When the Israeli genocide scholar Omer Bartov published the NY Times July, 2025 OpEd I’m A Genocide Scholar: I Know It When I See It, I quipped on social media that I wished he had looked sooner.
So glad you wrote this Tom. Bartov is a ‘liberal’ Zionist — the worst kind in my eyes. Liberal Zionists have always been there — consciously or not — to make Israel appear a ‘reasonable’, self-reflecting country that welcomes internal dissent. In reality, what liberal Zionists have been doing is buy time for Israel to complete its settler-colonial project.
When I saw the big hype about the book whose title suggests that once upon a time Israel was OK and then it went south, I recognised it for what it is. The idea that Israel was OK and then went to the right and became ‘bad’ is the most prevalent position among liberal Zionists in Israel, mostly Ashkenazi, and among those who are now leaving Israel on their second or third passport.
Israel has recently extended the deadline for Israeli citizens to come into the country on their foreign passports. I think they’re hoping to lure back those who are leaving, or at least not alienate them further. Those who leave should not be confused with anti-Zionists. They are Zionists, and will presumably continue to hold on to that identity. They just don’t like life in Israel anymore as it is becoming increasingly uncomfortable to secular, Western-minded people. But they’re not leaving because they object to the Zionist settler-colonial project or feel sorry for the Palestinians. If Israel, heaven forbid, achieved its goals and is still secular and ‘Western’, those people will be back to benefit from the loot.
When I wrote my critique of Avi Shlaim’s interview (https://avigail.substack.com/p/zionism-was-always-genocidal-on-what), I wrote to him as a matter of courtesy to let him know I’m publishing the piece. He responded to the second half of the article saying that he would never mention Judaism in a public talk again. But his response to the first half was that he doesn’t agree that Zionism was always genocidal and that he is ‘going with Omer Bartov’.
I’m still unclear about what he meant by that: that settler-colonialism in general should not be considered genocidal, that he doesn’t agree that Zionism is settler-colonialism, or that Zionism is inherently genocidal. If he ‘follows’ Bartov, it tells me that Shlaim is the Zionist he always was. He had a brief period pretending to go with Ilan Pappé, who is the one to said from the start that Zionism is a settler-colonial project committing an incremental genocide in Palestine. But it seems Shlaim’s loyalty to the tribe is still there, as is Bartov’s. Disgusting.
Oh, and I suspect Bartov is deliberately deceptive. Some people are just self-serving. For Bartov to write a book with this title — I haven’t read it either — speaks volumes to me. And Shlaim is with him. They are both ultimately collaborators who are helping Israel. I’m afraid Gideon Levy is in the same boat. He never mentions settler-colonialism, and his writings are also hijacked by Israel for PR and image-making. It’s why he is allowed to write what he writes in Israel. Everything in israel’s media goes through the military (synonymous with Government) censor before it can be published.
None of these three muppets are helping the Palestinian people. They’re helping their own bank accounts and ultimately Israel. I am with Ilan Pappé who has always called it without fear.
Thanks so much, Avigail! If I’m being honest I probably wouldn’t have written this if I had read your piece first, I would have just linked people to yours! :-)
Thanks Tom. But I think people should all write their own things. We need to say things over and over again in our different voices. Are you OK for tomorrow BCoP or do you need anything? You have my email.
A zionist is a zionist, christian or “jewish" and the term “liberal zionist,” is an oxymoron.
Interesting to read your take on Avi Schlaim, after all the discrimination, he and his Mizrahi Jewish family, endured at the hands of the non-Semitic Ashkenazi zionist elites, following the family’s "engineered” flight to the “safety," of occupied Palestine 🇵🇸.
This was the email I sent to Gidon Levy: Dear Mr. Levy,
I cannot thank you enough for putting into words what I consider to be insulting and disingenuous regarding the book by Omer Bartov titled: Israel: What went wrong?
