Erasing Palestine: Free Speech and Palestinian Freedom

by Rebecca Ruth Gould

How the redefinition of antisemitism has functioned as a tactic to undermine Palestine solidarity

The widespread adoption of the IHRA definition of anti-semitism and the internalisation of its norms has set in motion a simplistic definitional logic for dealing with social problems that has impoverished discussions of racism and prejudice more generally, across Britain and beyond. It has encouraged a focus on words over substance.

Erasing Palestine tells the story of how this has happened, with a focus on internal politics within Britain over the course of the past several years. In order to do so, it tells a much longer story, about the history of antisemitism since the beginning of the twentieth century. This is also a story about Palestine, a chronicle of the erasure of the violence against the Palestinian people, and a story about free speech, and why it matters to Palestinian freedom.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, History

176 pages, Paperback

Published July 18, 2023

About the author

The best way to stay in touch with my work is to subscribe to my newsletter: https://rgould.substack.com.

I am the author of Erasing Palestine: Free Speech and Palestinian Freedom (2023), The Persian Prison Poem (2021) and Writers and Rebels: The Literature of Insurgency in the Caucasus (2016). With Malaka Mohammad Shwaikh, I wrote Prison Hunger Strikes in Palestine (2023). My next book is Sex and the State: The Origins of Gender Inequality (forthcoming with Redwood Press, the trade imprint of Stanford University Press).

I translate from Persian, Georgian, and Russian. My most recent translation with Kayvan Tahmasebian, House Arrest: Poems of Hasan Alizadeh (Arc Publications, 2022), was awarded a PEN Translates Award from English PEN. I have a particular passion for translating poetry, much of which I have done with Iranian poet Kayvan Tahmasebian.

I grew up mostly in the US, and have lived and worked in Berlin, Tbilisi, Singapore, Palestine, and Budapest.

She is the editor, author, and publisher of The Textual Materialist (https://rgould.substack.com/).

I review books (esp. poetry) on my YouTube channel, Poetry & Protest (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGbz...) and keep a log of the books I read on my website (https://rrgould.hcommons.org/what-im-...).

I can be found on Medium & Twitter under the username @rrgould. You can sign up to my newsletter for updates https://rgould.substack.com/.

Reviews

[Randall Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mainstream Media is famous for asking binary questions like do you support Hamas? If you answer that binary question about Hamas with yes, no elaboration is allowed, and you can only be a terrorist sympathizer. If you say no, you’ve still been put on notice – don’t step out of line in the future. Binary questions intentionally keeps you from giving a longer response - like saying “the real question is do I support a 75 illegal occupation?” or “Does US unconditional support for Israel’s occupation, during even a genocide, make America safer?”). With binary questions, you can only answer X or Y and not XY where you might have sympathy for both sides or show a more complicated answer than the Frank Luntz approved binary tango.

Anti-Semitism is animosity towards Jews, Anti-Zionism is opposition to fanatical Zionist nationalism built on purity of race – Note that in WWII, the US fought in opposition to fanatical nationalism built on purity of race. Now who gets their inspiration to control others from their former oppressor? Did someone in a death camp say, “If I ever get out of here, I can’t wait to do to peaceful strangers what was done to me. I’ll show innocent strangers what REAL fanatical nationalism based on purity of race looks like, Yeah, that’s the ticket!”

Newspaper editors know that “headlines sometimes matter more than substance.” William Randolph Hearst [the yellow press] made a living doing exactly that – writing provocative headlines. Great sentence: “Conflict must refuse imposed silence.” “Our assent to censorship strengthens the state that keeps those barriers in place.”

One Zionist schtick is to intentionally mislabel Palestinians as Arabs – Golda Meir and many others did/do so because they want you to think Israel was empty when Zionists arrive – the terra nullius myth. And the Mainstream Media fantasy [with Bill Maher as High-Priest of Islam hating] only discusses extremist Muslims, while comically never discussing extremist Zionists, or even extremist Christians. Who knew the Spanish Inquisition never happened, and Nakba, Lehi, and Irgun never happened/existed? To further erase Palestinians, there are endless checkpoints, the Wall, and severely restricted movement that keeps them away from most Israelis who aren’t IDF or settlers; out of sight is out of mind – there is no such thing as Palestinians if you I have been dutifully and repeatedly told that.

