Referential by Dr. Khaliden Nas

January 02, 2026 (Video Update) Ancient Hatreds (Or New Antisemitism, and the Left’s ‘Muslim Problem’ with Dr. Jonathan Galton)

Video available to view on the Spotify app or YouTube

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'The Imperial Sessions Part 2' Conversations on Fascism & Media

Video Episode 5

Vid version updates on Youtube + Spotify some weeks after initial audio-only release.

Ancient Hatreds (Or New Antisemitism, and the Left’s ‘Muslim Problem’ with Dr. Jonathan Galton)

In Part 2 of The Imperial Sessions series I'm joined by Dr. Jonathan Galton to talk about his upcoming book 'Does Islamo-Leftism exist? British-Left-Muslim connections beyond the caricatures'. Jonathan shared with me a chapter titled 'Is the Left antisemitic?' and that spurred us to record a conversation unpacking his research and reflecting on what it all means in this current moment.

We talk

Histories of Antisemitism, Anti-Zionism and 'New Antisemitism'
Palestine as a 'Left wing' cause
'Islamo-leftism'
The UK Left's 'Muslim problem'
The UK Left and Antisemitism
Conflation as an active practice
Self contextualising
An Arab in the West
Positionality and abandoning 'outsider research'
'Unholy alliance' narratives
Dehumanisation
Zohran Mamdani, Brad Lander and Stephen Colbert
Islamophobia and the Left
Centring the research subject
The centring of Israel in discussions about Jewish identity
Rise of Judaeo-Christian unity
Ol' Rhodesia
We are the quota
The re-branding of Palestinian resistance
The 'coalition of the willing'
Joe Biden *sigh*
'Middle-classification'
'Political Blackness'
'Islamist cranks'
You should listen to The Trojan Horse Affair.
"We're all we got".

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If you'd like to donate to a credible organisation seeking to help the people of Gaza here are a few I'd recommend:

Support QT Palestinians and the First QTM helpline: https://www.flipcause.com/secure/cause_pdetails/MTk5ODA1

The Sameer Project : https://linktr.ee/thesameerproject

Al-Jawad Camp's donation links can be found on their Instagram bio: https://www.instagram.com/jawadcamp1

The Rammun Foundation: https://rammunfoundation.org/

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CHAPTERS

0:00 Intro

9:42 Introductory chat

20:51 Introduction to Jonathan’s current research on "Islamo-Leftism"

narratives

35:20 Overview of Jonathan’s book chapter dissecting tropes of "Left/Muslim antisemitism"

39:09 History of British Jews and the Labour Party's shifting relationship to Israel ("Jewish entry into whiteness", impact of holocaust, "Judaeo-Bolshevik",'

"Judaeo-Christian"

49:00 Shifting modes of antisemitism in the 18th century ("emancipation of Jewry") and 20th century (the "new antisemitism")

56:00 Anti-capitalism, antisemitism and anti-Arab sentiment in the

1970s and beyond

1:02:33 Alaska sits Jonathan’s my lap

1:02:30 Antisemitism in Islamic contexts (historical and contemporary) and the myth of "ancient hatred"

1:07:28 The Labour Party "antisemitism" crisis; blurring of anti-Zionism and antisemitism (real and imagined)

1:20:50 Palestine marches and accusations of antisemitism and Islamo-Leftism

1:31:20 Gaza as an electoral issue

1:40:50 Final thoughts

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7emSDa7IMxIgAU2vZv4xPr

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