When I received an email invitation to attend a discussion of this book hosted yesterday at 3 PM (UK time) by The Britain Palestine Project, I could not stop myself from replying to them the following:
The premise of 'what went wrong' erroneously and disingenuously suggests that Israel was 'right' from the beginning andthat 'something' happened to make it wrong. This is insulting to those who know very well that all data and historical research have incontestably proven that it was wrong even from its 'given theft' of Palestine by the British government.By the way, the British should be fully responsible for reparations and restitution for 'giving away, in its imperial arrogance,' the historic land of Palestine.
I attended his speech at Harvard University over a year ago, and I was baffled and offended by his embarrassing attempts at 'redeeming' a regime that has proven to the world beyond any reasonable doubt, through video and audio evidence taken and spoken by the perpetrators of human rights crimes. His benign attempt to write a book with such a title should be recognized for what it is: an attempt to perpetuate hasbara and make people forget what they have seen with their own eyes and heard with their own ears. If in doubt, look at the New York Times article from 2009 documenting the organharvesting of Palestinians by the Zionist regime.
Please cancel this travesty.
Once again, Mr. Levy, your clarity is a gift to the world that should never be silenced.
This article raises a critical point. Why do we even need "genocide scholars"?
A genocide that everyone in the world can see in sound and color, that eats at our hearts, that crushes our souls - every person on earth is entitled to talk about it and to speak up. Speaking about genocide should not be the domain of "scholars". We don't need another layer of gatekeepers to deny to us what a child plainly sees.
Can Peace in the region ever be possible when 2-4 generations of people in that state have been taught that the land is theirs because a deity said so? This belief goes to the very core of what enables the atrocities we’re seeing.
The premise of 'what went wrong' erroneously and disingenuously suggests that Israel was 'right' from the beginning andthat 'something' happened to make it wrong. This is insulting to those who know very well that all data and historical research have incontestably proven that it was wrong even from its 'given theft' of Palestine by the British government.By the way, the British should be fully responsible for reparations and restitution for 'giving away, in its imperial arrogance,' the historic land of Palestine.
I attended his speech at Harvard University over a year ago, and I was baffled and offended by his embarrassing attempts at 'redeeming' a regime that has proven to the world beyond any reasonable doubt, through video and audio evidence taken and spoken by the perpetrators of human rights crimes. His benign attempt to write a book with such a title should be recognized for what it is: an attempt to perpetuate hasbara and make people forget what they have seen with their own eyes and heard with their own ears. If in doubt, look at the New York Times article from 2009 documenting the organharvesting of Palestinians by the Zionist regime.
Please cancel this travesty.
Once again, Mr. Levy, your clarity is a gift to the world that should never be silenced.
Thank you for this article. As important as Omer Bartov’s remarks are, they came far too late to make the difference they should have. Calling it a genocide now matters—but it matters less than calling it when it could have helped stop it.
Unlike Islamic States (Iran) where you can be Christian or Jewish or whatever else and still have equal rights and marry whoever - THE JEWISH state (officially one and only on Earth, no other allowed) is a RACE-state. Only confirmed Jews enjoy human and civil rights, any Jew on Earth can become a citizen but only if they can prove Jewish mother - a Jewish father or grandparents gives them a right to immigrate but not the full rights of a "Jew" inside The Jewish State. A Jewish race-state is equivalent to a Nazi Juden-rein (Jew-free) state. It views Jews as a special race among all other humans and it gives these race-obsessed Jews a right to do whatever they want to achieve whatever they want, independent from "non-Jewish" international law, human rights, NPT, Geneva Conventions and all other laws that they say don't apply to Jews as a superior race.
So glad you wrote this Tom. Bartov is a ‘liberal’ Zionist — the worst kind in my eyes. Liberal Zionists have always been there — consciously or not — to make Israel appear a ‘reasonable’, self-reflecting country that welcomes internal dissent. In reality, what liberal Zionists have been doing is buy time for Israel to complete its settler-colonial project.