Checkpoints: “Checkpoints are among the most effective instruments of occupation.” Flying checkpoints are moveable checkpoints that can be set up any time to better enable Israel to harass and confuse the occupied. Make them feel powerless and hopeless. “From January 2017 to June 2018, Israeli forces set up 4,924 flying check points.” “Terminal checkpoints are built for display, partly to intimidate, but also to normalize the occupation and expand the mechanisms of surveillance.” It’s all about the symbols of “absolute power of the occupier over the occupied”. If a Palestinian wants to buy a refrigerator, he must go to Jerusalem because fridges aren’t for sale in Palestine. “In the rest of the world, civilization developed around water; here in the West Bank, it grows around checkpoints.”

Why Must Only the Palestinians Pay for the Crimes of Hitler? Why didn’t Zionists get free land instead in Germany (the aggressor) after WWII? As Isaac Deutscher wrote, “The Arabs were made to pay the price for the crimes the West committed towards the Jews. They are still made to pay it, for the guilty conscience of the West is, of course, pro-Israeli and anti-Arab.” I was hurt by six white guys so let me hurt six brown guys who NEVER hurt me – that’s Zionist logic and ethics. Deutscher wrote in 1967, that one day Israel choosing expansion over security will one day be seen by Israel as a disaster. After the ’67 war, Deutscher said Israelis became “agents of the late, over-ripe, imperialist capitalism.”

The Balfour Declaration of 1917 also included this sentence which most teachers won’t mention: “nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine.” Today’s Zionists pretend it was never called Palestine and there are no Palestinians, but that simple sentence shows you otherwise. Edwin Montagu British Secretary of State for India wrote after reading the Balfour Declaration that when Jews have a national home in Palestine, “Palestine will become the world’s Ghetto.” Boy, did he ever call it accurately over 100 years ago! Don’t forget that many Brits wanted to send the displaced Jews to Palestine because they were anti-Semitic, not out of generosity, but by wanting them NOT to come to England. As the head of the Anglo-Jewish Committee wrote in 1916, “All anti-Semites are enthusiastic Zionists.” Abram Leon, Isaac Deutscher, and Hannah Arendt all started as committed Zionists, and ended up big critics.

Abram Leon “begins by noting how Hitler created a homogenous enemy from a multitude of non-Germanic peoples in order to mobilize against it. Without this illusion of homogeneity, demagogues like Hitler understood that ‘the masses will start thinking too much about the differences which exist among those enemies.’ Their hatred would dissipate, making political action against so-called enemies more difficult.” Anti-Semitism was used to make the Holocaust possible, and now anti-Semitism is used to deflect ALL criticism of Israel’s settler-colonial policies towards a clearly occupied people.

The David Miller Censorship Case in England in 2021: He gets fired for saying something critical of Israel outside of his university and during a non-work online meeting. He was also fired without any ability to appeal that decision to fire him. In fact, a senior trial lawyer for the Queen’s Counsel determined that his comments “did not constitute unlawful speech” and he was still fired. Cancel culture in action.

This was a good book, I’m glad I read it because I did learn some stuff about Israel/Palestine that I did not know before.

[وسام عبده]

"Erasing Palestine: Free Speech and Palestinian Freedom" by Rebecca Ruth Gould is a thought-provoking and meticulously researched exploration of the intersection between free speech and the ongoing struggle for Palestinian freedom. In this book, Gould delves into the complex dynamics surrounding the discourse on Palestine, shedding light on how narratives are constructed, contested, and often erased in the process.

The book begins with a critical examination of the limitations imposed on free speech when it comes to discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Gould argues that the suppression of certain voices, particularly those sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, is indicative of a broader issue concerning the silencing of dissenting perspectives in the global arena. By framing the discussion within the context of free speech, Gould highlights the challenges faced by individuals and groups who seek to challenge the dominant narrative surrounding the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

One of the strengths of Gould's work is her ability to navigate the complex web of historical, political, and cultural factors that contribute to the erasure of Palestinian voices. She skillfully dissects the power dynamics at play, revealing how certain narratives are privileged while others are marginalized. The author emphasizes the importance of acknowledging the diverse range of perspectives within the Palestinian community and critiques the tendency to homogenize their experiences.

