Palestinian poetry celebration – and cancellation – in Manchester

JVL introduction

Under pressure from the local Jewish Representative Council, the Manchester’s progressive art centre, HOME cancels a celebration of Palestinian writing.

Robert Lizar reports from Manchester for JVL:

This April, we’re celebrating Palestinian voices, with readings from “Don’t Look Left” by  @atefabusaif, plus other poetry & writing, performed by special guests Ahmed Nehad, Shamshad Khan,@kamilashamsie, Maxine Peake, Kingsley Ben-Adir & others. 

WARNING: If you were hoping to share in the above celebration of Palestinian voices at Manchester’s progressive art centre, HOME, on 22nd April – you can forget it. After a letter from the local Jewish Representative Council (JRC) which made utterly unfounded allegations against the author Atef Abu Saif, the venue caved in and silenced those voices – without even contacting the Palestinian writers and the performers for their response. The event had been titled “Voices of Resilience” and was to reflect the strength of character and steadfast endurance of Palestinians facing murderous bombardment and famine over 6 long months. In contrast, the resilience of the venue after being bombarded with a single letter lasted only 24 hours.

They cancelled.

HOME cited concerns for the safety of staff and visitors rather than their own political cowardice. Even the JRC rejected this embarrassing excuse, saying they welcomed the cancellation, but added “HOME Theatre has stated it is cancelling the event due to fears for the safety of its staff and customers. There is absolutely no reason for HOME Theatre to state they have “safety concerns”.

So why did they cancel Palestinian voices? The answer is sadly, predictable – the effect of McCarthyite fears persistently generated around evidence-free claims of antisemitism and Holocaust denial.

In 2022 Saif made comparisons between the Holocaust and actions by the Israeli government – comparisons which some may find distressing, but you would hope less distressing than the real-world events of a plausible genocide and the killing of 14,000 children. Once again, the issue of dubious allegations of antisemitism has been promoted at the expense of the voices of Palestinians facing death.

The complaint sent by the JRC to HOME referred to an article by Saif from 22 August 2022 in Al-Ayyam newspaper which they claimed was evidence of antisemitism and Holocaust denial. Except, that wasn’t what he said.

Rather than deny the Holocaust, he said the exact opposite:

“Hitler’s crimes against humanity cannot be forgiven or tolerated. They may be unprecedented in history in terms of their ugliness… As Palestinians, this is a fact we have not denied and will never deny. We are a people who suffer injustice, massacres, killing and displacement. We cannot accept something similar that happened to others and say it is right.”

The JRC also referred to comments alleged to have been made by Saif in 2014 that “Israel surpassed Hitler’s massacres”. While many will believe comparisons with Hitler are often offensive and rarely illuminating, these words would clearly refer to the behaviour of the Israeli state and would not be a criticism of Jews – a crucial distinction which is clouded by the discredited IHRA “definition” of antisemitism. (See the lucid critique of this definition in Tony Lerman’s meticulously researched book, “Whatever happened to antisemitism? “, Pluto Press 2022). 

HOME claimed that it was a “politically neutral space”. The issue of neutrality is a topic for another discussion, but as many have pointed out, to remain neutral in the face of oppression is to take the side of the oppressor.

A local Jewish resident challenged HOME as follows:

“To treat the JRC as speaking for all Manchester Jews is to homogenise an already marginalised and minoritised group. As a longstanding Manchester resident who is Jewish, and who has supported HOME events regularly, I feel offended and alienated by the JRC claiming to speak for me in its position on current events in Israel/Palestine. Like many other Jews in Manchester, I share the view that there is indeed a genocide happening to Palestinians, perpetrated by the Israeli state, and that the atrocities of October 7th arose in the context of 75 years of occupation and oppression. The planned event would have been a balanced public acknowledgement of the resilience of Palestinians in face of their current hardships.”

HOME’s response to that has, so far, been more silence.

Saif’s publishers released a statement refuting the allegations and pointing out that he is an award-winning writer, who has previously spoken at Hay Festival, Shubbak Festival, Manchester Literature Festival, and other high-profile events. He has been supported by English PEN, and held events in Jewish-focussed bookshops. He has been the Minister of Culture for the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank since 2019, and his first-hand accounts of the current genocide have been published in multiple mainstream newspapers: New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, Le Monde, and so on.

His latest book was favourably reviewed by Helena Kennedy KC in “The Guardian” 2 weeks ago.

To be charitable, in the current climate it is possible for bodies whose funding is precarious to be easily panicked into rapid decision making for fear of adverse publicity. But there is no excuse for not keeping a calm head and demanding to see any concrete evidence and then to put that evidence to those who have been accused, so that the allegations can be assessed for their validity.

An obvious red flag in the JRC letter was its emphatic dismissal of the genocide against the Palestinians by Israel as “a lie.” Of course, the JRC is entitled to its view on this, but HOME should have been aware that the International Court of Justice, the highest court in the world, with respected jurists from across the globe had decided that the evidence showed that this was indeed a plausible case of genocide. Here was an indication that the JRC was far from an objective and disinterested party seeking to challenge prejudice by Saif or others, but rather, that its views might suggest uncritical support for Israel in disregard of international law.

As far as the JRC is concerned, it surely needs to focus on the real antisemitism out there at this moment which is a genuine and serious threat. By its misuse of claims of antisemitism to try to silence Palestinians, it is undermining its meaning and thereby increasing the danger to Jews.

In the meantime, the venue website still makes the claim it is creating “a HOME for people of all ages and backgrounds, including the communities on our doorstep”. For accuracy they should now add “except Palestinians and their supporters.”

Postscript. On 30th March, the Greater Manchester Friends of Palestine demonstration that has taken place every Saturday since 7th October, marched through city centre and assembled peacefully outside HOME to hear readings from Saif’s book of his experiences with his family in Gaza. It was a poignant moment and was accompanied by a declaration of solidarity with their staff and a powerful plea for HOME to reconsider and to reinstate the event.

JVL also contacted HOME for comment two days ago. We have not heard back.