- Graeber on Palestine Archived Message
Posted by Ian M
on January 9, 2019, 1:35 pm, in reply to "Re: I misread that for a moment .."
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Did a quick search and thought I'd have to retract my 'whataboutery' re: Graeber's position on Palestine after I saw he signed an open letter in the graun with this paragraph in it: 'Israel must lose. It is not enough to call for another ceasefire, or more humanitarian assistance. It is not enough to urge the renewal of dialogue and to acknowledge the concerns and suffering of both sides. If we believe in the principle of democratic self-determination, if we affirm the right to resist military aggression and colonial occupation, then we are obliged to take sides... against Israel, and with the people of Gaza and the West Bank.' - http://bdsmovement.net/news/academics-uk-call-bds-stop-gaza-massacres Well, it doesn't call for foreign powers to intervene militarily, so there's still a double standard there, but at least (I thought) he stuck his neck out and applied the same principles of defense against state aggression, even in a case where doing so might cause him some grief from the Israel lobby. Then I read this 2009 blog post http://www.antropologi.info/blog/anthropology/2009/david_graeber_boycott_israel_anthropolog which originally put his name in the title until he left a string of pissy comments underneath it because he didn't like that an internet search (like the one I made!) would bring up the text 'David Graeber: Boycott Israel!' The author eventually changed the title. Here's the exchange (my emph): 'DG: Wow. A few days ago someone forwards me a petition and I say, sure, I’m as upset as the next guy about all those people the IDF is killing in Gaza… suddenly I check the web and it’s “David Graeber: Boycott Israel!” Didn’t, like, two hundred people sign that petition? I mean, I don’t want to say it’s not an issue I take very seriously. I was brought up a Zionist, actually, I have cousins born on kibbutzim, I’ve always felt a certain kinship with the Jewish socialist tradition, and I’m outraged the way the one-time idealism of Israel has been betrayed by the heirs of fascists like Jabotinsky who now seem to set the standards for the Israeli state. Also it obviously upsets me, as a Jew, when people blow up babies in my name. But it’s a little odd to see me as the headline act here. Is the presence of my name there really that significant? Admin:Hi David, thanks for your commment. I had similar thoughts as Maximilian. There are very few anthropologists who have taken a stand in the media, so I was glad I found a famous anthropologist on the list! Another thing is that a story about a person that people know will attract more readers, so more people will read about Gaza with your name in the title than without. So yes, your name is really significant! DG: actually I’m not very happy about being spotlighted because your headline is basically deceptive: it makes it sound like I initiated a call to action when in fact I was merely one of hundreds who signed a petition. Usually it’s one’s enemies, not one’s friends, who make that sort of move. Honestly: don’t you think I should be the one to decide whether I should be headlined as calling for a boycott or not? Rather than have you decide for me? This is an issue where there are enormous passions and people are systematically targeted for sticking their heads out too far. Now, I have strong feelings, and I’m not a person who’s afraid to take a stand when I think it will make a difference in a significant way, but again, the degree of risk I want to take should be MY decision, not yours. Why do you think only four anthropologists in all of Britain signed that thing? Some didn’t agree with it no doubt. But hundreds signed because they were afraid something exactly like that would happen to them. Now you have given them reason to feel their paranoia is entirely justified and done your own little part to ensure they continue be afraid to put their names on such things. I know I’ll think twice what I sign now that I know someone like you might put some headline on a blog making it sound like I initiated the entire campaign! DG Admin: Hi David, ok, I’ve removed your name. But it’s not you but the blogger who decides about the content of texts. That’s what free press is all about as you know better than me. But of course if somebody feels uncomfortable about being spotlighted you’re welcome to take contact. No problem! In this case, a short email would have been enough. Anyway, it’s troubling to hear about the state of democracy and free speech in Britain when it is considered risky and dangerous to express one’s opinions in public. DG: no, I don’t think that’s what a free press is about at all a free press means that _governments_ should not in any way interfere, censor, or limit what the press can say that doesn’t mean people with a press (or blog, etc) _ought_ to say anything they like, even things that are deceptive or harmful to others. In fact, a free press is premised on a assumption that generally speaking, people will act responsibly without having to be threatened by state-sanctioned violence in the same way, as an anarchist, I don’t believe in police and prisons. That doesn’t mean I think if you dislike someone, it’s okay to shoot them with a submachine gun. Neither do I believe that “freedom” means it should be completely up to the guy with the submachine gun to decide whether or not he should kill an annoying neighbor, and that he has no moral obligation to take the opinions of his potential victim into consideration. Anyway, you could have emailed me too before you ran that. That would have been the responsible thing to do in my opinion. I suppose there’s not much damage done - even if google says “David Graeber: Boycott Israel” still pulls up 490 hits. But you have definitely ensured I’ll think long and hard the next time someone sends me a petition' Says it all really... As a couple of subsequent commenters point out, if he was paranoid about the career consequences of taking this public stand then he shouldn't have signed the letter. Oh, and 'one-time idealism of Israel'? What a joke. Shows he's happy to throw people under the bus as long as his 'idealism' is served. more jeers, I PS: on the other hand this 2015 article, based on time Graeber spent in Palestine, isn't half bad, though the israeli 'idealism' gets another mention: http://internationaltimes.it/hostile-intelligence-reflections-from-a-visit-to-the-west-bank/ |