Looking Back at 2024 - Some Of The Interviews I Gave & the Speeches I Made

 For those who don’t like to compare Israel & Nazi Germany my message is ‘Compare, Compare, Compare’ – At A Time Of Extermination it's Important to Understand Just What Kind of State Israel Is

Demonstration Outside Westminster Magistrates Court

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lv2lxMBpW-0&t=235s

Crispin Flintoff & Tony Greenstein Outside Westminster Magistrates Court

2024 has been a very busy year for me and below are some of the things that I did.  I had a tour of Scotland and speaking engagements in Ireland and the Netherlands as well as speaking at demonstrations in Glasgow, Liverpool and my home town Brighton.

I continued to promote my book which came out at the end of 2022. Quite remarkably sales were higher by far in the first half of 2024 than in the first half of 2023. You don’t get to learn of the sales figures until about 3 months after the end of the half year but I expect they will have increased again.

I did a wide range of interviews and talks, only some of which are below with audiences in the United States, South Africa and Australia. The theme of my book can be summed up in that Jewish Chronicle headline ‘Infamous anti-Israel activist Tony Greenstein called Jewish state 'Hitler's bastard offspring’. Israel has demonstrated that the only thing it learnt from Nazi Germany was how to emulate them.

On 21^st December Katie Halper and I finally managed to arrange an interview. Katie was a stand-up comedian before taking to podcasts and political commentary. She runs her own Katie Halper Show and is co-host of the podcast Useful Idiots with Aaron Maté.

Katie was a very challenging interviewer and I was pleased with the outcome. Recorded separately were interviews with Jenny Manson, the co-chair of Jewish Voices for Labour and Rabbi Herschel Gluck.

On November 7 I was invited to Cork in Ireland to speak. The atmosphere in Ireland is totally different from that in Britain where the State is breathing down our necks and harassing our marches. Ireland doesn’t have a genocidal supporting government supplying Israel with more weaponry to murder civilians and destroy hospitals.

I spoke in a hotel on the evening of the November 7 and the room was packed and I nearly sold out of books. At the end of the meeting I was taken aback when I was given a standing ovation. It shows the enthusiasm and solidarity of the Irish with the Palestinians.

On the Friday night I spoke at a bar in a small town in West Cork, Skibbereen. I’d never heard of the place before but again the room was packed to the rafters. The following day I took part in a march in the town and afterwards spoke at the rally.

This was in the middle of the Irish General Election. There were sarcastic comments about the Social Democrats taking part in the march having never done previously! The experience of British colonialism has ensured that the Irish understand what is happening and it is no surprise that Israel has closed its Embassy in Ireland.

My relationship with Electronic Intifada has been for over 15 years. It has been a very productive and comradely one. EI first asked me to write an article Histadrut: Israel's racist "trade union" in March 2009. I have since written a number of articles. Their podcast How Zionists collaborated with the Nazis, in conversation with Tony Greenstein has gained over 320K views and is one of their most highly viewed. Asa Winstanley also reviewed my book under the title How Zionism helped the Nazis perpetrate the Holocaust.

Asa himself has recently written the most comprehensive account of anyone of the anti-Semitism smear campaign under Jeremy Corbyn, Weaponising Anti-Semitism: How the Israel Lobby Brought Down Jeremy Corbyn.

I was therefore pleased to be invited to an interview with EI on my birthday, 30 December! It was a very useful and productive interview. Electronic Intifada is the premiere Palestine Solidarity website. Having written for many papers, journals and sites I have to say that no one gives you such a hard time as EI! They check virtually every word and quote to see that you can back it up.  Nothing escapes the scrutiny of their fact checkers. Would that the British tabloids or Elon Musk had to undergo the same level of scrutiny!

Another interview, in fact two interviews was with Rania Khalek, a young Lebanese woman who runs Breakthrough News. Rania is a feisty interviewer who clearly feels the pain of what has happened in Lebanon with Israel’s savage bombing of its civilian population.

Rania first interviewed me in Budapest on 10 April, where I had gone for dental implant surgery.  However the Internet connection was not good and my computer had problems so we completed the interview on 15 April back in Brighton. This is the full interview and this is the cut down version.

 

On 14 June Rania interviewed me about my book and this time it was completed in one session. I found it a fascinating interview and thanks to Rania for the time she took over this. Subsequently Rania was invited to speak at a meeting of the Socialist Labour Network and Jewish Network for Palestine on a Jewish or a Democratic State and on January 27 she will speak at our Holocaust Memorial Day meeting. You can go here for the full length interview.

