 October
- Statement by Têkoşîna Anarşist, Rojava (NE Syria), 11 October
- Atlanta Antifascists statement, 10 October
- ADDED: "JJR pleure les victimes des massacres en Israël et en Palestine"/"We mourn the victims of the massacres in Israel and Palestine"/"Wir Trauern Um Die Opfer Der Massaker In Israel UndPalästina", by Juives et Juifs Révolutionnaires, 10 October
- "Days of grief, as our government beats the drums of war", Uri Weltmann, Standing Together, 10 October
- AWL statement, 10 October
- "Solidarity with the proletariat. Abolish Israel and Palestine", Craftwork, 10 October
- "We should end this cycle of crime! (On the Israel-Palestine war)", statement from the Hekmatist Party (Official Line), 10 October
- Statement from the Worker-communist Party of Iran - Hekmatist, 10 October
- Statement from Ma'an Workers Association, 10 October
- Statement by the Anarchist Union of Afghanistan and Iran, 9 October
- "Against Israeli and Palestinian nationalism," Malcontent/Barbaria, 9 October
- "From Gaza to Tel-Aviv and to the whole World… No War But Class War!", CGI-ICG, 8 October
- ADDED: Solutions Not Sides statement, 8 October
Personal reflections
- "The Holocaust as moral instruction", by Daniel Randall, 20 October
- "Jews of the Left: You’re in an abusive relationship. It’s time to speak out", by Boaz Munro in Tablet, 20 October
- "I want our lives to be protected and our humanity to be acknowledged", article by İyad el-Baghdadi, Palestinian-Norwegian human rights activist, 19 October
- "The Compass of Mourning", by Judith Butler, 19 October
- "Bassem Youssef’s Darkest Act: A TV interview with the Egyptian satirist highlights the absurdity of the media’s coverage of the Israel-Gaza war", by Kareem Shaheen, 18 October
- "The Most Horrifying of Times - And What Can We Still Do?", a report from Adam Keller, Gush Shalom, 18 October
- "I'll write while I can still breathe", article by Ameer Fakhoury, Palestinian activist and council member of A Land for All - Two States, One Homeland, 16 October
- "Hamas apologists have misunderstood Fanon", by Ralph Leonard, 15 October
- "The barbarity of Hamas and the Israeli government will make the future of humanity bleak", article by Kurdish socialist and human rights activist Aso Kamal, 14 October
- "A lot of things are true. The refusal to grasp this is a non-trivial amount of the problem", by Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, 13 October
- “We Cannot Cross Until We Carry Each Other”, by Arielle Angel 12 October
- "Toward a Humane Left", by Joshua Leifer 12 October
- "My visit to Israel", by Nira Yuval-Davis, 12 October
- "A Left That Refuses to Condemn Mass Murder Is Doomed", by Eric Levitz, 11 October
- "In Gaza and Israel, side with the child over the gun", by Naomi Klein, 11 October
- Jordan Osserman on returning from the carnage, 9 October
- "As Gaza Braces for a Ground Invasion, the Circle of Violence Continues", by Arwa Damon, 9 October
- "Is history repeating itself?", by Adam Keller, Gush Shalom, 8 October
Analysis
- ADDED: "Neue Kluft innerhalb der Linken: In den USA reagieren viele Linke auf den brutalen Terror gegen israelische Zivilisten und die militärische Reaktion Israels mit viel Verständnis – für die Hamas"/"A propos des réactions de la gauche américaine face au massacre du Hamas", by Spencer Sunshine, 26 October
- "Geolocating Hamas-Led Attacks on Israeli Civilians", Bellingcat, October 20
- "Social media overwhelmed by Israel-Hamas misinformation", by Shayan Sardarizadeh
- "Identifying Possible Crater from Gaza Hospital Blast", Bellingcat, October 18, 2023
- "The war against cliche", by Arie Dubnov, 18 October
- "Israel's New Hamas-Gaza Concept Is Doomed to Fail Just Like the Last One", by Zvi Bar'el, 13 October
- "Hamas Attacks, Israel Bombs Gaza and Misinformation Surges Online", Bellingcat, October 11, 2023
Calls to action
- Yachad MP letter writing campaign
- Voices for Hostages open letter
- Donate to The Parents Circle – Families Forum, a joint Israeli-Palestinian organization of over 600 families, all of whom have lost an immediate family member to the ongoing conflict.
- Donate to the World Food Programme emergency appeal
- Donate to Combatants for Peace
- Report an antisemitic incident to CST (UK only)
- Report an anti-Muslim incident to TellMAMA (UK only)
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