Gould also delves into the role of academia in shaping and perpetuating particular narratives surrounding the Israel-Palestine conflict. Drawing on examples from various academic institutions, she demonstrates how dissenting voices are often suppressed or marginalized within the academic community. The author raises important questions about academic freedom and the responsibilities of scholars in engaging with contentious political issues. This section of the book serves as a valuable contribution to the broader conversation about the role of universities in fostering open and inclusive dialogue.

Moreover, Gould's exploration of the impact of erasure on the Palestinian diaspora adds another layer of complexity to the narrative. She highlights the challenges faced by Palestinians living in the diaspora who seek to assert their identity and tell their stories. The author argues that erasure not only affects the representation of Palestinians within their homeland but also shapes the perceptions of the diaspora community, impacting their sense of belonging and agency.

Throughout the book, Gould skillfully weaves together theoretical insights with real-life examples, creating a compelling narrative that engages both scholars and the general reader. The prose is accessible, making the book an inviting read for those new to the complexities of the Israel-Palestine conflict, while still offering a nuanced analysis that will be appreciated by experts in the field.

One of the notable aspects of "Erasing Palestine" is its commitment to amplifying diverse voices and perspectives. Gould makes a conscious effort to include the voices of Palestinian scholars, activists, and artists, allowing readers to gain a multifaceted understanding of the issues at hand. This inclusive approach aligns with the book's overarching message of challenging erasure and promoting a more inclusive and equitable discourse.

While the book is primarily focused on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Gould also draws connections to broader issues related to free speech, censorship, and power dynamics in the global arena. This expansive approach adds depth to the book, encouraging readers to reflect on the broader implications of erasure and suppression of voices in various contexts.

In conclusion, "Erasing Palestine: Free Speech and Palestinian Freedom" by Rebecca Ruth Gould is a timely and important contribution to the discourse on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Through a meticulous examination of free speech, erasure, and the dynamics of power, Gould offers readers a nuanced understanding of the challenges faced by those seeking to assert Palestinian voices. The book serves as a call to action, urging readers to critically engage with the narratives that shape our understanding of complex geopolitical conflicts and to advocate for a more inclusive and just discourse. It is a must-read for anyone interested in the intersection of free speech, academic freedom, and the quest for Palestinian freedom.

