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Rob Ferguson retweeted
What will @Ed_Miliband do as Netanyahu mobilises the IDF in the West Bank and proclaims the ‘heroic’ settlers as ‘a role model for the people of Israel’?
Rob Ferguson retweeted
The fact that the BBC would almost certainly defend the construction of the interview with @ZackPolanski and suggest that @Jo_Coburn 's comments dont raise any concerns about her impartiality when a BBC journalist says much about how the notion of impartiality is interpreted.
Regarding the interview with @ZackPolanski, a telling moment is where @bbclaurak asks him do you think it is for the Green Party to tell Jewish people what Zionism means? The underpinning premises here are a) that it is for the Jewish people to define Zionism b) they are of one voice in how they define it. Palestinians , by implication, should have no stake in how an ideology and movement that has led to their dispossession is understood.
The whole framing of the interview and the subsequent intervention by @Jo_Coburn is that the motion is offensive because it is defining Zionisim as racist and most Jews are Zionists. Most Palestinians are anti zionist but calling them racist for opposing Zionism is not deemed controversial and offensive. The BBC has not run interview after interview to discuss the "controversial " statements by @chiefrabbi when he regularly frames anti zionism in this way.
But this should not be a question of differing opinions and the right to express them . It should be about the facts of history and how they are discussed and presented. It is a fact of history that 750k plus Palestinians were forced from their land between 1947 and 1949. It is a fact of history that successive Israeli Governments have enacted laws and policies which authoritative bodies including the ICJ have described as racist against Palestinians, and meeting the definition of apartheid.
Zack correctly says that no state has a right to exist. He is expressing a legal fact but this is presented as nonsensical. But why is it that this need to protect a state's right to exist only arises in relation to Israel. If a politician condemns the character of the state of Iran or calls for regime change are they asked, " do you accept that Iran has a right to exist?" If someone advocates for Scottish independence are they asked " but what about Britain's right to exist?"
@Jo_Coburn states that she is a Zionist and that the Green motion, and by implication anti zionism as a political belief , is offensive and racist. She is undoubtedly a journalist who would vigorously defend her credibility as impartial. So the clear implication is that expressing such views is not to be partial in any controversial way. It must be seen as akin to saying I am a democrat...I support free speech....in other words accepted political norms that are rejected only by extremists. Zionism is morally good. Antizionism is extremist. One can express this and remain impartial. Discussing the racist character of the state of Israel is extremist as is suggesting it has committed a genocide. Such statements can be allowed ( the BBC of course believes in free speech) but only if they are vigorously challenged. This is why the BBC has never devoted airtime to a detailed analysis of the reports by the ICJ , Amnesty, HRW and many others that find Israel guilty of apartheid. That would be controversial and possibly endorsing racism. This is why the BBC felt it OK to livestream Israel's defence of the charge of genocide in front of the ICJ but not cover South Africa's case being presented.
So no one should question whether Jo Coburn's now publicly declared Zionist views raise questions about her impartiality. But imagine..God forbid... the reaction if she'd said "Im an anti Zionist Jew and support the motion" .
“[Saying] ‘Zionism is racism’ is offensive, it’s antisemitic and it’s dangerous”
Broadcaster Jo Coburn says she “watched in horror” as the Green Party passed its motion on Zionism and criticises leader Zack Polanski's defence in his #BBCLauraK interview
bbc.co.uk/news/live/c64gv8k2…
Rob Ferguson retweeted
I keep looking at myself to see if I've been 'erased'? Maybe some people came along on Oct 4 2026 with their magic erasers ('rubbers') and rubbed me out along with the Jewish bloc and the other Jewish speakers I spoke with on the platform. In fact, I now don't exist.
It is often argued that Zionism emerged in an age of nationalisms. @MouinRabbani gets that in perspective here. There is and always was a difference.
And there is no national liberation component to Zionism.
Is Zionism racism?
To answer this question requires a proper understanding of Zionism in both theory and practice.
Zionism is essentially a synonym for Jewish nationalism. It is the belief that Jews constitute a distinct people and nation, and on this basis require the establishment of a nation-state of their own to achieve their natural rights and collective potential.
In putting forth such views, the late-nineteenth-century founders of the Zionist movement were first and foremost adopting and reflecting the nationalist milieu and principles dominant in Europe, the environment in which they were formed and in which they operated.
Yet, from the very outset Zionism was different than other European nationalism. Unlike for example the Greeks, Serbs, Poles, or Italians, Zionism’s intended constituents – the Jews of Europe – did not have an ancient homeland on the European continent in which they remained a majority.
