At the Israel America Council’s national conference in 2018, Nancy Pelosi spoke these words: ‘If this Capitol crumbled to the ground, the one thing that would remain is our commitment to…our cooperation with Israel.’ That same year, pro-Israel groups and individuals spent over $22 million on lobbying and campaign contributions in the United States. The aim? To influence policy towards the Middle East, and Palestine in particular. But it’s not just in the US that this is happening. Though rarely discussed, similar moves are being made in the UK and elsewhere too.
Renowned historian Ilan Pappe exposes the methods used to affect political decisions, media coverage, scholarly work and public opinion on Israel and Palestine. In the UK, such efforts have been linked to the debate around anti-Semitism in the Labour Party with respect to Britain’s role in, and responsibility for, the Palestine question. By examining the Balfour Declaration, the Suez crisis and, more recently, Britain’s blind dovetailing of American policy, Pappe sets present-day events in their historical context, and shows how Israel has come to stifle debate on Palestine – with devastating consequences.