I have never been attracted to the idea of an autobiography or even a biography. Life is too short to waste time describing what you have done with your life and its bound to be partial and self-exculpatory. However I was happy to work with Helen Aksentijevic to produce a short, half hour film summarising some of the things I’ve tried to do.

Helen has produced similar films on other Jewish anti-Zionist  such as Moshe Machover, Haim Bresheeth and Sabby Sagall so I was very flattered to be asked.

Tony Greenstein - An Ordinary Rebel plus Question & Answer Session at the P21

At the end of October I was invited to the wedding of an old friend, a long standing Palestine solidarity activist, Susan  Blackwell.  She lives in the Netherlands and so I said that I would be happy to do a meeting whilst there.

Sue got in touch with students at the main technical university in the Netherlands, Delft University, and I was invited to speak to a meeting. The only problem was that the university, which was happy to invite Admiral Ellis, a representative of US arms company Lockheed Martin to campus and a ghoul of many US wars, they didn’t want me to speak because I might hurt the feelings of those students who supported the genocide in Gaza.

Of course when you contrast the hurt feelings of Zionists with the dead bodies of Palestinian children there is no contest.  So I wrote to the Rector His Magnificus (yes that’s his title) Timothy van der Hagen suggesting that freedom of speech is worth preserving. After all Hagen had written on the university website that

‘The most important task of TU Delft is to make a contribution towards building a better society’.

Yet Magnificus Hagen’s idea of a better society and mine were not the same. Hagen is just another ruling class hypocrite.

However the students had other ideas. Although I was banned from campus I turned up anyway and with just 2 hours notice over 100 students gathered to listen to me on the steps of the library. Not only had the stupid Magnificus built my meeting for me but by his own actions he had ensured that my message went out to thousands.

The Rector of Delft University - the Magnificus Timothy van der Hagen

The security, although watching, did not intervene.  A magnificus victory! I did write to Magnificus Hagen afterwards but he seems to be a man of few words and even fewer thoughts!

Tony Greenstein's Speech at Delft University Which the Administration Tried to Ban

As readers of this blog will know I was arrested a year ago on ‘terrorism’ charges and my last court appearance was on 19 December at Westminster magistrates court. There was a demonstration outside and I will be next appearing at the Old Bailey on 31 January where I hope people will also demonstrate their opposition to the use of terrorism legislation to silence Palestine solidarity activists.

Tony Greenstein's speech outside Westminster Magistrates Court

On the 4 August  I came back from my holiday in the Outer Hebrides and stopped off in Liverpool, where I spent my childhood, to speak to the Palestine demonstration outside the Roman Catholic Cathedral. I always enjoy going back to Liverpool with its magnificent waterfront and city buildings.

On 3 December I spoke on behalf of Jewish Network for Palestine at a seminar organised by the Open University Palestine group. Other speakers were Tony Lerman, an expert in anti-Semitism and former Director of the Institute of Jewish Policy Research, Barnaby Raine, a Ph D student and young firebrand and Michael Richmond who spoke about philosemitism, the other side of the anti-Semitism coin. The title was ‘How anti-Semitism has complemented Zionism’.

How antisemitism has complemented Zionism – Tony Greenstein

(for the full video go to here)

The JNP and SLN organised a seminar on the 12 November in the wake of my review of Jonathan Freedland’s dishonest biography of Rudolf Vrba, The Escape Artist, about the anti-Zionist Jewish hero who escaped, with Alfred Wetzler, from Auschwitz in order to warn Hungarian Jews of preparations being made to exterminate them.

Speakers included Stephen Kapos, a survivor of the Hungarian holocaust, Haim Bresheeth, an anti-Zionist Israeli and member of JNP and Tom Suarez, author Palestine Hijacked and State of Terror. Below is my contribution. A comprehensive website on Vrba has been set up by Alan Twigg, a journalist who knew him.

Zionism & the Holocaust – Tony Greenstein

The Complete Seminar – Rewriting the Holocaust

To commemorate the one year anniversary of October 7, the SLN and JNP organised a seminar to discuss the Gaza holocaust. Speakers included Ghada Karmi, a refugee from 1948, Rania Khalek, Haim Bresheeth and myself. Below is my speech but people can go to the SLN’s Youtube channel to listen to the complete seminar, ‘A Jewish State or a Democratic State’. Most most people agree that it was an extremely good seminar and I highly recommend listening to the whole seminar as I do the previous one on Vrba.

