"From Cairo to Ramallah, globalise the Intifada" – Anti-Israel Thuggery at Edinburgh University

Daphne Anson
04 February '11

Edinburgh in the eighteenth century was the epicentre of the “Scottish Enlightenment” – and well-dubbed “The Athens of the North”. It’s a beautiful city that I know rather well, having spent many enjoyable trips there, to research in its historical archives.

However, it’s also become a centre of a singularly unenlightened campaign – the demonisation and delegitimisation of Israel, and I’ve seen some of the consequences myself, from teams of intimidatory BDS fanatics attempting to cajole shoppers into boycotting Marks and Spencer’s on Princes Street, to ugly marches of screaming activists with their repellent slogans. Some of the churches have driven such activity, and needless to say there is a flourishing Palestine Solidarity Campaign there as well as anti-Israel activism at the ancient university.

A couple of days ago Ishmael Khaldi (pictured), an Israeli Bedouin, Muslim, and diplomat, who had been invited by the Edinburgh University Jewish Society to speak on the topic “Is Israel a Racist State?” arrived as scheduled.

The university’s International Relations Society had refused to hold the event under its auspices – “We came to the conclusion that providing a platform for a representative of the Israeli state would be at the expense of the millions of Palestinians who live under Apartheid,” said its president, Ledys Sanjuan – and the talk went ahead at a later time than planned.

But not for long.

(Read full "From Cairo to Ramallah, globalise the Intifada" – Anti-Israel Thuggery at Edinburgh University")

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