Robert Sharp

Barrister

Tag: Israel (Page 1 of 5)

The Heckler’s Veto (Themselves)

15 October 2026 / / 0 Comments
Screenshot from the asapalestine Instragram video.

Today I was lucky enough to hear the human rights barrister Adam Wagner KC talk about his work, with Adam Rose of Mishcon De Reya, for the families of the 7 October hostages.

Speaking at City University at the invitation of the law school, Adam took us through the work they did to hold the UK to it obligations to British citizens and its commitment to uphold universal human rights standards. 

During the conflict, the Israeli government’s disproportionate bombardment of the Gaza Strip took the lion’s share of the coverage. The work ‘The Adams’ did to remind the media and the rest of us about the plight of the hostages was crucial at that moment in history.

Halfway through Adam’s speech, the event was interrupted by four protesters singing “Free, Free Palestine.” As someone who has spent half a lifetime talking about human rights and more than a decade working for free speech NGOs, it behoves me to comment.

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Reviewing PALESTINE +100 on Tor.com

29 July 2019 / / 0 Comments

I’m pleased to report that I have written a book review for Tor.com, one of the world’s foremost science fiction / fantasy websites.
The book is Palestine +100, which (according to its publisher, Comma Press) is the first ever anthology of Palestinian science fiction. It features a dozen stories of speculative fiction, all set a century after the establishment of the state of Israel—an event that Palestinians call the Nakba (catastrophe).

The book’s authors seem to be in dialogue with each other. They ask, first, the extent to which their people must let go of their past in order to secure a future; and second, how much their past defines who they are. Moreover: how does the presence of the Israelis and their nation-building project impact on what it means to be Palestinian?

You can read the entire review on Tor.com, which I hope prompts you to read the book.

Hey, Haifa! 1999 called and it wants it's controversy back!

18 January 2019 / / 1 Comment

At a museum in Haifa, Israel, a sculpture called McJesus has been removed from display.
The name of piece by Jani Leinonen tells you exactly what it looks like and also gives heavy clues as to why it is controversial: it is the crucifixion of Ronald McDonald.
There have been angry protests against the sculpture by Israeli Christians who consider it offensive and blasphemous. There were threats of fire bombing.
The sculpture brings to mind another crucifixion mash-up, Immersion (Piss Christ) by Andreas Serrano (1987). I also think of The Holy Virgin Mary by Chris Ofili (1996), a picture painted using elephant dung and which features pornographic imagery. Rudi Giuliani, then mayor of New York, called it ‘sick’ when the painting was exhibited there in 1999.
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Yeah But The Other Side Started It

14 May 2018 / / 0 Comments

Terrible, terrible scenes on the border between Gaza and Israel. The IDF have massacred 52 protesters.
Meanwhile, social media is full of people seeking to justify and excuse this violence. The main line being parroted seems to be that Hamas provoked the attacks, because dead Palestinians are politically useful.
There may be some within the Hamas leadership who think like that, but that does not excuse or mitigate the violence by Israel, a country that is supposed to be a democracy, that is supposed to respect human rights.
What we need to remember in these situations is that blame is not zero sum. It can be possible for Hamas to have malign motives in staging the protest and putting people in danger. That does not remove moral culpability from the Israeli soldiers who pulled the trigger; nor the Israeli politicians who endorse their actions; nor the American politicians who in turn protect those Israeli politicians from accountability. Continue reading

It depends what you mean by 'state', 'Israel','right' and 'exist'

3 April 2016 / / 1 Comment

In an Atlantic article about the prohibition of anti-Zionist views at American Universities, this:

One letter signed by more than 130 UC faculty members supported naming anti-Zionism as an expression of anti-Semitism, saying students need guidance on “when healthy political debate crosses the line into anti-Jewish hatred, bigotry and discrimination, and when legitimate criticism of Israel devolves into denying Israel’s right to exist.”

The phrase “Israel’s right to exist” is a common one in debates about Zionism and the hideous disputes between Israel and the Palestinians.  It’s often used as a line in the sand: critics of Israel are often asked whether they support its “right to exist”. Continue reading

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