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Editors: Individuals like Martin Shaw (‘Antisemitism and the Boycott: An Exchange,’ Democratiya 14) always want to make me scratch my head in wonderment. One assumes that as a Professor of International Relations and Politics at the University of Sussex, he strives for reasoned objectivity when adopting political positions, especially those relating to the field of international relations. Yet, we discover that this self-declared opponent of the State of Israel (which, today, can only mean that he opposes its existence as a state for the Jewish people), bases his opposition largely on the work of Ilan Pappe and his ilk. Pappe is a self-declared opponent of any sort of historical objectivity, who proudly affirms that he tailors his narratives to serve political ends. Given that Pappe’s work has also been eviscerated by other historians (such as Benny Morris – whom Shaw cites, amazingly, in implied support of Pappe – Efraim Karsh, Yoav Gilbar, and many others). Pappe turns out to be a thin reed on which to base Shaw’s far-reaching conclusions.

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