Antony Loewenstein's Blog, page 9
June 18, 2025
Intellectual impoverishment in the US
The Trump administration is increasingly restricting who’s able to enter the US for transparently political reasons.
I was asked by The Guardian about it:
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TRT World interview on Israel’s wilful recklessness in the Middle East
My latest interview with global broadcaster TRT World on the litany of lies being told about Iran and its “nuclear” program.
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June 16, 2025
India’s WION news interview on Israel’s dangerous war against Iran
My interview on WION, India’s English language news channel, on Israel, Iran and US-backed escalation:
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My testimony to the New South Wales inquiry into anti-Semitism
This year, the government in the Australian state of New South Wales established an inquiry into anti-Semitism. This ancient hatred is certainly a scourge on society but it’s arguable if its prevalence has skyrocketed since the 7 October 2023 attacks (as pro-Israel groups claim).
I was asked to give testimony.
My introductory comments and the Q&A session with politicians starts at 7:38:11:
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June 15, 2025
TRT World interview on Israel’s wild attacks against Iran
My interview with global broadcaster TRT World about Israel’s attack on Iran and the regional ramifications.
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June 11, 2025
How Israel still believes that military “victories” bring legitimacy
My latest monthly column for the UK outlet, Middle East Eye:
War is good for business and geopolitical posturing.
Before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Washington in early February for his first visit to the US following President Donald Trump’s inauguration, he issued a bold statement on the strategic position of Israel.
“The decisions we made in the war [since 7 October 2023] have already changed the face of the Middle East,” he said. “Our decisions and the courage of our soldiers have redrawn the map. But I believe that working closely with President Trump, we can redraw it even further.”
How should this redrawn map be assessed?
Hamas is bloodied but undefeated in Gaza. The territory lies in ruins, leaving its remaining population with barely any resources to rebuild. Death and starvation stalk everyone.
Hezbollah in Lebanon has suffered military defeats, been infiltrated by Israeli intelligence, and now faces few viable options for projecting power in the near future. Political elites speak of disarming Hezbollah, though whether this is realistic is another question.
In Yemen, the Houthis continue to attack Israel, but pose no existential threat.
Meanwhile, since the overthrow of dictator Bashar al-Assad in late 2024, Israel has attacked and threatened Syria, while the new government in Damascus is flirting with Israel in a possible bid for “normalisation“.
The Gulf states remain friendly with Israel, and little has changed in the last 20 months to alter this relationship.
According to Israel’s newly released arms sales figures for 2024, which reached a record $14.8bn, Morocco, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates accounted for 12 percent of total weapons sales – up from just 3 percent in 2023.
It is conceivable that Saudi Arabia will be coerced into signing a deal with Israel in the coming years, in exchange for arms and nuclear technology for the dictatorial kingdom.
An Israeli and US-led war against Iran remains a distinct possibility, though a unilateral Israeli strike is highly unlikely.
In the West Bank, Israel’s annexation plans are surging ahead with little more than weak European statements of concern. Israel’s plans for Greater Israel – vastly expanding its territorial reach – are well underway in Syria, Lebanon and beyond.
On paper, Israel appears to be riding high, boasting military victories and vanquished enemies. And yet, many Israelis and pro-war Jews in the diaspora do not feel confident or buoyed by success.
Instead, there is an air of defeatism and insecurity, stemming from the belief that the war for western public opinion has been lost – a sentiment reinforced by daily images of Israel’s campaign of deliberate mass destruction across the Gaza Strip.
What Israel craves and desperately needs is not simply military prowess, but legitimacy in the public domain. And this is sorely lacking across virtually every demographic worldwide.
It is why Israel is spending at least $150m this year alone on “public diplomacy”.
Get ready for an army of influencers, wined and dined in Tel Aviv’s restaurants and bars, to sell the virtues of Israeli democracy. Even pro-Israel journalists are beginning to question how this money is being spent, wishing Israeli PR were more responsive and effective.
Today, Israeli Jews proudly back ethnic cleansing and genocide in Gaza in astoundingly high numbers. This reflects a Jewish supremacist mindset that is being fed a daily diet of extremist rhetoric in mainstream media.