When I saw the big hype about the book whose title suggests that once upon a time Israel was OK and then it went south, I recognised it for what it is. The idea that Israel was OK and then went to the right and became ‘bad’ is the most prevalent position among liberal Zionists in Israel, mostly Ashkenazi, and among those who are now leaving Israel on their second or third passport.
Israel has recently extended the deadline for Israeli citizens to come into the country on their foreign passports. I think they’re hoping to lure back those who are leaving, or at least not alienate them further. Those who leave should not be confused with anti-Zionists. They are Zionists, and will presumably continue to hold on to that identity. They just don’t like life in Israel anymore as it is becoming increasingly uncomfortable to secular, Western-minded people. But they’re not leaving because they object to the Zionist settler-colonial project or feel sorry for the Palestinians. If Israel, heaven forbid, achieved its goals and is still secular and ‘Western’, those people will be back to benefit from the loot.
When I wrote my critique of Avi Shlaim’s interview (https://avigail.substack.com/p/zionism-was-always-genocidal-on-what), I wrote to him as a matter of courtesy to let him know I’m publishing the piece. He responded to the second half of the article saying that he would never mention Judaism in a public talk again. But his response to the first half was that he doesn’t agree that Zionism was always genocidal and that he is ‘going with Omer Bartov’.
I’m still unclear about what he meant by that: that settler-colonialism in general should not be considered genocidal, that he doesn’t agree that Zionism is settler-colonialism, or that Zionism is inherently genocidal. If he ‘follows’ Bartov, it tells me that Shlaim is the Zionist he always was. He had a brief period pretending to go with Ilan Pappé, who is the one to said from the start that Zionism is a settler-colonial project committing an incremental genocide in Palestine. But it seems Shlaim’s loyalty to the tribe is still there, as is Bartov’s. Disgusting.
Oh, and I suspect Bartov is deliberately deceptive. Some people are just self-serving. For Bartov to write a book with this title — I haven’t read it either — speaks volumes to me. And Shlaim is with him. They are both ultimately collaborators who are helping Israel. I’m afraid Gideon Levy is in the same boat. He never mentions settler-colonialism, and his writings are also hijacked by Israel for PR and image-making. It’s why he is allowed to write what he writes in Israel. Everything in israel’s media goes through the military (synonymous with Government) censor before it can be published.
None of these three muppets are helping the Palestinian people. They’re helping their own bank accounts and ultimately Israel. I am with Ilan Pappé who has always called it without fear.
Thanks so much, Avigail! If I’m being honest I probably wouldn’t have written this if I had read your piece first, I would have just linked people to yours! :-)
Thanks Tom. But I think people should all write their own things. We need to say things over and over again in our different voices. Are you OK for tomorrow BCoP or do you need anything? You have my email.
I’m ready!
Thanks Tom. I look forward to seeing you in a few hours then. Please login 15 minutes before the hour. 🙏🏼
A zionist is a zionist, christian or “jewish" and the term “liberal zionist,” is an oxymoron.
Interesting to read your take on Avi Schlaim, after all the discrimination, he and his Mizrahi Jewish family, endured at the hands of the non-Semitic Ashkenazi zionist elites, following the family’s "engineered” flight to the “safety," of occupied Palestine 🇵🇸.
This was the email I sent to Gidon Levy: Dear Mr. Levy,
I cannot thank you enough for putting into words what I consider to be insulting and disingenuous regarding the book by Omer Bartov titled: Israel: What went wrong?
When I received an email invitation to attend a discussion of this book hosted yesterday at 3 PM (UK time) by The Britain Palestine Project, I could not stop myself from replying to them the following:
The premise of 'what went wrong' erroneously and disingenuously suggests that Israel was 'right' from the beginning andthat 'something' happened to make it wrong. This is insulting to those who know very well that all data and historical research have incontestably proven that it was wrong even from its 'given theft' of Palestine by the British government.By the way, the British should be fully responsible for reparations and restitution for 'giving away, in its imperial arrogance,' the historic land of Palestine.
