Bristol demo
Why can’t we talk about Palestine?
Propaganda, Censorship and the Israeli Lobby: A talk with Professor David Miller on 10 June, organised by the Hastings and Rye Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Laurie Holden writes. Images from Support David Miller website.
Over the last few years anyone who has stood up for Palestinian rights has had to watch his or her back. Time and time again, the response of the Israel lobby and its supporters has been aggressive and hostile. This has even led to Palestinian activists getting sacked from their jobs, to the cancellation of meetings and to their expulsion from political parties. If this is not bad enough, probably the most serious result of this campaign is self-censorship, the fear of speaking up.
The Israel lobby has clearly pulled out all the stops. In Hastings, we’ve been targetted by a number of pro-Israel groups. They’ve bombarded our venue owners with hate mail in their attempt to get them to cancel our meetings. They’ve even tried to stop our town centre information stalls. Thankfully we’ve never given in and all our events have gone ahead, even if we’ve had to change venues.
Institutions such as universities, colleges and councils have been pressurised into silencing the voices of Palestine. One worrying trend is that Palestinians in this country have been targetted. There have been several Palestinian academics, such as Ghada Karmi and Shahd Abusalama, who have ended up fighting to keep their jobs. Surely it’s no exaggeration to describe this campaign as modern day McCarthyism.
The more we understand about these tactics and the organisations behind them the better we can fight back. Regarded as the pre-eminent expert on the Israel lobby and the network it uses is Professor David Miller. He has been Professor of Sociology at Strathclyde and Bath, and Professor of Political Sociology at Bristol University. His research and publications focus on Islamophobia and propaganda. He is the co-founder and co-director of Public Interest Investigations, which runs two projects, Spinwatch and Powerbase.
These two organisations have carried out research into corporate lobby groups and government public relations groups which show how they use their undue power to undermine democracy. They have carried out research into lobby groups in industries such as fracking, health service, armaments, water and the pharmaceutical industry, along with Islamophobia and the Israel lobby.
David Miller
As David Miller has played such a major role in exposing the Israel lobby, no one will be surprised to hear that the lobby has been gunning for him and has tried its best to shut him up. Since 2019, lobby groups and their supporters have tried to get him sacked from his position at Bristol University. This campaign reached a peak in 2021 when the university gave into the pressure from groups such as the Zionist Federation, the Community Security Trust and the Board of Deputies and sacked him. The usual allegations were directed at him, such as anti-Semitism. Yet two independent investigations completely ruled this out. In response to his sacking, a Change.org petition was set up, gaining more than 40,000 signatures in his support. Public figures such as Professor Noam Chomsky, John Pilger, Professor Ilan Pappé, Ronnie Kasrils, Ken Loach and Alexei Sayle have demanded his reinstatement.
David has never given in and is fighting his dismissal with a pending industrial tribunal. Our meeting on the 10 June will give an ideal opportunity for us to understand the Israel lobby, whether the different groups are in fact linked by a network, and the tactics the lobby employs. We will be able to look at one weapon that is commonly used: the controversial and discredited IHRA definition of anti-Semitism and the fight back against it.
The meeting will be on Saturday 10 June 4.30 pm. Because of the disruptive measures employed by the Israel lobby that we will be announcing the venue details only on the evening before the meeting. This will be on our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram social media. The details will also be sent to all those who register through our website. There is also a Facebook event page.
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I write for HOT so I know that comments have to be approved by one of the (volunteer) team before they are published. I didn’t publish D’s two posts here (and I didn’t publish the original article either). Both D’s comments mention dog-whistling, so I’m assuming there was no censorship, just a time delay.
I also have to admit to not understanding what is meant by ‘dog-whistling’. And I’d also like to know what phrase would be appropriate to use, rather than ‘The Israel Lobby’).
I am of Jewish heritage, and I’m a believer in free speech. I would like to attend the meeting on Saturday because I do think it’s important we talk (and I mean talk calmly and listen, not shout over each other) about about Palestine and anti-Semitism – and other contentious subjects.
If this event happens, and I am there, and Tim Amor is not there, I will ask his questions.
At the moment I’m still trying to understand why the Mayor of North Tyne has been denied from standing as an elected candidate again because he shared a panel with Ken Loach who was talking about his three major films set in Tyneside. I believe this is because Ken Loach has been vocal in his support for Palestine – but to block Jamie Driscoll for standing as a Labour candidate because he shared a platform with Ken Loach seems to me to be driven by another agenda.
I do believe we should be talking about Palestine – not being too scared to say anything – or even too scared to sit on a panel about poverty in the United Kingdom with someone who has strong views about an unrelated topic.
Comment by Erica Smith — Friday, Jun 9, 2023 @ 12:01
Considering that this event is being held in the name of free speech, it’s awfully interesting that my initial comment calling this article out as antisemitic dog-whistling got deleted. I wonder why – there must be some kind of media conspiracy!
Comment by D — Thursday, Jun 8, 2023 @ 19:06
You may not be aware of this, but there are a small number of observant Jews in Hastings, and we don’t appreciate being referred to as the ‘Israel lobby’ amongst other dog-whistling rubbish. It sure is easy to vilify an ethno-religious minority that doesn’t have a large presence in Hastings! Wouldn’t it be nice if there were fewer Jews in the Middle East, eh.
Comment by D — Thursday, Jun 8, 2023 @ 16:45
The pernicious ‘Israel Lobby’ – now who could they mean? Who is in that secret cabal? Could it be me? A British Jew who loves Israel, hates its current government, desperate for a just solution……Am I part of that lobby?
Surely editor – there needs to be right of reply to this dangerous nonsense. This is not a game – the incidence of antisemitic attacks is at a record high in Britain. The old ‘Israel Lobby’ slur was invented in Stalinist Russia and the language of ‘powerful cabals’ is redolent of Nazi German propaganda. It is now being refurbished by a vociferous pro Iran pro Russia lobby. Yes these lobbies get everywhere. Not just Jews!
The vast majority of Britain’s tiny Jewish population (just over 200,000) want nothing more than an Israel at peace with its neighbours and for wrongs to be righted. For justice to be done and for the region to prosper. If this view makes me a member of the ‘Israel Lobby’ then so be it.
Comment by Mike Levy — Thursday, Jun 8, 2023 @ 16:27
No mention of the fact that David Miller is now an employee of Islamic State of Iran Broadcasting producing and broadcasting a programme on their PressTV station. He talks in his broadcasts a bit about Palestine and a lot about Jews. However, he has nothing to say about the oppression of the Arab minority in Iran who like the Palestinians have their land stolen by the governing regime and are killed if they resist. He is also vocal in his condemnation of the uprising within Iran against the dictatorship and has made no comment upon the recent hangings of protestors and atheists. As to LGBTQ rights, two lesbians were recently sentenced to death but again he has nothing to say about this. Assuming the meeting goes ahead, it might b interesting to ask him about some of these issues.
Comment by Tim Amor — Monday, Jun 5, 2023 @ 23:49