reading time ~ 9 mins

These are notes taken from the lecture given by Professor Avi Shlaim on the evil of Zionism. These are not my personal opinions

1. Background
2. Israel caused unrest in Middle East
3. British involvement & wrongful support of Zionism
4. Truth about 1948 Events
5. Gaza Today (in 2024) is nothing but ethnic cleansing
6. Israeli Government openly shows intent of Genocide
7. Arab Peace talks

Background

1. Avi Shlaim is an Iraqi Jew who was born in Baghdad in 1945. His family were forced to migrate to Israel (mostly by actions of Israel) in 1950 where he grew up. He later moved to United Kingdom
2. Jews lived peacefully in Muslim/Arab lands (Palestine, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, etc until early 1900s)
3. Avi’s own family was wealthy and settled in Iraq for centuries. They did not want to leave

Israel caused unrest in Middle East

4. His family had to move in 1950s because of arrival of Zionism in the Middle East
5. The Zionists created a lot of hatred towards themselves and Jews by committing mass atrocities in Palestine (especially after Nakba in 1948). After this, the Jews started to become disliked by the neighbouring countries
6. Israel also had Mossad agents (e.g. Meir Max Bineth) who were recruiting undercover Zionists in Arab lands (e.g. Iraq, Egypt, etc) and they bombed synagogues in those lands. These acts of terror (perpetrated by Israel) forced the Jews of surrounding countries to move to Israel
7. The Balfour declaration in 1917 was not just about Arthur Balfour. The UK PM David Loyd George was also antisemitic and a Zionist. He thought that Jews have influence on how world affairs are controlled, and thought giving them a land in Palestine would give the UK strategic influence in the region. Believing that Jews are uniquely influential people, with covert power to control the fate of the world is one of the basis for antisemitism which is common in Europe even today

British involvement & wrongful support of Zionism

8. In 1917 Jews were only 11% of Population owning 2% of land in Palestine, and yet the UK signed the Balfour declaration. It was a contradiction to their other two promises (Hussein-McMahon and Sykes-Picot). It was also a strategic blunder because they alienated the Arabs and Muslims of the world
9. The only Jewish parliament member at the time was Edwin Montagu who wrote a letter opposing Zionism. He stated that Judaism is not a national cause, and not specific to one country. If a Jewish state is formed, it will make Jews in the rest of the world more insecure. If Jews are told Israel is their home, every other country will desire to expel their Jewish citizens. This is not a good idea for Jews
10. Avi Shlaim’s wife (Gwyneth Daniel) is the granddaughter of David Loyd George. She is embarrassed of his involvement in Balfour declaration and she is a pro palestinian activist

Truth about 1948 Events

11. There are three new historians on events of 1948 who give factual accounts of the events. Ilan Pappe, Benny Morris and Avi Shlaim who published books in 1988 about the events of 1948
    1. Ilan Pappe showed in his book Britain and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1948-51 that Britain actively prevented the birth of the Palestinian state
       1. The term Ethnic Cleansing did not exist back in 1988. But Ilan Pappe rightly called what happened in 1948 as Ethnic Cleansing in his book later on
    2. Benny Morris in his book The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947-1949 the main reason of the Naqba and displacement of Palestinians was Jewish economic, military, psychological and political pressure
    3. Avi Shlaim in his book Collusion across the Jordan: King Abdullah, the Zionist Movement, and the Partition of Palestine proved that Jewish Agency and King Abdullah agreed to divide Palestine amongst themselves at the expense of Palestinian people. This was the outcome of 1948 war, Jordan took over West Bank and Israeils took over extra lands

Gaza Today (in 2024) is nothing but ethnic cleansing

12. What’s happening in Gaza today (after 7.oct) is clearly ethnic cleansing and almost becoming genocide 
13. Israel (Netanyahu) claims that we are fighting a second war of independence. Which is nonsense. There is no existential threat to Israel. Basically they are hinting at a second Nakba
14. A document from ministry of intelligence rom Israel from 13 Oct illustrates a plan to depopulate Palestinians from Gaza and push them into Sinai

Israeli Government openly shows intent of Genocide

15. Genocidal rhetoric from top to bottom leaders in Israel is common and unprecedented 
16. President Herzog says there are no innocent in Gaza (⅔ of death toll are women and children)
17. The 7th Oct attack by Hamas was vicious and traumatic for Israel. It involved killing of ~1,200 people (incl civilians) and taking of hostages
18. 7 Oct did not happen in a vacuum. The context is very important. It’s 56 years of illegal Israeli occupation. The most prolong military brutal occupation of modern times
19. Another important context was Netanyahu’s open admittance that Israel can do whatever they want to Palestinians. He keeps expanding illegal settlements. He keeps arresting innocent Palestinians. The PLO have become subcontractors for the Israeli military with no resistance. Hamas is the only force fighting for the rights of Palestinians 
20. Politicians like Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich are openly Jewish supremacist and racist people. They make no effort to hide this. They have openly stated ethnic cleansing desires  
21. There is a wrong perception that Netenyahu is a moderator of right wing politicians in his party. He is not a moderate. He is an extreme Jewish nationalist who hates Arabs and would like to get rid of them. His life mission is to defeat Palestinian nationalism. He has declared repeatedly that there will be no Palestinian state on his watch 
22. Current government of Israel is the most ultra right wing, openly racist and homophobic government in Israel’s history. They define law and implement it. They are full of settlers and controlled by the settler lobby 
23. Netenyahu has three serious files of corruption against him. As long as he is prime minister he is not tried but the moment the conflict stop, the countdown to his removal begins 

Arab Peace talks

24. Some Arab countries have also betrayed the Palestinians. In March 2002 Arabs had a summit in Beirut which adopted an Arab peace initiative. It offers Israel peace and normalisation with 22 members of the Arab league in return for the end of occupation and Palestinian state in West Bank and Gaza with capital in East Jerusalem
25. Israel ignored this peace initiative and continues to ignore this today 
26. Abraham accords were signed in 2020 by UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan. This was a betrayal because they exchanged peace for peace instead of land for Palestinians exchanged for peace from Arabs
27. Saudi Arabia was about to normalise before 7 Oct