The Zionist movement was unwilling as well as unable to challenge an existing European state to carve out an independent state in which Jews, like other European peoples, would enjoy uncontested demographic, territorial, and political supremacy.
Its leaders instead sought to acquire the cooperation and sponsorship of a European power to colonize and establish a state in territory outside Europe. Palestine was not the only non-European territory proposed for this venture. Various others in Africa, the Americas, Australia, as well as Cyprus were also considered, several quite seriously.
In each of these cases the Zionist movement was proceeding from another principle dominant in Europe at the time. None of these territories were uninhabited, yet their inhabitants did not possess inalienable rights, and could be freely subordinated, dispossessed, and even exterminated in the service of European power.
The Zionist movement ultimately settled on Palestine for its nation-state project. Enabled by what the pre-eminent Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi termed “the British shield”, its project met with success in 1948 with the establishment of the Israeli state.
Israel could not have been established as a Jewish state without the mass dispossession and expulsion of the Arabs of Palestine, and the wholesale usurpation of their lands and properties. Israel could not have developed as a Zionist state without the systematic application of structural racism against its non-Jewish citizens and the enforcement of apartheid regimes against Arab populations beyond its initial boundaries that would come under its control in subsequent decades.
Crucially, the exact same pattern would have been implemented, by design, if the Zionist movement had opted for Uganda, Libya, or any other territory under its consideration instead of Palestine. It is this which distinguishes Zionism from most (but not all) other nationalisms.
In other words, the British Green Party, like the United Nations General Assembly in Resolution 3379 of 1975, got it exactly right.
Rob Ferguson retweeted
Greens declare themselves an anti-Zionist party. Naturally this Torygraph report misdefines Zionism, which is best understood as the project to establish an exclusively Jewish and expansionist settler state in Palestine.
Well they do have to try to cover for “Hurrah for the Blackshirts!”
This is a low even for the Mail . Note this line "Almost certainly, in common with all Jewish families, there will have been members of Mr Polanski's wider family who were persecuted in the Holocaust. But it is unclear who he was referring to when he told the story of his ancestors fleeing the Nazis."
So what's the point of this article? It is designed to say Zack Polanski has invented a story that members of his family were persecuted by the Nazis but then says the issue is its not clear who precisely he was talking about. The intent is to discredit him despite knowing he is likely to have family who were persecuted and knowing this story will uneash a torrent of antisemitism against him.( Check some of tbe grotesque comments in the replies).
The deeper message is that the experience of the Holocaust should only generate sympathy for Jews who' s politics the Mail approves. In particular, one suspects, if you are an antizionist Jew as Zack is, then you and your family history, dont count. Foul.
Rob Ferguson retweeted
בגלל העניין והחשיבות הציבורית אני ורחלי החלטנו ביחד עם הגרדיאן שהסרט נז״א יהיה נגיש באינטרנט בחינם, ללא הגבלת זמן, כדי שכל אדם יוכל לצפות בו ובעדויות החיילים. זה יקרה בעוד כמה שבועות, בנובמבר, במועד הכי מוקדם שהצלחנו לקבוע. עד אז פנינו לבתי קולנוע בישראל והצענו להם את הסרט ללא עלות, בתקווה שיוקרן בארץ כבר עכשיו, במקביל להפצתו בבתי קולנוע בעולם. הצגתו תהיה החלטה אמיצה אל מול אלימות גדולה שמכוונת להסתרתו. אני יודע שיש ביקוש אדיר לצפות בסרט ואני מקווה שבאופן הזה כולם בקרוב יוכלו לראות אותו: בין אם בבתי הקולנוע ובין אם באינטרנט בעוד כמה שבועות.
הרבה דברים לא נכונים נאמרו עלינו ועל הסרט בשבוע החולף. הסרט מבוסס על תחקיר עיתונאי מקיף של שלוש שנים והפרטים בו מאומתים ומוצלבים. הוא ידבר בעד עצמו והאמת סופה להתבהר.
עשינו את הסרט כדי לעורר דיון ציבורי לגבי המעשים של הממשלה בעזה, ההרג של יותר מ73,000 בני אדם, רובם אזרחים, הנרמול של מלחמת השמדה, של התפיסה ש״אין בלתי מעורבים״. עשרים וארבעה חיילים וחיילות עשו צעד ודיברו מול מצלמה על מה שחברה שלמה לא רוצה לדבר עליו.
ההכרה בזוועות בעזה לא מפחיתה לרגע מהטבח הנפשע של השבעה באוקטובר, שחמאס אחראי עליו, שחיילים מדברים עליו בסרט, ושאין לו שום הצדקה. להפך. הרי ההתעלמות ממה שקורה בעזה היא מהגורמים שסללו את הדרך לשבת הנוראה ההיא. וההתעלמות הזו נמשכת.
