Activists have protested at a book launch by author Max Blumenthal in which he accused Israel of committing a “massive project of ethnic cleansing” since it was established.
Around 14 supporters of grassroots group Sussex Friends of Israel carried large flags and played Jewish songs outside the event in west London on Tuesday, while one protester who attended the launch was ejected by a security guard.
Mr Blumenthal, who supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign, told the audience that the Israeli government was “sadistic” and was committing “a psychological war” in Gaza.
When he informed the host, a director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, that Israeli soldiers were permitted to kill any Palestinian with a mobile phone, an audience member started laughing and muttered: “It's just bull****.”
The man’s mobile subsequently went off and he answered it, at which point the author of The 51 Day War: Ruin and Resistance in Gaza told him: “I know what you're doing, I know exactly what you're doing. This is a common tactic, and it's weak. I'm talking to you.”
The audience member was escorted out after responding: “You're a good storyteller.”
There were 40 people at the tense event, around a quarter of whom were pro-Israel advocates. A few made their views clear, including an Israeli woman who told Mr Blumenthal: “I don't understand where you've got these fabrications from.
“The city I lived in in Israel, the most successful businessman was an Arab. My best friend was Arab. You need to be accountable all of you for BDS actions. How can you support Hamas, a racist group?”
Mr Blumenthal's previous book, Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel, accused the Jewish State of implementing authoritarian policies, occupying Palestinian land and killing Palestinians for sport.
