Tag Archives: antisemitism

Events

Wednesday 19th February 2025- Safety Through Solidarity: A Radical Guide to Fighting Antisemitism

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On Wednesday 19th February 2025, from 7.30-9.30pm, Stroud Radical Reading Group will host a discussion of “Safety Through Solidarity: A Radical Guide to Fighting Antisemitism” by Shane Burley and Ben Lorber. The event will be hosted jointly by Stroud Radical Reading Group and Na’amod Gloucestershire. Na’amod is “a movement of Jews in the UK seeking to end our community’s support for Israel’s occupation and apartheid, and to mobilise it in the struggle for freedom, equality and justice for all Palestinians and Israelis”, and a Gloucestershire branch was formed in 2024.

Entry is free and everyone is welcome.

PLEASE NOTE DIFFERENT VENUE FOR THIS EVENT: We will meet at The Exchange on Brick Row, GL5 1DF (a short walk from the town centre train or bus station, with parking available nearby at Church St).

More information about the book, venue and how sessions work is below – together with a link to buy the book at a discount and a variety of free text, audio, and visual resources relevant to the book/discussion.

About the book:

“From online trolling of Jews by the ‘alt-right’ to synagogue shootings by white nationalists to the spread of QAnon and George Soros conspiracy theories, antisemitism is a fixture of U.S. politics today. Its rise is part and parcel of growing exclusionary nationalist movements – putting multiracial democracy itself at risk. At the same time, conversations about antisemitism are more polarized than ever.

How is antisemitism connected to anti-Blackness, xenophobia, anti-LGBTQ bigotry, and other forms of oppression? How do we build the coalitions and movements we need to fight it all together? Why is it important to distinguish between legitimate criticism of Israel’s oppression of Palestinians and antisemitism?

Using personal stories, historical deep-dives, front-line reporting, and interviews with leading change-makers, Lorber and Burley help the reader understand how antisemitism works, what’s at stake in contemporary debates, and how we can build true safety in solidarity.”

This event follows the annual Holocaust Memorial Day, this year marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi concentration camp complex (and the 30th anniversary of the genocide in Bosnia). In Stroud, Community Solidarity Stroud District hosted a local event on Sunday 26th January at the Lansdown Hall from 2-3pm.

Our 2025 event follows discussions of books linked to Holocaust Memorial Day in the past – Primo Levi’s The Drowned and The Saved, Revolutionary Yiddishland, and We Fight Fascists. Links to those previous events are provided for interest only – you do not have been to any of our previous events to come along to this one.

Resources

About our events and the venue

Stroud Radical Reading Group events are free to attend, though we will make a collection to cover venue hire costs – please bring some cash. We try to create a comfortable discussion space for everyone, including people who have not been part of a reading group or been to university. Anyone is welcome to listen to the discussion, though we encourage contributions only from those who have read at least some of the book we are discussing.

We will meet at The Exchange on Brick Row in Stroud. This is near the centre of town, a short walk from Stroud Railway Station or the Merrywalks Bus Station. There are stands to lock bikes to outside, and parking for cars nearby at Church St car park. There is sloped access to the building and to an accessible toilet. The room is well lit and warm. Please get in touch if you’d like to get more of an idea of what the sessions are like or if you have any accessibility needs.

Get in touch
Facebook event – invite friends/receive reminders
Join the Stroud Radical Reading Facebook Group for online discussion with others who attend the discussions
Events

January 25th 2023: We Fight Fascists by Daniel Sonabend

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On Wednesday 25th January, from 7.30-9.30pm at The Exchange, Brick Row, Stroud (GL5 1DF), Stroud Radical Reading Group will discuss Daniel Sonabend’s “We Fight Fascists: The 43 Group and Their Forgotten Battle for Post-War Britain“. The book tells the story of the Jewish ex-servicemen who fought against Oswald Mosley after World War II. Our event will precede Holocaust Memorial Day which is held annually on January 27th (and accompany other events on the topic that week). The event will begin with an introduction by regular attendee Jeremy Green, whose father was a member of the 43 Group.

This discussion will be the first of a series looking at antifascism, both historically and in the present, running monthly till May. You are welcome to attend this session alone, though we of course recommend reading all the books in the series and coming to all the events for the full experience!

Freely available resources related to the book are available below. We like to ensure everyone can attendee our sessions and get something out of them even if they can’t afford to buy a copy of the book or the time to read it. We would encourage people to read/listen to as much as possible, but you are welcome to attend and listen along even if you are unable to engage with any of the below.

You can buy a paperback copy from publishers Verso with a 30% discount and free e-book (£9.09 instead of the £12.99 RRP). The ebook alone is available from Verso for £7.79 (40% of the RRP of £12.99) at the same link.

Our events are free to attend, though we will collect donations to cover the costs of venue hire on a donate-what-you-can-afford basis. We try to ensure the discussions are welcoming to new people, including people who have never been to a reading group before – and you don’t have to have been to university. You don’t even have to have read any of the book – you can just come along and listen to the discussion. Some free resources including a sample chapter we’ll focus our discussion on are included below though, and we’d encourage people to read/listen to as much as they can ahead of the session.

“In 1946 many Jewish soldiers returned to their homes in England imagining that they had fought and defeated the forces of fascism in Europe. Yet in London they found a revived fascist movement inspired by Sir Oswald Mosley and stirring up agitation against Jews and communists. Many felt that the government, the police and even the Jewish Board of Deputies were ignoring the threat; so they had to take matters into their own hands, by any means necessary.

Forty-three Jewish servicemen met together and set up a group that tirelessly organised, infiltrated meetings, and broke up street demonstrations to stop the rebirth of the far right. The group included returned war heroes; women who went undercover; and young Jews, such as hairdresser Vidal Sassoon, seeking adventure. From 1947, the 43 Group grew into a powerful troop that could muster hundreds of fighters turning meetings into mass street brawls at short notice.

The history of the 43 Group is not just a gripping story of a forgotten moment in Britain’s postwar history; it is also a timely lesson in how to confront fascism, and how to win.” – information about the book from publishers, Verso.

The Exchange has step-free access. We will keep windows open for ventilation, hand sanitiser is provided, and we ask people who are ill to stay away (whether they are ill with covid or something else). Attendees do not generally wear masks but we will be respectful to anyone who chooses to and other members may wear masks at request of other attendees – let us know your preferences in advance. Please contact us if you have any accessibility requirements, or other questions about how the events work.

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