For One Democratic State

In the wake of Starmer’s election, the SLN organised a star studded panel including myself! Speakers included Ian Hodson, General Secretary of the Bakers Union,  Graham Bash – founding editor of National Labour Briefing, David Miller – who was sacked for his anti-Zionist views by Bristol University and who later won a landmark employment tribunal, Chris Williamson, the former Labour MP who was forced out of the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn and Crispin Flintoff, presenter of the Not the Andrew Marr show and latterly the Crispin Flintoff show which has a regular attendance of 500 every Sunday morning. You can hear the full video on the SLN Youtube channel here.

SLN Tony Greenstein – Where to for the Left 12 07 24

Every year for the past 2 years the SLN and the JNP have organised a meeting on Holocaust Memorial Day, January 27. As the Zionists weaponise the holocaust we have to be prepared to stand up and say ‘Never Again Means Never Again for Everyone’. For the Zionists of course, Never Again means never again only for Jews, or the right kind of Jew.

On January 27 2024 we had an excellent line up including Professor Ilan Pappe, Ghada Karmi, Ronnie Kasrills – the former head of Umkonte We Sizwe, the ANC’s military wing as well as former South African Police Minister , Stephen Kapos – a child holocaust survivor from Budapest, Suzanne Weiss – a child survivor from France and myself. Again a remarkable meeting. For the full meeting go here or here.

When Israel had been a month into the genocide in Gaza the JNP and SLN organised a webinar on the theme of stopping Israel’s onslaught. Speakers included Huda Ammori from Palestine Action, Asa Winstanley of Electronic Intifada, Stephen Kapos, Ronnie Barkan – an Israeli anti-Zionist activist and Tony Greenstein. You can watch the complete video here.

Stop the Genocide in Gaza 10.11.23

Last January I undertook a tour of Scotland at the invitation of Scottish PSC. I spoke in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee. I also spoke at a large demonstration in Glasgow city centre.

Tony Greenstein speaking at Palestine Demonstration in Glasgow January 6 2024

Two months later I was back in Glasgow. It was March 16, UN Anti-Racism Day and the SWP’s  Stand Up to Racism were also holding a march. On the tiny SUTR march was none other than Glasgow Friends of Israel. Ever since 2017 the SWP/SUTR have insisted on marching with Zionists against racism! It’s like campaigning against rape alongside rapists.

This has been the subject of heated controversy in Scotland and the Police were always willing to lend a helping hand to ensure that the Zionists could march. This year, at a time of genocide in Palestine, the SWP’s decision to march with Zionists was particularly disgraceful.

Tony Greenstein speaking at the Anti-Racism Demonstration in Glasgow March 16 2024

On October 4^th, the 88^th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street, when the Police unsuccessfully tried to batter a way through the East End of London for the British Union of Fascists. The same Metropolitan Police arrested me after a picket of racist Israeli Ambassador Tzipi Hotoveli for comparing Israel’s genocide in Gaza to the Nazi holocaust. Their pretext was that I had committed a ‘racially aggravated offence’ under the Public Order Act. After being held for 7 hours I was released from  Holborn Police Station. A few weeks later I was informed that I would not be charged with any offence.  This is the speech that so annoyed the Met!

Tony Greenstein Speech Which Led to his Arrrest at Picket of Tzipi Hotoveli 4 Oct 2024

At 8 a.m. on the 26 November 2024 I gave a talk to listeners in Australia about my book, Zionism During the Holocaust. It was 7 pm there!

In this interview with Crispin Flintoff I tried to explain why people believe I’m outspoken and what motivates me

Interview Tony Greenstein on the Crispin Flintoff Show - Why I'm Outspoken

On 23 November 2023 I spoke to a meeting of the Labour Left Alliance in the wake of October 7. There was then an extensive Question & Answer session.

LLA meeting 23 November 2023

On 15 November I spoke at a demonstration organised by the Trades Council outside Hove Town Hall

And finally the one time I appeared on Question Time at Sussex University’s Gardener Centre. It was when Norman Tebbit, the Chingford skinhead was on the panel. I spoke from the audience attacking him for his racist cricket test directed against immigrants from the Indian sub-continent. Also on the panel was Clare Short. Peter Sissons was in the Chair. I don’t think I would have got away with it with today’s far-right Fiona Bruce!

Tony Greenstein on Question Time