There is arguably no other western country with such a high proportion of racist, genocidal mania permeating public discourse.
According to a recent poll of western European populations, Israel is viewed unfavourably in Germany, Denmark, France, Italy and Spain.
Very few in these countries support Israeli actions. Only between 13 and 21 percent hold a positive view of Israel, compared to 63-70 percent who do not.
The US-backed Pew Research Centre also released a global survey asking people in 24 countries about their views on Israel and Palestine. In 20 of the 24 nations, at least half of adults expressed a negative opinion of the Jewish state.
Beyond Israel’s image problems lies a deeper question: can it ever expect full acceptance in the Middle East?
Apart from kings, monarchs and elites from Dubai to Riyadh and Manama to Rabat, Israel’s vicious and genocidal actions since 7 October 2023 have rendered “normalisation” impossible with a state intent on building a Jewish theocracy that subjugates millions of Arabs indefinitely.
While it is true that most states in the region are undemocratic, with gross human rights abuses a daily reality, Israel has long claimed to be different – “the only democracy in the Middle East”.
But Israel’s entire political system, built with massive western support and grounded in an unsustainable racial hierarchy, precludes it from ever being fully and formally integrated into the region.
The American journalist Murtaza Hussain, writing for the US outlet Drop Site News, recently published a perceptive essay on this very subject.
He argues that Israeli actions have been so vile and historically grave – comparable to other modern holocausts – that they cannot be forgotten or excused, especially as they are publicly carried out with the explicit goal of ethnically cleansing Palestine:
“This genocide has been a political and cultural turning point beyond which we cannot continue as before. I express that with resignation rather than satisfaction, as it means that many generations of suffering are ahead on all sides. Ultimately, the goal of Israel’s opponents must not be to replicate its crimes in Gaza and the West Bank, nor to indulge in nihilistic hatred for its own sake. People in the region and beyond should work to build connections with those Israelis who are committed opponents of their regime, and who are ready to cooperate in the generational task of building a new political architecture.”
The issue is not just Netanyahu and his government. All his likely successors hold similarly hardline views on Palestinian rights and self-determination.
The monumental task ahead lies in crafting an alternative to today’s toxic Jewish theocracy.
But this rebuilding must also take place in the West. Far too many Jews, conservatives and evangelical Christians continue to cling to the fantasy of eradicating, silencing or expelling Arabs from their land entirely.
Pushing back against this fascism is one of the most urgent generational tasks of our time.
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Israeli surveillance tech central in EU border policies
A key part of my book, The Palestine Laboratory, investigates how the European Union now uses a vast suite of Israeli surveillance in its war against refugees and “unwanted” populations.
Journalist Sarah Souli interviewed me for New Lines Magazine about this issue (especially in the context of the Gaza Flotilla that was just intercepted on the Mediterranean):
The Israeli Drones Guarding Fortress Europe – New Lines Magazine
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June 10, 2025
My (ongoing) debate about Palestine on Uncomfortable Conversations
My Substack Live conversation with the host of the Uncomfortable Conversations podcast, Josh Szeps:
Szeps Live ft. Antony Loewenstein by Josh Szeps
Two Jews (Continue To) Debate Israel
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June 3, 2025
How “cycle against borders” attracted the Palestine laboratory
I’m constantly struck by the global impact of my book, The Palestine Laboratory.
Here’s just the latest example. A Dutch man, Seb (“cycling against borders”), is cycling from India to God knows where. He’s pro-Palestine, educating himself along the way and regularly reviewing books that capture his attention to his large online audience.
He recently reached out after loving my book and wanted to make a short video about it.
Here it is in all its fascinating, insightful detail:
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A post shared by seb (cycling against borders) (@sebbiebikes)
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Al Jazeera English interview on the thriving Palestine lab
My interview on Al Jazeera English’s main podcast, The Take, about the Palestine laboratory and how Silicon Valley increasingly views Israel as an ideal location for its investment and ideological fealty:
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A post shared by Al Jazeera English Podcasts (@ajepodcasts)
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