Israel and Palestine is the most censored issue in our country

I won the Orwell Prize for Journalism 21 years ago. The judges praised, in particular, my “courageous” columns on Israel’s misuse of power in the occupied Palestinian territories.

In fact, back then, there was far more media engagement with what was going on in this region, than there is in our times. Our current parliamentarians and much of the mainstream media seem to tacitly disregard Israel’s relentless, punitive actions in those territories, in spite of reports by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the United Nations.

As one Palestinian musician I know put it: “Hell is better and kinder than here.” Israeli soldiers maimed his sister. “They can do anything. Now Islamist groups are in refugee camps. What can we do?” (FYI, I have written about repugnant Islamists ever since the Taliban first took over Afghanistan).

Freedom of speech?

Civilian Palestinians have never had it so bad. And a protective wall still shields Israel from proper scrutiny. Freedom of speech? Not on this issue.

Artists and writers have, to their credit, refused to be censored. The Palestine Festival of Literature (PalFest) is one striking example. Launched in 2008, its stated mission is to affirm “the power of culture over the culture of power”. The 2023 festival opens in London on 27 October.

Among those appearing are Nobel Prize-winner Abdulrazak Gurnah, novelist and New York Times columnist Mohammed Hanif, Michael Palin, Juliet Stevenson, Julie Christie, Esther Freud and David Morrisey. In the political and media spheres, the best you get are nervous and patchy snippets.

An extraordinary letter

This week, BBC News reported that an extraordinary legal letter was sent by Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL) to the Labour Party and copied to the Equalities and Human Rights Commission claiming discrimination: “The group, which was supportive of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and is critical of Israel, has long argued that its members have faced disproportionate disciplinary action under Sir Keir’s leadership… it argues that the party has misconstrued criticism of Israel as antisemitism.”

JVL claims that Jewish members are six times more likely to be investigated and more than nine times more likely to be expelled for “antisemitism” than non-Jewish members. How crazed is that?

This letter, sent a month ago, is only now getting (slight) attention.

Unknown stories

Most stories remain largely unknown: according to Human Rights Watch, 2022 was the deadliest year for Palestinian children in the West Bank since 2004 and the number of child fatalities so far this year is mounting fast. Settlers regularly attack Palestinian families, drive them out of their homes and take their small holdings. The West says nothing. But in the east and south, Israel is now seen as an apartheid state. Some within the country are using the term too.

South African-born Benjamin Pogrund, founding director of the Centre for Social Concern in Jerusalem, always repudiated those who accused his adopted homeland of practising apartheid. Now he has seen the dark:

“Every day sees government ministers and their allies venting racism and following up with discriminatory actions… Israel can no longer claim security as the reason for our behaviour in the West Bank and the siege of Gaza…

“[The government] abuses its own laws. Settlers kill Palestinians and destroy houses and cars. The courts seldom intervene. Soldiers stand by and watch. We deny Palestinians any hope of freedom or normal lives. We believe our own propaganda that a few million people will meekly accept perpetual inferiority and oppression. The government is driving Israel deeper and deeper into inhuman, cruel behaviour beyond any defence.”

Breaking the silence

Benjamin Netanyahu’s extreme right-wing government is facing strong opposition from such Israelis and, furthermore, is losing unconditional support from staunch allies. The Israeli Prime Minister was eagerly anticipating an invitation to the White House, which he has now received. But when US President Biden met with him in New York this week, he also apparently expressed concern about the undemocratic measures being pushed through to control Israel’s judiciary.

What I write is perfectly legitimate and fair. I criticise Muslim governments too without fear or favour and I have always supported the right of Israel to exist. But breaking the consensus of silence brings consequences.

One man emailed me this week: “I would like to congratulate you. You are in contention to be awarded the 2023 Antisemite of the Year award… given how old you are, I need to think about you winning before it is too late…as the Jewish Chronicle wrote in 2008, you are disgustingly racist. I wonder how you sleep at night. I guess you are a psychopath.”

You can’t laugh such stuff off. I have, at times, been abruptly dropped by event organisers and TV producers after being accused by some ultra-Zionists of being antisemitic. I remember talking to the late Robert Fisk, the incomparable Middle East correspondent at The Independent, about these disquieting experiences. He told me to carry on telling truths people did not want to hear. What’s the point of journalism if we don’t do that?

This is In Conversation with Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, a subscriber-only newsletter from i. We are grateful to the author for permission to repost.

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