George Monbiot

georgemonbiot.bsky.social

15 October 2026 20:43

I hope we can also agree that Western governments, including the US, UK and Germany, have been assisting these crimes, through weapons sales, surveillance, diplomatic and media support and arrests of protesters. I hope we can further agree that these great crimes should be prosecuted. Agreed so far?

George Monbiot

georgemonbiot.bsky.social

15 October 2026 20:43

OK. Now let me tell you about my ancestors. They fled across Europe, keeping ahead of a long series of pogroms, persecutions and antisemitic laws. They arrived in England in the mid-19th century. Many, going back a long way, were Zionists: they craved a dedicated homeland, a refuge from persecution.

George Monbiot

georgemonbiot.bsky.social

15 October 2026 20:43

But in the 1920s, some of them changed their views. They became anti-Zionists. Why? Because they believed that if Jews achieved a dedicated homeland, this would give antisemites yet another excuse to expel them from Europe and Russia.

George Monbiot

georgemonbiot.bsky.social

15 October 2026 20:43

Now of course there's a problem here, a very big one: a dedicated homeland and self-determination for the Jewish people meant a loss of homeland and of self-determination for the Palestinians. That was the unacknowledged truth, from Balfour onwards, and no serious attempt was made to resolve it.

George Monbiot

georgemonbiot.bsky.social

15 October 2026 20:42

In the late 1930s, as the scale and intent of the Holocaust became clear, some of my ancestors and relatives, like many Jews across Europe, changed their minds again. A permanent refuge suddenly looked like a very good idea. Is this because they were racist? No. It's because they were desperate.