“Fighting racism in silos that was invented by racism doesn’t make any sense.”

Rachel Shabi is an author, journalist and commentator, and she has recently published her second book, Off-White: The Truth About Antisemitism.

Shabi joined us for a conversation about her book, the fate of Arab-Jewish identity, how Israel’s war on Gaza is polarising global society and how the racist logic that defined so many colonial crimes is still at play today, justifying war crimes in the last few decades.

Chapters

00:00 Intro 

02:04 How significant is the war in Gaza

06:24 Why you chose to write Off-White and being an Iraqi Jew

12:30 How did 7th October impact Off-White

15:30 The wealth and loss of her Arab-Jewish identity

19:25 Arab-Jewish displacement from origin countries

27:30 Journey with Palestinian liberation

31:10 The Iraq war

36:20 The fakery of whiteness and origins of antisemitism

42:20 Haven't all empires weaponised racism?

47:54 How the US policy in the Middle East fuels antisemitic tropes

53:15 Why does racist bias self-perpetuate and its consequences

01:03:02 How can Jewish societies be safe

01:08:12 What will be the future of Israel-Palestine?

01:10:14 The single takeaway from your book, Off-White