עיתונות היא לא בגידה. ביקורת היא לא בגידה. זו חובה של כל אזרח שממשלתו מבצעת פשעים לדעת ושל כל חייל שהיה עד להם לספר. מסתובבים כאן אלפי חיילים כאלה, שיצפו בסרט ויזהו את מה שמתואר בו באופן אישי: את ההרג של אנשים לא חמושים שחוצים קו מדומיין, את אישורי הנז״א במאות, את התקיפות המערכתיות בבתי משפחות, את השריפה וההשמדה הפיזית של עזה, רצח וירי על אנשים רעבים במרכזי מזון ופשעים נוספים שאין להם הצדקה. גם אם זה מפחיד, זו חובתכם למצוא את הדרך להעיד על מה שראיתם. יגידו לכם שכדאי להסתיר את האמת למען הסברה בחו״ל, אבל זה קשקוש. שם יודעים כבר הכל. פשעים לא מסבירים אלא עוצרים. הסתרת האמת קודם כל מרעילה את החברה שלנו ומעל הכל מאפשרת לפגיעה בבני אדם בעזה להימשך.
ובנימה אישית: אני כותב על מדיניות האש של הצבא בעזה בעברית ב״שיחה מקומית״ כבר שלוש שנים. התחקירים זכו להתעלמות בישראל. עכשיו בפעם הראשונה משהו נסדק במסך ההתעלמות - וזה דבר חיובי. זה דבר בריא. כן, זה מגיע עם מחיר אישי גדול. היה שבוע קשה. אבל בתוכו גם יש המון תמיכה, והרבה נדיבות. מה שבטוח: האיומים לא יעזרו. זה לא מרתיע אותנו. אני ורחלי נחזור לארץ ונמשיך להיאבק על עתיד המקום הזה ביחד עם שותפים רבים.
Rob Ferguson retweeted
Laura Kuenssberg: "Is it for people who are singers, songwriters, artists to be taking public positions on very very controversial, difficult, complicated issues"
THE most stupid, ridiculous, uninformed, ignorant question I have ever heard.
#BBCLauraK
Rob Ferguson retweeted
Your candidate in Holborn was nominated by Patrick McGinnis, a neo-Nazi Restore activist who says "Jewish ideas destroyed Britain". We confronted him today and will continue to do so.
Not a lone genocidaire but a model citizen of a genocidal society and a genocidal political culture
This Post is from a suspended account. Learn more
Rob Ferguson retweeted
You spilt coffee on your leg, you utter sausage. The police were laughing at you cos you demanded to go to hospital for a tepid latte. You're a racist and your election campaign is in disarray because you work with neo-Nazis like Michael Newland and Patrick McGinnis.
Rob Ferguson retweeted
The sea still rules our lives: ‘Tobias Maier, chief executive for the Middle East and Africa at DHL Global Forwarding, said it takes 10,000 trucks to ferry the equivalent of one ship carrying 20,000 20ft containers. A Boeing 777 jet, meanwhile, could typically handle 100 … 1/
Rob Ferguson retweeted
We caught the moment Restore activist @lewisrholmes was "scalded by boiling liquid" yesterday while being confronted about his relationship with neo-Nazi Patrick McGinnis. As you can see, he spilt the coffee on his hand while putting it in a bin. He refused to answer our question
Rob Ferguson retweeted
This Israeli election could be the country’s last – this week I saw that for myself | Jonathan Freedland
Liberal Zionism with its core exposed. Forced to acknowledge that Israel is barely a democracy even for its Jewish citizens. Failing to acknowledge that it has never been for its Palestinian citizens. Says the hope for Palestinians does not lie in external pressure via sanctions leveraged by the power of a solidarity movement. No Israel must not be sanctioned. The answer is to invest hope in the Israeli opposition. The problem Freedland won't confront? That the opposition he presents as the Palestinian's best and only hope is committed to denying a Palestinian state and continuing to expand settlements and is supported in these positions by the majority of Israelis. Palestinian rights are not a major election issue. So Freedland and his liberalZionist allies offer this future: Permanent subjugation for Palestinians and permanent impunity for Israel to enact these crimes. The only justification for such a worldview is the one Freedland won't confront.... (because he's a liberal didn't you know). It is that preserving Israel as a Jewish majority state trumps any Palestinian rights. Palestinians are less than human. Freedland just yearns for people who can enact this policy with a kinder prettier face. It is such cowardice and moral bankruptcy that provides the cover for the Smotrichs of the world to continue the genocide.
theguardian.com/commentisfre…
