Anti-Palestinian racism and the criminalisation of international solidarity in Europe

Abstract

In this polemic against state policies and sections of the mainstream media in France, Germany, Italy and the UK since 7 October 2023 in relation to Israel/Palestine, the author exposes the ways in which a concerted anti-Palestinian racism interacts with civilisational racism and the criminalisation of international solidarity. The piece, based on speeches and briefings by the author in 2023–24, foregrounds the attack on the Palestinian diaspora in Europe. It focuses on the way a moral panic around shows of solidarity with Palestine have been fomented; the suppression of the works of artists, academics and public figures, including prominent Jewish anti-Zionists, who question official narratives; the equation of solidarity with terrorism and antisemitism and hence a reframing of what constitutes ‘hate crimes’; and the restrictions on the right to protest.