Reflecting on the weekend's pro-Palestinian demonstrations, I'm struck by how their detractors see define their meaning as reducible to their most extreme participants. This, I think, is a mistake. Rather, I don't think can we know what most demonstrators actually stand for 1/ It's easy enough to know what Marxist and Islamist sects want to see happen in Palestine. For the rest, beyond a horror at the suffering of Palestinians, the actual vision for what Palestine could and should be is either nonexistent or deliberately obscured. 2/

There's a lot of outrage at this letter but it's important to be clear about why it's so wrong: Irish, Jews and Travellers have historically been raciallised as non-white or racially inferior. 'Whiteness' is not static (and in any case many Jews and Travellers are dark skinned) It's also a disastrous approach to anti-racism: It's as unproductive to point out that Jews did not suffer as black people did in South Africa as it is to point out that the Nazis hated Jews more than black or Irish people.

The coincidence of the NSO and Ben and Jerry's stories reveals the duality of Israel's response to BDS: NSO shows Israel is economically robust against 'threat' of BDS as tech sector is unboycottable and repressive states provide lucrative markets outside lib democracies. 1/ While BDS may not threaten Israeli economy, the Ben and Jerry's story shows just how far, economically and socially, Israel still cares about being part of the 'west' and how far US soft power still matters. The prospect of being shunned by US brands is disturbing to Israelis 2/

#Shtisel season 100 episode 1, Summary: Bewildered woman turns down Shulem's marriage proposal. Kiva looks sad and burns paintings of his 15th wife (killed in bizarre gardening accident (. Lipa trys to talk Giti round, forgets what he is actually trying to talk her round about... Ruchami and Hanina (still in teens) have difficult conversation on their 40th wedding anniversary. Shulem's other son (the one who sings) finally accepts that he is a secondary character.

Re the IHRA definition of antisemitism: I have reservations too. But in the end, one of the lessons of the Labour antisemitism crisis is that definitions matter less than who interprets them and how they are used. In fact, it's ironic that one of IHRA's major weaknesses is that it doesn't fully address structural issues of organisational culture. For example, Manchester United adopted IHRA this week - but is this just a cost-free gesture or part of wider organisational accountability?

Thread: I'm starting to find western tankie discourse more chilling than the propaganda of the regimes they defend. In states like Belarus, figures like an 80% electoral victory free of rigging, are not meant to be literally believed 1/ In dictatorships the absurdity of the lie is precisely the point - it is an expression of dominance. Citizens of such countries become adept at living with multiple truths simultaneously. Even regime supporters show bravura discursive skills. 2/

[Thread]
I am becoming concerned that the future of the NHS is imperilled by fundamental misunderstandings about what it is as an institution. This has disturbing parallels to threats to democracy across the world. 1/ There is, as far as I can tell, v little public support for 'privatising' the NHS and certainly almost none for abolishing it. However, if you understand the NHS simply as an institution that provides free healthcare, then you might misunderstand what privatisation means 2/

Thread: One of the reasons why the Labour Party antisemitism crisis arose is because some left anti-racists have shared platforms with those who have racist views, favouring one type of anti-racism over another. In calling this out, it's vital not to mirror that behaviour 1/ This weekend's demonstration by the @TAAntisemitism @antisemitism is a classic example of falling into this trap, providing a mirror image of that which they are opposing. 2/

Although the last couple of days have been a bit more hopeful, one of the things that has struck me about my reaction to the whole #Brexit process is how personally vulnerable and precarious it has made me feel. And this has taught me something... [Thread] Part of what it means to be middle class, male, white(ish in my case) and educated in the UK, is to feel that, while you may be horrified by what a government might do, ultimately you will be all right. As a leftist, I've been disgusted by most governments in my lifetime BUT..

Here is what I am struggling to understand about Brexit: The Conservatives are risking what are supposed to be core commitments - the union and supporting British businesses. Why have they found it so easy to do this? [Thread] One way of seeing the risk to the union is that pro-Brexit Tories are retreating from British to English nationalism. The risk to the economy has been explained as part of an attempt to turn England/UK into a deregulated offshore annex to US.