إذا كنت تبحث عن إجابة لسؤال (لماذا ينحاز الغرب إلى إسرائيل؟) فإن عليك أن تقرأ هذا الكتاب الجريء (محو فلسطين: حرية التعبير وحرية فلسطين)، وعنوانه الإنجليزي (Erasing Palestine: Free Speech & Free Palestine)، والذي عملت مؤلفته ربيكا روت جولد بجد على جمع وتفسير مادته، باحثة عن إجابه لهذا السؤال، ولينتهي بها البحث إلى أن هناك عملية قمع فكري ممنهج يتعرض له أي صوت مستقل في الغرب بصورة عامة، وخاصة إذا كان هذا الرأي المستقل يتبنى رواية أخرى حول المسألة الفلسطينية، غير الرواية التي تتبناها إسرائيل، وهذا القمع الفكري يدخل ضد عملية ممنهجة ومستمرة من غسيل مخ الجماهير الغربية. وبرغم أن موضوع مثل هذا قد يغري من يتناوله بالوقوع في فخ تفسيرات نظرية المؤامرة السهلة والتي تعجب الجماهير، إلا أن المؤلفة حافظت على موضوعيتها ومنهجيتها طول كتابها، وهو ما يجعل نتائج دراستها جديرة بالاعتبار.
يبدأ الكتاب بدراسة نقدية لتلك القيود على حرية التعبير التي تظهر عند تناول مسألة الصراع الإسرائيلي الفلسطيني، حيث تستعرض المؤلفة حالات متعددة جرى فيها قمع الرأي الذي يخالف الرواية السائدة، خاصة إذا كان هذا الرأي يظهر تضامنًا مع الحق الفلسطيني، وهو ما يؤدي بمن يريد مناقشة هذه المسألة نقاشًا موضوعيًا إلى مواجهة عدد كبير من العراقيل والتحديات تعيق وصوله رأيه إلى الجماهير. أهم أوجه القوة في طرح المؤلفة، هي تتبعها لما يمكن أن نسميه بآليات ثقافية غير واعية في العقل الغربي، تتشعب جذورها ما بين تاريخي واجتماعي وسياسي، تلك الآليات هي المسئولة عن تتبع الأصوات المؤيدة لفلسطين وقمعها أو محوها، ومن خلال تتبعها لهذه الآليات، نكتشف كيف يمكن أن تحظى سردية معينة بقبول غير مشروط، وتقمع سردية أخرى.
تنتقل المؤلفة إلى رصد وتحليل ظاهرة قمع الرأي المستقل فيما يتعلق بمسألة الصراع الإسرائيلي الفلسطيني داخل أروقة المؤسسات الأكاديمية الغربية، مستعينة بالعديد من الأمثلة لحالات تعرضت لأشكال مختلفة من الاضطهاد بسبب رأيها، اضطهاد يبدأ من النقد غير الموضوعي، وينتهي بمواجهة الاتهام بالتهمة المعلبة، معاداة السامية، ومن بين هذين الحدين، أشكال الاضطهاد المختلفة، مثل الحصار الأكاديمي، والفصل من الوظيفة، وأحيانًا تلفيق تهم لصاحب الرأي المستقل، وتطرح المؤلفة بنهاية هذا الفصل تساؤل حول كيف يمكن للمؤسسات الأكاديمية أن تسهم في تعزيز الحوار المجتمعي المفتوح والموضوعي والشامل، في ظل هذا التهديد الفاشي بقمع أي رأي آخر.
[جملة اعتراضية: يشهد على ما تعرضه المؤلفة ما يحدث هذه الأيام، فمنذ يومين، قامت نائبة أمريكية باستجواب رئيسة جامعة هارفارد في لجنة تسمى لجنة مكافحة معاداة السامية داخل الجامعات الأمريكية، لأنها لم تمنع مظاهرات طلبة هارفارد الداعمة للحق الفلسطيني، وهو أمر يخرج عن سلطة رئيسة الجامعة بالمناسبة، ولأن رئيسة الجامعة لم تخالف أي قانون، ولا حتى خالفت الأعراف الأكاديمية، وقفت النائبة وقد تقمصها روح سيئ الذكر جدها الأول مكارثي تتهم رئيسة الجامعة بأنه حتى ولو كانت المظاهرات قانونية ولم تمنعها رئيسة الجامعة، فإن هذا يعني أنها معادية للسامية وعليها أن تستقيل]
أخطر ما تتناوله المؤلفة، هو تأثير القمع الفكري على السردية الفلسطينية بين فلسطيني الشتات، ومحاولة هؤلاء الجمع بين الحفاظ على هويتهم الخاصة والاندماج في المجتمعات التي يحيون فيها في المهجر، وتخلص إلى أن هذا القمع الممنهج يؤثر سلبًا على إحساسهم بالانتماء لهذه المجتمعات الجديدة التي انتقلوا فيها، وهو يؤدي إلى خسارة بعيدة المدى لهذه المجتمعات، تتمثل في فقد هذا المجتمع لفاعلية قطاع من مواطنيه سوف ينكفئ على نفسه وينعزل عن المجتمع.
تميز هذا الكتاب بأن مؤلفته نجحت ببراعة في الجمع بين الأسلوب المنهجي الأكاديمي القائمة على تحديد المشكلة ثم جمع ما يتعلق بها من بيانات وتحليلها بغية الوصول لنموذج تفسيري، وما يتميز به هذا الأسلوب من صرامة وبرود أحيانًا، وبين شهادات حية صادرة عن أشخاص متنوعي الخلفيات الثقافية منحت نص الكتاب كثير من الحيوية، وهذه الشاهدات وإن كانت أكثرها صادرة عن علماء وأدباء وفنانين وناشطين فلسطينيين، إلا أن شاهدات غير الفلسطينيين على القمع الفكري الممنهج الذي يتعرضون له بسبب دعمهم لأصحاب الحق، تؤكد أن المعني بالقمع هو المسألة نفسها، وهي في مسعاها هذا تحث قراءها على عدم تبني رواية أو سردية معينة، دون التحقق منها تحققًا كافيًا، بل تكاد تدعو قارئها إلي الكفر بالسلطات الإعلامية والثقافية الرسمية وشبه الرسمية، لأنها سلطة فاشية مستبدة، وتناولها المنحاز للمسألة الفلسطينية هو نموذج فج لتناولها لكثير من المسائل تنحاز فيها ضد مصالح الجمهور وضد القيم الأخلاقية.
الكتاب صدر يوليو هذا العام 2023، في نحو مائة وثمانين صفحة، عن دار نشر Verso، ومؤلفته ريبيكا روت جولد أستاذة في مدرسة الدراسات الشرقية والأفريقية في جامعة لندن، ومختصة بالنقد المقارن، لها عدد من المؤلفات إلى جانب الكتاب المذكور، مثل كتابها المعنون (كتاب وثوار Writers & Rebals).

