Despite relentless underhand efforts by Israeli operators in the UK and their close allies within the Jewish \u2018anti Zionist\u2019 network to block a panel event discussing\u00a0\u2018Jewishness,\u00a0Zionism and Israel\u2019, the debate went ahead as scheduled yesterday.<\/span><\/p>\n It was a tremendous success.\u00a0Speaking to a full hall, Alan Hart, Karl Sabbagh, Sameh Habeeb and myself elaborated on the\u00a0meaning of \u2018Jewishness\u2019 and the essence of Zionism.<\/span><\/p>\n But we also tried to understand once and for all; why is it that some of the Jews who claim to be the most sincere \u2018supporters of Palestine\u2019 \u2013 are always amongst the first to stifle debate on such crucial issues?<\/span><\/p>\n Six years ago, I was shocked to learn about the destructive impact of elements within the UK Jewish \u2018anti Zionist\u2019 network: at the time they were intent on burying \u00a0<\/span>\u2018Deir Yassin Remembered\u2019<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/a> <\/span>(DYR), probably the most significant Nakba memorial group in the history of the Palestinian Solidarity Movement.\u00a0 Unfortunately, they succeeded-by putting into action the most repulsive Zionist tactics, the Jewish \u2018anti Zionists\u2019 did eventually manage to bring down DYR.<\/span><\/p>\n But in doing so, they also inflicted some serious damage on themselves. They were exposed for what they are — a bunch of crypto Zionists. They smeared and\u00a0defamed other activists; they lied,\u00a0and they mounted pressure on Palestinian officials.\u00a0They exposed the ugliest possible form of Zionist politics. I did not like what I saw and published a satirical expose of their tactics which I titled <\/span>\u201cThe Protocols of the\u00a0Elders of London\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Needless to say that my criticism was not welcome amongst UK Jewish \u2018progressive\u2019 leaders.<\/span><\/p>\n Recently I went back and read my expose and what is immediately evident is that not one single person who is mentioned in the piece has managed to maintain any influence whatsoever within the solidarity movement.\u00a0 After the publication of \u201cThe Elders of London,\u201d the majority of the (so called )activists mentioned simply faded away into total obscurity and anonymity, and others joined \u2018Zionist-left\u2019 cells.<\/span><\/p>\n They all evaporated. Except for one Tony Greenstein. The \u2018anti Zionist\u2019 Greenstein has became my dedicated cyber-stalker, and \u2013 amusingly enough — seems to want to assume the role of my \u2018nemesis\u2019.\u00a0Day and night he continues to harass academics and many others who disseminate my work. It is worth mentioning that he carries out his harassment, often in the name of \u00a0Palestinian BDS\u00a0 movement,<\/span>[1]<\/span><\/a>\u00a0no less no more.<\/span><\/p>\n But Greenstein has at least achieved one thing — he has managed to alienate himself even from everyone in this this movement including his Jewish\u00a0 allies, who are also reluctant to publish any of his repetitive slander\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n One of yesterday\u2019s panelists told me that was hounded for three days by twelve different Jewish \u2018anti Zionists\u2019. \u00a0He also told me that all my detractors\u00a0repeated the same line : \u201cGilad is not good for Palestine\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n Yet consider that not one single Palestinian and not one single Gentile joined the Jewish campaign against me, once again we witness a crude manifestation of Jewish exceptionalism: some Jews in the \u2018anti Zionist\u2019 movement clearly feel they \u2018know better\u2019 what is good for the Palestinians.<\/span><\/p>\n But how is it that they \u2018know better\u2019?<\/span><\/p>\n Is it that they are slightly more clever than the rest of us? Or is that they are just chosen<\/em> \u2013 which sounds pretty Zionist to me.<\/span><\/p>\n However, some Jews within the UK Jewish anti Zionist network are becoming increasingly embarrassed by their comrade\u2019s dirty tactics: they went as far as leaking to me and others\u00a0 some internal correspondence within the \u2018Jewish activists\u2019 lists. For instance, I came across an email sent by\u00a0Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi, a Jewish ethnic leader who\u00a0 was obviously foolish enough to brag openly about using BRICUP (British Committee for the Universities of Palestine) to mount pressure on other Panelists and Palestinians who were scheduled to speak with me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I believe that from a solidarity perspective Wimborne-Idrissi\u2019s and Greenstein\u2019s actions border on betrayal: BRICUP and BDS are solidarity political instruments that were created to support Palestinians.\u00a0 And the last thing Palestinians need is Jewish activists exploiting these\u00a0unique instruments — solely in order to fight their own internal Jewish wars.