“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