[Rama · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Academic freedom can only be meaningful in a society that protects the free speech of all its citizens. When it is used only to shore up professional privilege and stifle the voices of those who are silenced by abuses of power, academic freedom loses its value in society at large.”

4/5- On a chapter-by-chapter basis, this work holds up. It boasts strong general themes about combating broad accusations that are meant to silence Palestinian voices, discusses the IHRA’s definition of antisemitism and its subsequent weaponization used to further the Zionist project in the US and the UK, and has a great foundational backbone in Marxism and relevant schools of thought. I was particularly impressed by the author’s account of her time in Palestine on a trip where she was meant to study Israel as a tourist. Her notes on the checkpoints, which she ties into a broader theme regarding theft, are insightful, and she comments:

“While the theft of Palestinian land has been widely documented, the theft of Palestinians' time by the checkpoint regime has been less thoroughly addressed. Time is more difficult to partition than space; but its removal is no less consequential, and
the ability to control one's time is just as essential to human dignity”

This is then looped into the overall motif of theft, relating loss of land and loss of time to the loss of the ability to speak freely:

“ Like checkpoints on the ground, separating families and destroy lives with layers of obstruction, checkpoints on free expression require our resistance and vigilance.”

This provides a clear picture of how the polarized view of the Israeli-Palestine conflict has been the driving force behind mass censorship, a thinly veiled attempt to satisfy those who benefit from the oppression of the Palestinians. What I appreciated most, however, is the reminder that antisemitism does exist, unfortunately, and we must work to move past it and disable it on an institutional basis- this proposition takes the issue at its root and persuades the audience to look at it from a more critical lens.

The same way that calling against any other phobia or intolerance is not the only step we should be taking (or else it would be performative), our demands against antisemitism should span into changing the political and sociological conditions that allow racism to flourish. As a Jewish-Israeli author, her points struck me as distinctively and strongly balanced, as she rages against Palestinian oppression while still maintaining a sense of identity and advocacy for the Jewish cause. At a time where the religious and the political are taken as one and the same, I appreciated the new perspective that seems to compromise the best of both using a humanitarian backdrop.

The book loses points only for its lack of cohesive structure, and could have been condensed for clarity. However, while it was written prior to the current crisis, it’s words ring even truer today than they did at the time of publishing. A final note that I’d like to end with, quoted from the author:

“If you have the misfortune to be targeted for expressing your convictions, I hope this book will remind you that you are not alone in being singled out and persecuted. May the histories chronicled in these pages give you the resources to connect your
struggles with those of the activists and writers who preceded us. often under circumstances even more challenging than those we face today. May the conjuncture of past and present create new
paths for Palestinian liberation. And may we learn to use the lessons of free speech struggles in times past to advance the liberation of all oppressed peoples.”

[Anne Arocho · Rating 4 out of 5]

Erasing Palestine is really a beautiful collection of essays. My only real criticism of the book is that it can be very redundant although I'm comforted by the knowledge that if I don't fully understand a point that Gould is making the first time than I can rest assured she will rephrase it at some point lol. I found most fascinating the chapter on Abram Leon and his materialist critique of anti-Semitism. I definitely feel that the chapters that focus on history were far more interesting than those that discussed the IHRA and the AJC and the HIJKLMNOP. I really had to push through that part because it was extremely dry but it did feel like important context to the rest of the book. Overall the book is thought provoking and very informative. If you're looking for a book that discusses the importance of free speech in the collective fight for Palestinian liberation and against anti-semitism from a predominantly Western academic lens, then give it a shot. Free Palestine 🇵🇸

[The New Arab]

The violent intersection of politics and language has forced Palestinian free speech into a corner. Rebecca Ruth Gould's 'Erasing Palestine' chronicles this erasure of Palestinian narratives from Israeli occupation to IHRA antisemitism.
Read our review here: https://www.newarab.com/features/how-...

