Issue #4 - Israeli interference

Alan Duncan's new book; Extorting Sudan; and Israel lobby attacks on academics -- now in the US too.

Apr 12, 2021

Israeli and pro-Israeli interference is happening all over the world: in US academia, in Sudan, in the West Bank and Gaza and in Lebanon. Read all about it below.

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Israel interferes in Britain, Tory confirms

Former deputy foreign minister Alan Duncan has come out in his new book — his Foreign Office diaries — accusing Conservative Friends of Israel and their donors of “disgusting interference in our public life.” He says CFI stopped him from becoming Middle East minister in 2016.

If you’ve watch Al Jazeera’s undercover documentary series The Lobby, you’ll probably remember that Alan Duncan was the main Tory target of Israeli embassy spy Shai Masot and his “hit list” plot. He’s also got some pretty hilarious things to say about Priti Patel. Check out the full article.

US extortion of Sudan over Israel

Sudan in October became the latest Arab state to announce that it would soon be normalising ties with Israel. Unlike the UAE and Bahrain, it has yet to formally do so. This is mainly because it is a transitional government formed off the back of 2019’s protests in Sudan. Elections are supposed to follow next year.

But meanwhile the US empire has used its designated terrorist list to extort Sudan into a payout of more than $300 million and into possibly forcing through a highly unpopular, illegitimate recognition of Israel.

Read all about it in my latest column for Middle East Monitor.

Episode 33 of The Electronic Intifada podcast is all about the Israel lobby’s attacks on public education in California. The ethnic studies curriculum has been re-written to appease Israel. We talked to two of the academics at the front line of resistance to this effort.

You can watch the whole episode on YouTube, or listen on any good podcast platform.

Richard Medhurst and I discuss Israel's crimes

This is the full, hour-long conversation between Richard and myself from his YouTube channel. The video from last week’s newsletter was a shorter clip from this longer discussion. It’s well worth watching the whole thing, as we had a wide-ranging discussion.

What I’ve been reading

My EI colleague Tamara Nassar on Osama Mansour, a Palestinian motorist shot dead by Israel army thugs last week, while his injured wife looked on helplessly.
The Skwawkbox on moves potentially being afoot to overthrow Keir Starmer after the local elections next month. The polling is atrocious. After years of the Corbyn-haters mindlessly repeating the baseless claim that “any other Labour leader would have been 20 points ahead in the polls,” Starmer is not only not ahead by 20 points, but he is actually behind the Tories about 10 points. Steve at The Skwawkbox says that the Labour right is having buyers’ remorse already and that Angela Rayner, Yvette Cooper and Rachel Reeves are all “on manoeuvres” and may trigger a Labour leadership election after the May local elections. I personally doubt they will go through with it, but we shall see.
My EI colleague Ali Abunimah on how the Israel lobby learned to stop worrying and love Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
And finally, set aside some time to read this 10,000-word monster of a piece by Rania Khalek at The Grayzone. It’s about the life and mysterious death of Lokman Slim, a pro-US-empire, pro-Israel Western collaborator in Lebanon. Really brilliant reporting.

Tweet of the Week

Jeremy Corbyn @jeremycorbyn

Today is the 18th anniversary of the death of Tom Hurndall, a young photographer shot by the Israeli Defence Force while assisting children he saw being shot at; this tragic occasion will never go unnoticed by the many who work for peace around the world.

jocelynhurndall @jocelynhurndall

@__jacker__ @RichardBurden27 @scottishpsc Yonatan, Tom wasn’t part of ISM but went to report on ISM’s work after the cruel death of Rachel Corrie. When is it acceptable to shoot a civilian posing no threat, rescuing children being shot at while playing? The sniper knew what he was doing, guilty & given 8yrs. No excuses.

Two Tweets this issue. Not so much because of the quality of the tweets themselves, but more due to who is posting them. It’s the first time I’ve seen Jeremy Corbyn tweeting about Palestine in quite a while.

Today was the anniversary of the killing of Tom Hurndall by Israel. He was young British photogrpaher who was documenting ISM activists’ attempts to rescue Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip, by getting them out of the line of fire of Israeli snipers.

It’s now eighteen years on, and his mother, Jocelyn, is still having to defend her son from the postumous smear campaign that Israel and its partisans in the UK are still subjecting him to, even in death.

Starting next week, I am going to bring out the newsletter early every Tuesday morning, rather than on Monday afternoons. I reckon more people are likely to read it in their morning inbox read that way.

See you all then.

Palestine is Still the Issue