Rachel Shabi
@rachelshabi.bsky.social
Journalist, author, broadcaster. Politics, Middle East
UK government tried to override police assessments – thereby exposing British Muslims to racism – and made violently racist Israeli football fans synonymous with Jewish. If you wanted to tackle antisemitism, you sure as hell wouldn't go about it like this
rachelshabi.substack.com/p/the-maccab...
rachelshabi.substack.com/p/the-maccab...
The Maccabi Tel Aviv derangement syndrome of Britain's political class
How do progressive antiracists respond?
rachelshabi.substack.com
October 28, 2025 at 5:29 PM
UK government tried to override police assessments – thereby exposing British Muslims to racism – and made violently racist Israeli football fans synonymous with Jewish. If you wanted to tackle antisemitism, you sure as hell wouldn't go about it like this
rachelshabi.substack.com/p/the-maccab...
rachelshabi.substack.com/p/the-maccab...
I wrote about the Manchester synagogue attack and attempts to blame Gaza protests
rachelshabi.substack.com/p/indivisibl...
rachelshabi.substack.com/p/indivisibl...
October 10, 2025 at 1:27 PM
I wrote about the Manchester synagogue attack and attempts to blame Gaza protests
rachelshabi.substack.com/p/indivisibl...
rachelshabi.substack.com/p/indivisibl...
Its fragile and there are so many buts - but amid all that right now: huge relief
October 9, 2025 at 6:40 AM
Its fragile and there are so many buts - but amid all that right now: huge relief
A quick post to my Substack last week, about the Manchester synagogue attack and the way the far-right uses Jewish communities to push its own noxious ideology rachelshabi.substack.com/p/manchester...
Manchester attack, antisemitism and the far-right outrage machine
The attack on a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur was bad enough - and then came the far-right's noxious political appropriation of it
rachelshabi.substack.com
October 6, 2025 at 9:03 AM
A quick post to my Substack last week, about the Manchester synagogue attack and the way the far-right uses Jewish communities to push its own noxious ideology rachelshabi.substack.com/p/manchester...
I took part in this devastating episode on how Israel has targeted and killed journalists in Gaza - the most courageous professionals who carried on working in the most impossible conditions www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUSx...
Smear. Kill. Repeat. Israel’s playbook for journalists in Gaza | The Listening Post
YouTube video by Al Jazeera English
www.youtube.com
October 5, 2025 at 6:08 PM
I took part in this devastating episode on how Israel has targeted and killed journalists in Gaza - the most courageous professionals who carried on working in the most impossible conditions www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUSx...
Reposted by Rachel Shabi
Shanice Octavia McBean and @rachelshabi.bsky.social join us for our final episode of Lifting the Curtain On Antisemitism. Listen in as we explore how progressives can build alliances, challenge false framings around antisemitism, and deepen their understanding of the issue: ow.ly/k56950WZ1m1.
September 18, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Shanice Octavia McBean and @rachelshabi.bsky.social join us for our final episode of Lifting the Curtain On Antisemitism. Listen in as we explore how progressives can build alliances, challenge false framings around antisemitism, and deepen their understanding of the issue: ow.ly/k56950WZ1m1.
The paperback is out today!
www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/Off-Wh...
www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/Off-Wh...
Off-White
Why can't we talk about antisemitism? 'I cannot wait for Off-White to be read, debated and put into practice.' Naomi Klein, author of Doppelganger ...
www.simonandschuster.co.uk
September 4, 2025 at 5:11 PM
The paperback is out today!
www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/Off-Wh...
www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/Off-Wh...
How do I preserve the spirit of my Iraqi-Jewish mum’s life and the land that produced her, in a political climate determined to vanquish not just the reality of her world, but the idea that it could ever have existed in the first place?
inews.co.uk/opinion/ive-...
inews.co.uk/opinion/ive-...
I’ve lost my mum. Now I’m fighting to keep hold of her Iraqi-Jewish identity
My parents told the story of how Jews were treated in the Middle East, before and after the creation of the state of Israel
inews.co.uk
August 18, 2025 at 12:55 PM
How do I preserve the spirit of my Iraqi-Jewish mum’s life and the land that produced her, in a political climate determined to vanquish not just the reality of her world, but the idea that it could ever have existed in the first place?
inews.co.uk/opinion/ive-...
inews.co.uk/opinion/ive-...
Will be in Sydney tonight and Melbourne on Tuesday in conversation with the Jewish Council of Australia, looking at the country’s authoritarian moves to crush free speech on Gaza and conflate antisemitism and anti-Zionism, and much more:
www.jewishcouncil.com.au/2025/07/off-...
www.jewishcouncil.com.au/2025/07/off-...