[Brittany]

disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial

*purchased ebook via @versobooks

I work in academia and we often encounter the “free speech” debate, when it comes to faculty social media behavior, guest speakers’ political beliefs, and more. You could call it our cyclical academia discourse. It’s indeed a hot topic!

It’s obviously being brought up again as we navigate having a strong Jewish presence on our main campus especially (in Pennsylvania; I work at a smaller graduate-level campus in California) & these have been tough waters to wade in for everyone. It’s funny because I have to clarify that all views represented on this page are not representative of my university & that they are simply my *own* & that is a topic that Gould brings up in this book.

Rebecca lived in Palestine for a bit & witnessed the apartheid, only strengthening her support for Palestinian freedom. However, this book is not only about that. It’s about how so many folks in academia especially have lost their jobs due to questioning the Israeli government and army. It’s about academic freedom, which relates to freedom of speech, and how it doesn’t mean shit if the oppressed have zero semblance of freedom of *anything* at all. Palestinians’ freedom of speech comes with major risks; their freedom of speech is not protected or encouraged.

Some parts of this book can read as an academic journal that you’d find on the JSTOR archive, so maybe it’s not as readable/accessible/of interest to everybody, but if you’re a fellow academic or just someone who is interested in a book about academic freedom, and how silencing folks operates as a way of ultimately silencing Palestinians, please read this.

And please don’t stop talking about 🍉

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars but Goodreads is still dumb and doesn’t do half-stars. A very important book with a clear and concise thesis statement. Timely as well with the current US govt. making attempts to conflate criticisms of Israel with anti-semitism. Rebecca Ruth Gould’s short work is well researched and moves between weaving her personal experience of being accused of anti-semitism (despite being Jewish) and with well researched examples of Jewish thinkers who were critical of Zionism such as Leon Trotsky and Abram Leon. The final chapter on free speech kinda lost me a bit since Gould’s argument is that leftists who demand free speech must be comfortable with allowing or tolerating the free speech of those who hold abhorrent perspectives. The paradox of tolerance comes to mind here and it reminded me of Foucault’s reasoning behind signing the lowering of the age of consent in France. Where Foucault argued that having such laws would give way to a slippery slope of the state creating other mandates and regulations against people’s bodies, I feel like Gould’s is similar where she argues that abhorrent speech and action greatly differs and if the state bans a certain speech because it is deemed racist or anti-Semitic, it’ll become a slippery slope into banning other speech it doesn’t want as well (for example, banning criticism on the military budget and campaigns). But I digress, I still think this is an important book to help understand the history of the current definition of anti-semitism and modern anti-semitism in general has been co-opted into a realpolitik employed by Israel to prevent criticisms of their cruel treatment of Palestinians.

[Nakedfartbarfer · Rating 5 out of 5]

(tl;dr) A good, thoroughly cited book. Delves into the broad impacts Gaza has beyond its (encroached) borders. The rest of this lengthy review is just me solidifying a few of the things this book confirmed for me or held my hand and painstakingly walked me through.

The author, Rebecca Ruth Gould, after receiving censorious threats to her livelihood upon her return from living in Gaza and writing truthfully about her experiences there, advocates for a principled left-wing commitment to free speech. This commitment has fallen by the wayside in leftist platforms, given that the issue of free speech in the West is currently co-opted by the most disingenuous people imaginable who leverage this freedom, not to annoy entrenched power structures, but to reify the usual humdrum prejudices. Most people (right-wing free speech “champions” included) don’t tend to argue against personal or professional repercussions for speech they strongly disagree with. The author points out how any legislated infringement on human rights is often passed in response to right-wing abuses and inevitably ends up being misused against the left (see: nearly every anti-protest law in the history of ever) and it behooves everyone to support freedom of expression.

