Category Archives: International

LEFT AND RIGHT, FREE SPEECH AND HYPOCRISY

April 24, 2024 by Kenan Malik

This essay, on free speech and hypocrisy, was published in the Observer on 21 April 2024, under the headline “Left silences right, right silences left. But censorship stops us pushing for change”. Two conferences in two European cities. Two attempted bans (though only one successful). Two different responses from politicians and the media. All of which tells us something about the state of free speech today. Last Tuesday, Emir Kir, a mayor in Brussels, created international headlines when he tried to ban […]

Categories: Free Speech, International • Tags: anti-woke, anti-zionism, antisemitism, censorship, emir kir, free speech hypocrisy, george soros, germany, ghassan abu-sittah, national conservatives, nigel farage, palestine, yanis varoufakis

THE TRAGEDY OF HAITI

March 20, 2024 by Kenan Malik

This essay, on how the history has to the tragedy of today, was published in the Observer on 17 March 2024, under the headline “Plundered and corrupted for 200 years, Haiti was doomed to end in anarchy”. In December 1914, the USS Machias dropped anchor in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Eight US marines disembarked, sauntered to the Banque National de la République d’Haïti (BNRH), removed $500,000 worth of gold belonging to the Haitian government – $15m in today’s money – packed it in wooden […]

Categories: History, International, Justice & Liberties • Tags: aid state, cia, france, francois duvalier, haiti, haitian debt, jake johnston, jean-bertrand aristide, papa doc, us imperialism, usa

MAKING A MESS OF CLAUDINE GAY

January 10, 2024 by Kenan Malik

This essay, on the Claudine Gay controversy, was published in the Observer on 7 January 2024 under the headline “Claudine Gay’s ousting reveals that the messenger is still an easier target than the message”. For some, she is the wretched epitome of the liberal elite; for others, the victim of a “racist mob”. She herself condemns her critics for having “recycled tired racial stereotypes”. As an illustration of the way that culture wars warp political judgment and push people into tribal corners, […]

Categories: Academia, International, Race & Immigration • Tags: antisemitism, claudine gay, dei, diversity, elise stefanik, elitte, equality, free speech, gaza war, genocide, harvard, intifadas, israel, palestine solidarity, plagiarism, racism

CENSORSHIP CANNOT BE THE FOUNDATION OF JUSTICE

December 6, 2023 by Kenan Malik

This essay, on the censorship of those expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people, was my Observer column this week. It was published on 3 December 2023, under the headline “Solidarity with Palestinians is not hate speech, whatever would-be censors say”. An award ceremony for the Palestine-born novelist and essayist Adania Shibli is cancelled by the Frankfurt book fair because of “the war started by Hamas”. A cultural centre in Berlin has its funding cut and will be shut down after hosting an event from the organisation […]

Categories: Free Speech, International, Justice & Liberties • Tags: adania shibli, cansorship, david velasco, deborah feldman, free speech, genevieve lakier, germany, left, michael eisen, palestine, palestine solidarity, susan neiman

BUT WHAT IS YOUR ALTERNATIVE?

November 22, 2023 by Kenan Malik

This essay, on the need to challenge immoral policies and actions, was my Observer column this week. It was published on 19 November 2023, under the headline “‘There is no alternative’ is the last resort of those defending morally wrong acts”. “But what is your alternative?” It’s an important question in political debates when a particular policy or action is being challenged. It can also be a way of deflecting from the flimsiness, both moral and practical, of the plan facing scrutiny. […]

Categories: International, Justice & Liberties, Philosophy & Ethics • Tags: ceasefire, gaza, israel, palestinian rights, plaestine, rwanda scheme

IMMIGRATION AND PERFORMATIVE POLICYMAKING

November 15, 2023 by Kenan Malik

This essay, on the performative character of immigration policymaking, was my Observer column this week. It was published on 12 November 2023, under the headline “Across the globe, compassion for migrants has given way to cruel, performative politics“. On Wednesday, the UK supreme court will give its verdict on the Rwanda deportation scheme. The decision will clearly have a major impact on those who face deportation. It will have an impact, too, on the political debate about immigration, with government supporters either hailing a […]

Categories: International, Race & Immigration • Tags: afghan refugees, asylum seekers, giorgia meloni, hein de haas, hungary, italy, offshoring, pakistan, performative policymaking, refugees, rwanda deportation scheme

AESCHYLUS IN GAZA

November 8, 2023 by Kenan Malik

This essay, on what Aeschylus’ Oresteia trilogy can tell us about the Gaza conflict, was my Observer column this week. It was published on 5 November 2023, under the headline “In the Middle East, as in Greek tragedy, justice must prevail over moral absolutism”. Watching the tragedy unfold in Israel and Palestine has sometimes felt like reading the Oresteia backwards. A trilogy of plays by Aeschylus, written in the fifth century BC, the Oresteia tells of the transformation of ancient Greece from a society rooted in blood […]

Categories: Culture & Books, International, Justice & Liberties, Philosophy & Ethics • Tags: aeschylus, benjamin netanyahu, censorship, dehumanisation, gaza war, hamas, israel, oresteia, palestine, palestinian solidarity, vengeance

THE BUTCHERY AND THE BOMBING

October 18, 2023 by Kenan Malik

This essay, on why Hamas’ barbarism does not justify the collective punishment of Palestine, was my Observer column this week. It was published on 15 October 2023, under the headline “Hamas’s barbarism does not justify the collective punishment of Palestinians”. “They too have casualties, they too have captives and they have mothers who weep… Let’s make real peace”. Not a liberal peacenik speaking from the safety of London or Washington but Yaakov Argamani, whose daughter Noa was taken hostage by Hamas at a music […]

