WASHINGTON, DC

The widespread adoption of the IHRA definition of antisemitism and the internalization of its norms has set in motion a simplistic definitional logic for dealing with social problems that has impoverished discussions of racism and prejudice more generally. It has encouraged a focus on words over substance.

While the redefinition of antisemitism has transformed the conversation around Israel during the twenty-first century, Palestine itself has been gradually erased from the map, its territory continually annexed by Israel. Now, in ERASING PALESTINE: Free Speech and Palestinian Freedom, Rebecca Ruth Gould tells the story of exactly how this happened by examining the history of antisemitism since the beginning of the twentieth century.

Erasing Palestine draws on anti-Zionist critiques of antisemitism – in particular, the groundbreaking analysis of Leon Abram – to develop a materialist approach to antisemitism that is better suited to our political present than the definition-based approaches that dominate discourse today. Gould also examines the relationship between free speech and Palestinian freedom, focusing in particular on US and British universities over the last few decades.

Rebecca Ruth Gould and Ramsey Hanhan are joining us on the Busboys stage to shed insight on the erasure of Palestine and facets that played a role in this tragedy. Copies of the book will be available for purchase during and after the event, and the author will be signing following the program.

This event is free and open to all. Our program begins at 6:00 pm, and will be followed by an audience Q&A. Copies of ERASING PALESTINE will be available for purchase before and after the event. Please note that this event is IN PERSON and will NOT be livestreamed.

We ask that guests RSVP in order to receive direct updates about the event from Busboys and Poets Books

Rebecca Ruth Gould is the author of numerous works at the intersection of aesthetics and politics, including Writers and Rebels (2016) and The Persian Prison Poem (2021). With Malaka Shwaikh, she is the author of Prison Hunger Strikes in Palestine (2023). She has written for the general public in the London Review of Books, the Global & Mail, and World Policy Journal and her writing has been translated into eleven languages.

Ramsey Hanhan is the author of Fugitive Dreams: Chronicles of Occupation and Resistance, a literary memoir illustrating through personal stories five decades of the Palestinian experience. He writes to transcend culture, speak for the voiceless, and uncover the beauty of the ordinary. He was formerly a physics professor noted for his computer models that describe and predict complexity in nature. Nowadays, you can find him on a jogging trail, deep in the forest, at an airport, or in a coffee shop. For his next titles, he is finishing a romantic novella and a collection of essays. Hanhan holds a Ph.D. in Engineering from the University of Michigan.