I attended his speech at Harvard University over a year ago, and I was baffled and offended by his embarrassing attempts at 'redeeming' a regime that has proven to the world beyond any reasonable doubt, through video and audio evidence taken and spoken by the perpetrators of human rights crimes. His benign attempt to write a book with such a title should be recognized for what it is: an attempt to perpetuate hasbara and make people forget what they have seen with their own eyes and heard with their own ears. If in doubt, look at the New York Times article from 2009 documenting the organharvesting of Palestinians by the Zionist regime.
Please cancel this travesty.
Once again, Mr. Levy, your clarity is a gift to the world that should never be silenced.
With my utmost respect and admiration,
Alfedo Roldán-Flores
Shouldn’t have ever been allowed to get off the ground. Forced on Palestinians because Britain and US didn’t want them.
So Tom, as I did with Mr. Levy, I have to offer you the same gratitude for your article, which addresses the intentional absurdity of this book.
Thank you brother for supporting us in Palestine, may Allah bless your works
This article raises a critical point. Why do we even need "genocide scholars"?
A genocide that everyone in the world can see in sound and color, that eats at our hearts, that crushes our souls - every person on earth is entitled to talk about it and to speak up. Speaking about genocide should not be the domain of "scholars". We don't need another layer of gatekeepers to deny to us what a child plainly sees.
The world doesn't need genocide scholars.
It needs people with the courage to stop it.
Can Peace in the region ever be possible when 2-4 generations of people in that state have been taught that the land is theirs because a deity said so? This belief goes to the very core of what enables the atrocities we’re seeing.
“zionists don't believe in god, but believe god gave them Palestine."
😵💫
Once again, Mr. Levy, your clarity is a gift to the world that should never be silenced.
With my utmost respect and admiration,
My Name
The day after, I received this reply from Mr. Levy:
RE: Thank you for saying what needs to be said loud and clear!
“Thank you so much. Gideon”
The premise of 'what went wrong' erroneously and disingenuously suggests that Israel was 'right' from the beginning andthat 'something' happened to make it wrong. This is insulting to those who know very well that all data and historical research have incontestably proven that it was wrong even from its 'given theft' of Palestine by the British government.By the way, the British should be fully responsible for reparations and restitution for 'giving away, in its imperial arrogance,' the historic land of Palestine.
I attended his speech at Harvard University over a year ago, and I was baffled and offended by his embarrassing attempts at 'redeeming' a regime that has proven to the world beyond any reasonable doubt, through video and audio evidence taken and spoken by the perpetrators of human rights crimes. His benign attempt to write a book with such a title should be recognized for what it is: an attempt to perpetuate hasbara and make people forget what they have seen with their own eyes and heard with their own ears. If in doubt, look at the New York Times article from 2009 documenting the organharvesting of Palestinians by the Zionist regime.
Please cancel this travesty.
Once again, Mr. Levy, your clarity is a gift to the world that should never be silenced.
With my utmost respect and admiration,
Alfedo Roldán-Flores
Totally agree with everything you have said. Bartov might be in denial state as well
Thank you for this article. As important as Omer Bartov’s remarks are, they came far too late to make the difference they should have. Calling it a genocide now matters—but it matters less than calling it when it could have helped stop it.
Unlike Islamic States (Iran) where you can be Christian or Jewish or whatever else and still have equal rights and marry whoever - THE JEWISH state (officially one and only on Earth, no other allowed) is a RACE-state. Only confirmed Jews enjoy human and civil rights, any Jew on Earth can become a citizen but only if they can prove Jewish mother - a Jewish father or grandparents gives them a right to immigrate but not the full rights of a "Jew" inside The Jewish State. A Jewish race-state is equivalent to a Nazi Juden-rein (Jew-free) state. It views Jews as a special race among all other humans and it gives these race-obsessed Jews a right to do whatever they want to achieve whatever they want, independent from "non-Jewish" international law, human rights, NPT, Geneva Conventions and all other laws that they say don't apply to Jews as a superior race.