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

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.