<\/strong> If Wimborne-Idrissi and Greenstein insist that I am an anti Semite then they would be better off joining the ADL because clearly that is where they belong.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n But \u00a0Wimborne-Idrissi\u2019s and Greenstein\u2019s conduct should not take us by surprise. Max Blumenthal<\/span> <\/span><\/a><\/a><\/a>reported<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/a> <\/span><\/strong>recently that Jeremy Ben Ami (\u2018J Street\u2019s\u2019\u00a0leader) stated that the \u00a0\u201cdiscussion on BDS\u201d should stay \u201cwithin the Jewish community.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Keeping \u2018J Street\u2019s\u2019 model in mind then, Wimborne-Idrissi and \u00a0Greenstein probably do not see themselves as\u00a0traitors: they are simply \u2018loyal to the Jews\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n The tactics that were used this week by Wimborne-Idrissi, Greenstein and others\u00a0 are Rabbinical to the bone: exclusion and excommunication are inherent to Jewish Rabbinical thinking. <\/span>Spinoza<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Uriel Da Costa<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/a> <\/span>famously brought on themselves these measures, simply for being dissident voices.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n However, with me, these tactics\u00a0have failed completely: frustratingly enough for my detractors, I am neither an activist, nor a campaigner, and I am certainly not a politician. In fact, I am not a member of any club at all. I am an independent truth seeker.\u00a0 I am not afraid of being alone. In fact I prefer to be on my own and say what has to be said without inflicting damage on anyone.<\/span><\/p>\n Clearly this is a unique state of mind that our \u2018kosher Trotskyites\u2019\u00a0cannot handle. The more pressure they mount on me \u2013 the more they prove my argument. The more they attempt to harass me \u2013 the more they prove my clear theories regarding their own duplicity and affliation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n They are in a limbo.\u00a0They are in a no-win situation.<\/span><\/p>\n Years ago, I might have been slightly concerned by people like Wimborne-Idrissi and Greenstein. But nowadays, I realise that these people have no power or influence whatsoever within the solidarity movement, because it is patently clear to everyone that they are solely concerned\u00a0with internal tribal matters. And the reality is, by acting as a constant noise on the periphery of our discourse, they provide the rest of us with an invaluable\u00a0glimpse into the Zionist mind.<\/span><\/p>\n I am obviously not the first person to be subject to Jewish \u2018anti Zionist\u2019s\u2019 slander. By now all truth seekers in our movement are more than familiar with their strategies and are tired of, and wary of their tactics. Sameh Habeeb, the founder of Palestine Telegraph<\/em> told us yesterday that he is used to being approached by \u2018kosher\u00a0 anti Zionists\u2019 who\u00a0 preach to him who about who he should print and who is to be shunned and excluded.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Despite these endless, relentless Jewish campaigns against me, I have not \u2018just survived it all\u2019, but instead, I have managed to\u00a0win, time after time.<\/span><\/p>\n I believe the reason for that is simple: there may be nothing particularly \u2018clever\u2019 or \u2018sophisticated\u2019 about me.\u00a0I guess that I am not that original either.\u00a0 Yet, I am saying loudly what so many of us feel so strongly in our bellies: The reality is that Israel defines itself as \u2018the Jewish State\u2019. The reality is that Israel drops bombs from planes emblazoned with Jewish symbols. Therefore, surely the first question to be asked, is what \u2018Jewishness\u2019 means. And clearly,\u00a0amongst the first people to oppose such a discussion, are the Jewish \u2018anti Zionists\u2019 themselves. Hence we should also investigate\u00a0 what their \u2018Jewishness\u2019 stand for. And we are certainly entitled to locate them within the Zionist spectrum.<\/span><\/p>\n It is evident that the tide has changed : these issues are now being explored\u00a0by more and more people, and also, by more and more liberal Jews. I am in the USA at the moment, touring fundraising for different Palestinian causes. \u00a0I am \u00a0meeting many people, and I am delighted\u00a0to say that I am scheduled to meet with some prominent Jewish progressive leaders and\u00a0a Rabbi. Some of these people are now interested to rethink the meaning of Jewish identity in the light of the criticism I have been offering for a decade.<\/span><\/p>\n Needless to say that in our talk yesterday in London, there were also Jews and Israelis present. They came to listen, learn, and\u00a0think out of the box rather than to preach, harass, intimidate or protest.<\/span><\/p>\n Peace may prevail after all.<\/span><\/p>\nKosher-leaks<\/span><\/h4>\n