The longest chapter includes a discussion of the current state of free speech on campus, a situation often dismally bemoaned as being fraught for right-wingers. This narrative is pretty much exactly backward from the actuality, which is a point also made by Nathan J. Robinson in “Responding to the Right”, where he offers a ton of other examples. Take Milo Yiannopolous or Ben Shapiro having to re-schedule a speech or two while touring the college circuit and being able to score cheap culture war grievance points with their followers and improving their brand when some college kids get a show canceled. Compare this with Steven Salaita being de-hired by the University of Illinois after making a series of pro-Gaza tweets and being unable, for two years, to find another academic job anywhere in the country, getting de-hired again from a college in Beirut and eventually becoming a bus driver.

Antisemitism is a very real offense, and can certainly overlap with anti-Zionism, but each charge is simplified and trivialized when equated one-for-one. The ahistorical conjoining of anti-Zionism with antisemitism is obvious rhetorical sleight of hand calculated to suppress free speech, rather than to abate antisemitism: the BDS movement is not an indictment of Judaism but of the brutal expansionist aims of imperialist actors along with the disenfranchisement of a non-Jewish constituency.

A good chunk of the book is devoted to the materialist (e.g. contextualized sociopolitically & historically) approach to the history of Zionism & antisemitism in the book “The Jewish Question”, written by a Jewish Trotskyite named Leon Abram, who was murdered in the gas chambers in 1944, prior to the founding of the modern state of Israel. Though Leon Abram is more concerned with the connection between capitalism and antisemitism, he issues a few addenda to Marxian superstructures and talks about the non-European and far-flung pre-Christian history of antisemitism (beyond the stereotype of merchant classes & money-lenders) as beating a long, terminal path toward Zionism. Pointing out how the search for a Jewish homeland was so heavily assisted by British imperialists who often harbored outsized fears about a Jewish influence on international politics, Leon Abram saw the object of the Aliyah campaign to reunite the diaspora in a homeland segregated from the rest of the world (as publicly endorsed by the British government in the Balfour Declaration) to be not only a “false rapprochement toward the Jewry” from the United Kingdom, but as the creation of another Western colony.

[Chris Caps · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very readable, thought-provoking and accessible on a really interesting topic that is especially important right now. It reviews questions around Palestinian rights, Antisemitism and Censorship with the complexity that such topics desperately need and so often do not receive. The book is just a touch too brief and with a touch more depth - especially on the issues of tackling censorship and the need for intersectionality as ways of understanding how to best tackle the quashing of Palestinian advocacy and genuinely tackle Antisemitic discrimination - it would be an easy 5 stars.

[Jessica Hooley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book quite informative of balancing freedom of speech and allowing people to have different opinions without restricting their allowance of speech

[Owlseyes]

https://medium.com/illumination/censo...

[Simon David Dressler · Rating 2 out of 5]

Das Buch ist literarisch unerträglich zu lesen: Es ist wie eine Erstsemester-Hausarbeit geschrieben; es wird dauernd darüber geredet, was die Autorin im kommenden Kapitel machen wird, was sie vorhat, es ist so furchtbar. Ich war drauf und dran, das Buch abzubrechen. Das Thema an sich ist interessant und relativ gut aufgearbeitet und aktuell (die Antisemitismusdefinitionen zB), aber das Buch könnte wahrscheinlich ein Zehntel so lang sein. Es gibt ein paar mutige Passagen, wenn die Autorin die Meinungsfreiheit auch von rechten Arschlöchern verteidigt, um einen Punkt zu machen, aber ansonsten kann ich das Buch wirklich niemandem empfehlen. Es ist eigentlich nur ein sehr mieses Omri-Boehm-Buch

[T.L. Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Erasing Palestine: Free Speech and Palestinian Freedom by Rebecca Ruth Gould wasn't quite what I expected. I saw Gould in an interview and decided to read her book. Erasing Palestine starts out with an engaging story then goes into an academic discussion of antisemitism and the history of antisemitism while showing how antisemitism has been used as a cudgel to quiet the Palestinian voice and erase the history of the Palestinian people. Gould supports her individual points fairly well but sometimes it's easy to forget the overall point she's trying to make. I was a bit disappointed she didn't really explore how the legal definition of antisemitism came to differ so much from the dictionary definition. I felt this might have been an important part of discussing the erasure of Palestine. Some of her later points in the book about free speech in general weren't particularly convincing but also demonstrated what a complex issue freedom of speech can be. I, personally, don't believe consequence-free speech can exist and she said nothing that changed my mind. Overall, Erasing Palestine is a valiant effort at addressing a real and important issue, the silencing of people in academia trying to expose the reality of the treatment of the Palestinian people and how that ties into larger discussions around the consequences of speech.

