A report and commentary on debates at two conferences this summer, involving Omer Bartov, Dirk Moses and others, for openDemocracy.
Category: Israel / Palestine
Palestine in an International Historical Perspective on Genocide
Here is a draft of this paper, the final version of which has now been published in Holy Land Studies, 9, 1, May 2010, and presented to the International Network of Genocide Scholars' conference at the University of Sussex on 30 June 2010. Palestine in an International Historical Perspective on Genocide.doc
Palestine in an International Historical Perspective on Genocide
To appear in Holy Land Studies, 9, 1, May 2010. The text originally published in this post was not the final version, which is now available at https://theorypolitics.wordpress.com/2010/06/26/palestine-in-an-international-historical-perspective-on-genocide-2/
Israel’s degenerate Lebanon campaign holds a mirror to the West’s own wars, 3 August 2006
first published at http://www.martinshaw.org/politics/lebanon2006.htm In the first days of the war in Lebanon, BBC news repeatedly referred to dying and fleeing Lebanese civilians as victims of the 'fighting' between Israel and Hizbullah. Yet in truth there was no fighting. Israel's planes rained destruction on Lebanon from the safety of high altitudes, killing and wounding with… Continue reading Israel’s degenerate Lebanon campaign holds a mirror to the West’s own wars, 3 August 2006
Antisemitism and the Boycott: An Exchange between Martin Shaw and David Hirsh, 2008
First published in Democratiya, 2008: go to http://dissentmagazine.org/democratiya/article_pdfs/d14ShawHirsh-1.pdf Democratiya Editor’s Note: Democratiya opposes the academic boycott of Israel and all forms of antisemitism. The relation between that boycott and antisemitism is debated here by two advisory editors of Democratiya, Martin Shaw and David Hirsh. It was initiated by Shaw, who sent us a short letter… Continue reading Antisemitism and the Boycott: An Exchange between Martin Shaw and David Hirsh, 2008
A viable two-state solution needs the idealism and utopianism of the one-state idea, March 2009
First published in Democratiya 19, spring-summer 2009, at http://dissentmagazine.org/democratiya/article_pdfs/d16Symposium.pdf Martin Shaw The Israeli assault on Gaza was an affront to humanity. 1338 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed, thousands were wounded, and tens of thousands made homeless. The poor and crowded enclave, whose people were already suffering from restrictions on their movement and the entry… Continue reading A viable two-state solution needs the idealism and utopianism of the one-state idea, March 2009
When is a massacre not a massacre? (Jenin) 21 April 2002
The simple answer to this question would seem to be, when it is committed by the Israeli 'defence' forces. 'Brutal yes. Massacre no', writes Peter Beaumont in The Observer, while a correspondent takes me to task along similar lines: 'your reference on theglobalsite to the Jenin "massacre" is highly misleading since it gives the impression… Continue reading When is a massacre not a massacre? (Jenin) 21 April 2002
Israeli settlements and “ethnic cleansing”, Open Democracy, 26 August 2009
The argument that the dismantling of Israeli communities in the Palestinian West Bank would amount to "ethnic cleansing" is increasingly being heard. It deserves close examination of a kind its proponents may not welcome, says Martin Shaw. An intense political engagement over the question of West Bank settlements is continuing between the Barack Obama administration… Continue reading Israeli settlements and “ethnic cleansing”, Open Democracy, 26 August 2009
Uses of genocide: Kenya, Georgia, Israel, Sri Lanka, 9 February 2009
The concept of genocide has become a weapon of political polemic. But the violence inflicted on civilians in four conflicts shows how it is also rooted in the logic of modern wars, says Martin Shaw. Go to Open Democracy for the full text.
Review of Goldhagen, Worse Than War: Genocide, Eliminationism and the Ongoing Assault on Humanity, for International Affairs, 2010
Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, Worse Than War: Genocide, Eliminationism and the Ongoing Assault on Humanity, New York: Little Brown, 2009, 658 pp. ISBN 978-1-58648 -769-0 After a rush of major texts in the last few years, another massive tome on genocide needs a distinctive take if it is to find an audience. Daniel Goldhagen's new book… Continue reading Review of Goldhagen, Worse Than War: Genocide, Eliminationism and the Ongoing Assault on Humanity, for International Affairs, 2010
Martin Shaw 