Off White: The Truth about Antisemitism - a Jewish Council Conversation with Rachel Shabi
As authoritarian ‘antisemitism’ plans and envoys continue to distort our politics at home and abroad, it has become difficult to […]
www.jewishcouncil.com.au
August 16, 2025 at 11:13 PM
Will be in Sydney tonight and Melbourne on Tuesday in conversation with the Jewish Council of Australia, looking at the country’s authoritarian moves to crush free speech on Gaza and conflate antisemitism and anti-Zionism, and much more:
www.jewishcouncil.com.au/2025/07/off-...
www.jewishcouncil.com.au/2025/07/off-...
Reposted by Rachel Shabi
UK media coverage of Gaza is a disgrace
May 26, 2025 at 8:12 PM
UK media coverage of Gaza is a disgrace
Reposted by Rachel Shabi
Outrage after an Israeli attack kills nine of a Gaza doctor’s children while she was at work, aged seven months to 12 years, with two still under the rubble aje.io/i7m1nb
Outrage, horror after Israeli attack kills nine children of Gaza doctor
The young victims, two of whom remain under the rubble, range in age from seven months to 12 years old. .
aje.io
May 24, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Outrage after an Israeli attack kills nine of a Gaza doctor’s children while she was at work, aged seven months to 12 years, with two still under the rubble aje.io/i7m1nb
Reposted by Rachel Shabi
If only there were someone in a senior position of power in this relationship
May 22, 2025 at 8:30 PM
If only there were someone in a senior position of power in this relationship
Shameful behaviour: the BBC won't air the documentary, Gaza: Medics Under Fire - but refuses to release the rights so another broadcaster or platform can air it
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/m...
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/m...
Doctors and whistleblowers in delayed Gaza film threaten to pull out
Exclusive: Contributors to Gaza: Medics Under Fire may withdraw consent due to BBC’s delays to broadcast it
www.theguardian.com
May 23, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Shameful behaviour: the BBC won't air the documentary, Gaza: Medics Under Fire - but refuses to release the rights so another broadcaster or platform can air it
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/m...
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/m...
The failure of western politicians to act, to stop a genocidal war, to halt the catastrophic damage this has caused – to Palestinians in Gaza, primarily, but also to the region, to international law and to our humanity itself – will follow them forever.
rachelshabi.substack.com/p/finally-la...
rachelshabi.substack.com/p/finally-la...
Finally, Labour noticed the agony in Gaza
What the hell took them so long?
rachelshabi.substack.com
May 23, 2025 at 8:47 AM
The failure of western politicians to act, to stop a genocidal war, to halt the catastrophic damage this has caused – to Palestinians in Gaza, primarily, but also to the region, to international law and to our humanity itself – will follow them forever.
rachelshabi.substack.com/p/finally-la...
rachelshabi.substack.com/p/finally-la...
New post: what prompted the UK’s change over Gaza? It’s not that the British government has suddenly found a conscience
rachelshabi.substack.com/p/finally-la...
rachelshabi.substack.com/p/finally-la...
Finally, Labour noticed the agony in Gaza
What the hell took them so long?
rachelshabi.substack.com
May 21, 2025 at 6:12 PM
New post: what prompted the UK’s change over Gaza? It’s not that the British government has suddenly found a conscience
rachelshabi.substack.com/p/finally-la...
rachelshabi.substack.com/p/finally-la...
People looking back on this period will never understand, because there is no way to understand, how Israel deliberately starved Palestinians in Gaza, how food aid piled up at every border of the Gaza strip and the entire world could not compel Israel to let it through
May 16, 2025 at 9:28 AM
People looking back on this period will never understand, because there is no way to understand, how Israel deliberately starved Palestinians in Gaza, how food aid piled up at every border of the Gaza strip and the entire world could not compel Israel to let it through
'FAFO' is the Israel right-or-wrong crew saying that the slaughter in Gaza is the ‘finding out’ bit of Hamas ‘fucking around’ on October 7. And it is jaw-dropping in its humanity-stripping callousness
rachelshabi.substack.com/p/gaza-and-t...
rachelshabi.substack.com/p/gaza-and-t...
Gaza and the 'FAFO' factor
On the callous responses to the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza
rachelshabi.substack.com
May 15, 2025 at 10:31 AM
'FAFO' is the Israel right-or-wrong crew saying that the slaughter in Gaza is the ‘finding out’ bit of Hamas ‘fucking around’ on October 7. And it is jaw-dropping in its humanity-stripping callousness
rachelshabi.substack.com/p/gaza-and-t...
rachelshabi.substack.com/p/gaza-and-t...
Reposted by Rachel Shabi
Hotovely "Every school, every mosque, every second house has an access to tunnels"
Iain Dale "Thats an argument for destroying the whole of Gaza"
Hotovely "Do you have another solution?"
People can't pretend they didn't know what was going to happen. This clip is from Jan 2024
Iain Dale "Thats an argument for destroying the whole of Gaza"
Hotovely "Do you have another solution?"