[vernon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely not the best book to read if you're interested in Palestinian history and the history of occupation; it's told from a mostly British perspective and one that's HIGHLY focused on the author's experiences. It does, however, recommend plenty of other great authors, such as Isaac Deutscher and Abram Leon, so I'd recommend it solely for that purpose.

[Joshua Lawrence · Rating 2 out of 5]

What starts off really well just gets bogged down into almost inscrutable prose. I think it’s really going for some great ideas but they’re just told in a confusing way that makes you question if what you read was worth your time.

[Niamh · Rating 1 out of 5]

Meandering and lacks substance. Should’ve been a concise essay.

[Jenni · Rating 3 out of 5]

mostly an academic book about antisemitism and free speech but dang… that was REALLY disjointed

an argument for a materialist conception of antisemitism that goes beyond nominal definitions, which by their nature are easier for ideological partisans to to hijack to silence criticism

lots of other interesting tidbits. a rejection of the left’s cancel culture and, more stridently, the right’s external groups that extensively pressure universities to fire pro-palestine professors. a reminder that universities by their nature will always seek to deflect litigation even if at the cost of promoting academic values.

above all else, a reminder of the ways that money and politics pervert discussions of antisemitism

IMO almost totally unsuitable for general reading — it was pretty specialized/academic (which I love FWIW) and I’m surprised its branding presented it as so approachable

for a way better book on the subject, read Ken Sterns book the conflict over the conflict. he wrote the IHRA definition of antisemitism and later disavowed it upon seeing how it has been abused for political purposes. wrote a fantastic, balanced, accessible, straightforward book on it. His book has less intellectual history and critical philosophical depth but it also makes reading Gould’s book feel like a real life game of chutes and ladders by comparison lol

2.5. 2 stars bc it was laughably disjointed, but rounded up because it promoted nuanced thought, critiqued both sides, and added some fun intellectual history

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

A difficult read because Gould seems to run away from her titular premise the entire book, introducing a bit about Marxism, a severely limited history of anti-semitism in the 20th century, some UK university issues, and her own personal lineage to boot. I felt like she was struggling to balance her Jewish/Israeli right-to-exist with the realization that the current iteration of that right means the increased ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, the continued theft of their lands, the building of more settlements, the silencing of ANY criticism of Jews/Zionism/Israel, and the inability to consider the Shoah isn't a blank check for atrocity. Her point about freedom of speech in the UK, and how it isn't valued like in the USofA, was unsurprising considering the Brits still have a monarchy, and the obeisance to "blood rule" just doesn't share well with individual rights. Not much else of interest here, and most of what is here doesn't fit together coherently.

[Introvert Insane · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Academic freedom can only be meaningful in a society that protects the free speech of all its citizens. When it is used only to shore up professional privilege and stifle the voices of those who are silenced by abuses of power, academic freedom loses its value in society at large.”

Unfortunately, AIPAC and all those prozinos really don't give two shits.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good on Abram Leon and “balance” but I’m unconvinced by the “Reservoir”’ / Traces theory of racism / antisemitism. There’s also an attempt to defend racist hate speech as a universal first amendment right which, for me, also fails to convince.

[Cormac Fingeret · Rating 4 out of 5]

8.5/10

[Eloise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but very repetitive

[Magali McMurry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmmmmmm. Much to ponder

[alexis berry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much more of a personal account of navigating how to critique Israeli state violence towards Palestinians rather than a discussion of Palestinian liberation politics and how to speak truth to power

[Madelyn Huff]

Hmmm

[Adelina Violeta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truly loved this book. 4.50/5 ⭐️

In my perspective, the writing style is impeccable. Rebecca Ruth Gould's Erasing Palestine: Free Speech and Palestinian Freedom is an enlightening and thought-provoking read that blends conceptual analysis with real-world examples. It reveals the rigidity and politicization within the academic world, highlighting how Palestinian narratives are suppressed.

Gould captivates readers by highlighting the injustices Palestinians have endured since the Nakba. This book demonstrates the cruelty of politics and the stark contrast between power and weakness, revealing how these dynamics often overshadow the value of human life.

[Allia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I respect the level of research the author did to write this book.