Report on IPSC Discussion Evening on Israeli leftwing and peace activists

dublin | rights, freedoms and repression | news report Friday October 16, 2009 13:36 by Freda H - IPSC (personal capacity) info at ipsc dot ie

Last night, 15th October 2009, the Dublin branch of Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign held it's first discussion evening of the season. The discussion, which took place in Connolly Books, was led by David Landy a long standing activist with the IPSC and lecturer in Trinity College Dublin and chaired by Diarmuid Breatnach, an activist with the IPSC in Dublin.

Greg, David and Dan

The talk concerned the role of the Israeli left and peace groups and the relationship of Solidarity Organisations to them. The bravery of those few Israelis who stand up to their government was recognised, while at the same time David Landy pointed out that “with the collapse of the ‘official’ peace movement, only the radical movement is left” and that “we are only, unfortunately talking about a few Israelis – a very small, Ashkenazi (European Jewish), middle class group of people that has no effect whatsoever on Israeli policy, and are considered far far-left by the general population”.

The talk also focused on the notion of the Israeli peace groups serving as “gatekeepers of resistance”. This was seen in the case of the recent Leonard Cohen concert in Israel, where some Israeli ‘reconciliation’ groups tried to scupper international and Palestinian attempts to get Leonard Cohen not to perform his concert in Israel.

In the discussion that followed David's presentation, Kevin Squires of the IPSC pointed out that when we talk abut linking up with Israeli peace activists, we tend to exclude the 1.2m Palestinian citizens of Israel, and we should seriously think about linking with their groups and parties such as Hadash, the only party that tries to be properly bi-communal. He also pointed to the severe repression faced by these groups – especially during the assault on Gaza[1] - and commented that this stood in stark contrast to the oft-repeated phrase that Israel is “the only democracy in the Middle East”.

Finally, David brought the discussion to a close by commenting that, “We should continue to work with Israelis of course, but we should constantly remind ourselves (and them) that this is centrally about Palestinians, not ourselves and our noble souls reaching out to the white and noble souls of the ‘good Israelis’.”

The IPSC would like to thank everyone who attended. The next discussion evening will be held in Connolly Books, Essex Street, Dublin 2 on Thursday 26th November 2009 and will be led by Anaheed Al-Hardan, a PhD candidate in Trinity College Dublin.

To find out more about the IPSC or to become a member see http://www.ipsc.ie, email info@ipsc.ie or call 01 6770253.

[1] See: http://www.adalah.org/eng/pressreleases/pr.php?file=09_...09_22