Categories: International, Justice & Liberties • Tags: 7 october attack, antisemitism, benjamin netanyahu, gaza war, hamas, israel, nakba, noa argamani, palestine, yaakov argamani

TO OPPOSE BIGOTRY, OPPOSE BLASPHEMY LAWS

September 6, 2023 by Kenan Malik

This essay, on the need to oppose blasphemy laws, was my Observer column this week. It was published on 3 September 2023, under the headline “Blasphemy law is no answer to bigotry in the wake of Denmark’s Qur’an burnings“. Should governments ban the “improper treatment of objects of significant religious importance to a religious community”? That is what the Danish government is suggesting in a new law it announced last week that could see offenders imprisoned for two years. The proposed ban comes after […]

Categories: Atheism & Religion, Free Speech, International, Philosophy & Ethics • Tags: anti-muslim hatred, blasphemy, blasphemy laws, bookburning, censorship, denmark, far right, islam, qur'an, qur'an descration

WAITING TO BE ARRESTED AT NIGHT

August 20, 2023 by Kenan Malik

This review of Tahir Hamut Izgil‘s Waiting to be Arrested at Night: A Uyghur Poet’s Memoir of China’s Genocide was published in the Observer on 13 August 2023 A group of Uyghur friends are having a late-night chat. “I wish the Chinese would just conquer the world,” one says suddenly. “Why do you say that?” another asks, surprised. “The world doesn’t care what happens to us,” the first man replies. “Since we can’t have freedom anyway, let the whole world taste subjugation. […]

Categories: Culture & Books, International • Tags: china, tahir hamut izgil, uyghurs

SEEPING INTO THE MAINSTREAM

August 2, 2023 by Kenan Malik

This essay, on how far-right ideas seep into mainstream even if far-right parties lose in elections, was my Observer column this week. It was published on 30 July 2023, under the headline “The far right don’t need to win elections to spread their malign ideas”. The Spanish elections last week did not unfold as many had predicted. The coalition of the centre-right People’s party and the far-right Vox failed in its bid for power, largely because the Vox vote plummeted, while the incumbent […]

Categories: International, Politics • Tags: afd, brexit, brothers of italy, european way of life, eurowhiteness, far right, giorgia meloni, hans kundnani, marine le pen, viktor orban, vox

THE SAUDIS PLAYING A GAME LONG ESTABLISHED

July 26, 2023 by Kenan Malik

This essay, on Saudi sportswashing, was my Observer column this week. It was published on 23 July 2023, under the headline “Saudis don’t need the money that flows in modern sport, but they do crave the kudos”. Jordan Henderson has been captain of Liverpool FC for eight years. He is a senior member of the England squad. He has been one of the most a vocal champion of LGBT rights within football. “I do believe when you see something that is clearly […]

Categories: International, Sport • Tags: football, gay rights, hypocrisy, jamal khashoggi, jordan henderson, lgbt rights, mbs, premier league, saudi arabia, sportswashing

FRANCE AND AMERICA, RACE AND RACISM

July 12, 2023 by Kenan Malik

This essay, on the different approaches of France and America to issues of race and racism, was my Observer column this week. It was published on 9 July 2023, under the headline “France has been laissez-faire on race, the US proactive. Clearly, neither of them has it right”. Should public policy be “race conscious” or “colour blind”? Should it target the specific inequalities faced by minority groups or treat all citizens equally without any reference to individuals’ racial and cultural backgrounds? The […]

Categories: International, Justice & Liberties, Race & Immigration • Tags: affirmative action, assimilationism, black middle class, black working class, france, identity politics, inequality, multiculturalism, nahel merzouk, racism, universalism, usa, william julius wilson

“THE ENEMY IS PUTIN, NOT PUSHKIN”

June 22, 2023 by Kenan Malik

This essay, on why the Ukraine war should not lead us to boycott Russian culture, was my Observer column this week. It was published on 18 June 2023, under the headline “We can revile Putin’s violence in Ukraine, but we’re not at war with Russian culture”. On 4 September 1939, the day after Britain had declared war on Germany, the BBC Proms opened with extracts from Richard Wagner’s works including The Mastersingers of Nuremberg, Götterdämmerung, Tristan and Isolde, Tannhäuser and Die Walküre. Later concerts that year included works […]

Categories: Culture & Books, International • Tags: cultural boycott, culture, elizabeth gilbert, hanif kureishi, herder, russia, russian culture, sensitivity readers, ukraine war, vladimir putin, wagner

A CATHEDRAL, A MOSQUE, HISTORIES AND MYTHS

March 9, 2023 by Kenan Malik

This essay, on the controversies surrounding Córdoba’s mosque-cathedral and Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, was my Observer column this week. It was published 4 March 2023, under the headline “Mezquita and Hagia Sophia: two sacred symbols and the culture wars that belie their complex history”. Córdoba’s mosque-cathedral is one of the most glorious buildings in Europe. I was last there 30 years ago, but the memory is still vividly etched in my mind. I remember walking through the Courtyard of the Orange Trees. Then, […]

Categories: Atheism & Religion, Culture & Books, History, International • Tags: al-andalus, byzantine, christianity, constantinople, cordoba, cordoba mezquita, cordoba mosque cathedral, erdogan, hagia sophia, islam, istanbul, spain, turkey