I’m going to make this post and kick off this reading group to get it moving. If I try to plan it perfectly, it will never get done, so let’s just start and see how it goes, adjusting if needed.
The first book for this reading group will be Perfect Victims, by Mohammed El-Kurd. I’ve pasted the summary below.
Perfect Victims is an urgent affirmation of the Palestinian condition of resistance and refusal―an ode to the steadfastness of a nation.
Palestine is a microcosm of the world: on fire, stubborn, fragmented, dignified. While a settler colonial state continues to inflict devastating violence, fundamental truths are deliberately obscured—the perpetrators are coddled while the victims are blamed and placed on trial.
Why must Palestinians prove their humanity? And what are the implications of such an infuriatingly impossible task? With fearless prose and lyrical precision, Mohammed El-Kurd refuses a life spent in cross-examination. Rather than asking the oppressed to perform a perfect victimhood, El-Kurd asks friends and foes alike to look Palestinians in the eye, forgoing both deference and condemnation.
How we see Palestine reveals how we see each other; how we see everything else. Masterfully combining candid testimony, history, and reportage, Perfect Victims presents a powerfully simple demand: dignity for the Palestinian.
This book touches a lot on how Palestinians are constantly expected (especially by Europeans, who invented anti-semitism) to apologize for being Palestinians, and for being victimized by Jewish people.
We’ll start this week by reading and discussing the following article by the same author, which introduces some of his perspective on anti-zionism as a Palestinian.
https://mondoweiss.net/2023/09/jewish-settlers-stole-my-house-its-not-my-fault-theyre-jewish/
This article is just over 2000 words. Let’s discuss in the comments. I’ll keep this post up until next weekend, then we can move on to Perfect Victims. Please let me know in the comments if you think any changes are needed to this plan.
Great reply, thanks!
Yes, I agree. I think it’s tough in practice when the stakes can be quite high. It definitely depends on the situation. However, I think many “average” people are being worn out on the constant accusations of antisemitism towards people saying things that are as incredibly controversial as “all children deserve to live”.
While it’s certainly still a huge risk to be labeled an antisemite in many cases, I think refusing to play defense is the best defense more often than we expect, because (IMO) the zionist strategy of centering (fake) antisemitism partially depends on being able to keep the focus on it as long as possible, which is made harder when the target refuses to entertain the accusation and stays on message.
Of course, in many cases they have the zionist media empires to turn to where they can focus on whatever they like for as long as they like, but as I said, I think people in general are getting tired of that kind of thing.
Yeah I’ve been half-arsed job hunting and so have had to go on linkedin a lot over the last couple of years and I’ve seen so many professionals posting under their real names and photos promoting the plight of Gazans, it has been quite astonishing and encouraging. So yeah I suspect the old zionist tactics aren’t anywhere near as effective anymore.
This has been a really stimulating chat, thank you. :)