People can't pretend they didn't know what was going to happen. This clip is from Jan 2024
May 15, 2025 at 8:40 AM
Hotovely "Every school, every mosque, every second house has an access to tunnels"
Iain Dale "Thats an argument for destroying the whole of Gaza"
Hotovely "Do you have another solution?"
People can't pretend they didn't know what was going to happen. This clip is from Jan 2024
Iain Dale "Thats an argument for destroying the whole of Gaza"
Hotovely "Do you have another solution?"
People can't pretend they didn't know what was going to happen. This clip is from Jan 2024
Gaza and the 'FAFO' factor
Write about starvation in Gaza and you get: "Tell them to release the hostages." Write that Palestinian children were incinerated by an Israeli airstrike and it’s: "Who cares? Hamas started this"
substack.com/home/post/p-...
Write about starvation in Gaza and you get: "Tell them to release the hostages." Write that Palestinian children were incinerated by an Israeli airstrike and it’s: "Who cares? Hamas started this"
substack.com/home/post/p-...
May 13, 2025 at 7:02 AM
Gaza and the 'FAFO' factor
Write about starvation in Gaza and you get: "Tell them to release the hostages." Write that Palestinian children were incinerated by an Israeli airstrike and it’s: "Who cares? Hamas started this"
substack.com/home/post/p-...
Write about starvation in Gaza and you get: "Tell them to release the hostages." Write that Palestinian children were incinerated by an Israeli airstrike and it’s: "Who cares? Hamas started this"
substack.com/home/post/p-...
New post: Gaza and the 'FAFO' factor
rachelshabi.substack.com/p/gaza-and-t...
rachelshabi.substack.com/p/gaza-and-t...
Gaza and the 'FAFO' factor
On the callous responses to the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza
rachelshabi.substack.com
May 12, 2025 at 5:27 PM
New post: Gaza and the 'FAFO' factor
rachelshabi.substack.com/p/gaza-and-t...
rachelshabi.substack.com/p/gaza-and-t...
'What does it say about a society that sells eclairs inciting destruction while... children in Gaza wait in lines at community kitchens, holding out empty pots and plastic tubs for their allocation of one meal for the day... unable to enjoy even one cookie?' www.haaretz.com/opinion/2025...
'Let the IDF mow them down!": In Israel, violence saturates everyday life | Opinion
***
www.haaretz.com
May 9, 2025 at 3:32 PM
'What does it say about a society that sells eclairs inciting destruction while... children in Gaza wait in lines at community kitchens, holding out empty pots and plastic tubs for their allocation of one meal for the day... unable to enjoy even one cookie?' www.haaretz.com/opinion/2025...
Netanyahu’s plan to seize Gaza has been the logical endpoint for a while and western leaders can’t pretend they didn’t know
open.substack.com/pub/rachelsh...
open.substack.com/pub/rachelsh...
End Point
Israel’s reckoning for Gaza is here and it has been clear all along
open.substack.com
May 7, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Netanyahu’s plan to seize Gaza has been the logical endpoint for a while and western leaders can’t pretend they didn’t know
open.substack.com/pub/rachelsh...
open.substack.com/pub/rachelsh...
Reposted by Rachel Shabi
‘Far from being an unrepresentative fringe, the letter-writers echo a sizable constituency of British Jews.
And that constituency is not served, or even acknowledged, by the body that claims to speak for it.’
Great piece by @rachelshabi.bsky.social and comment by @naamoduk.bsky.social
And that constituency is not served, or even acknowledged, by the body that claims to speak for it.’
Great piece by @rachelshabi.bsky.social and comment by @naamoduk.bsky.social
Na'amod spoke to @rachelshabi.bsky.social about the Board of Deputies suppressing dissent over Israel:
"This is an organization that chooses the project of defending the Israeli right over the project of representing Jewish communities in Britain, where the two conflict.”
tinyurl.com/36ur47fc
"This is an organization that chooses the project of defending the Israeli right over the project of representing Jewish communities in Britain, where the two conflict.”
tinyurl.com/36ur47fc
A Public Letter Criticizing Israel Reveals a Schism Among Britain’s Jews
The statement in the Financial Times has opened a rift in the UK diaspora’s oldest communal organization over the war in Gaza, and poses questions about the body’s fundamental purpose
tinyurl.com
May 1, 2025 at 10:01 PM
‘Far from being an unrepresentative fringe, the letter-writers echo a sizable constituency of British Jews.
And that constituency is not served, or even acknowledged, by the body that claims to speak for it.’
Great piece by @rachelshabi.bsky.social and comment by @naamoduk.bsky.social
And that constituency is not served, or even acknowledged, by the body that claims to speak for it.’
Great piece by @rachelshabi.bsky.social and comment by @naamoduk.bsky.social