Eli Sharabi shortlisted as antisemitism centre announces 2025 prize finalists
London antisemitism centre names finalists for its 2025 awards, including Eli Sharabi’s memoir Hostage
The London Centre for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism (LCSCA) has released the shortlists for its 2025 awards, naming five finalists for its £1,000 Book Prize and three nominees for the Pete Newbon Award.
Among the book finalists is former captive Eli Sharabi, whose memoir Hostage recounts his abduction from Kibbutz Be’eri on 7 October and the 491 days he spent held in Gaza. Published this year, it is the first memoir by a released Israeli hostage and immediately became the fastest-selling book in Israeli history, going on to reach the New York Times, Sunday Times and other international bestseller lists.
Also shortlisted are Ben M. Freeman’s The Jews: An Indigenous People, Brendan O’Neill’s After the Pogrom: 7 October, Israel and the Crisis of Civilisation, Douglas Murray’s On Democracies and Death Cults: Israel, Hamas and the Future of the West, and Jake Wallis Simons’ Never Again: How the West Betrayed the Jews and Itself. The category is judged by Daniel Chernilo, Maiken Umbach and Pamela Walker.
In the Pete Newbon Award category – which recognises “the greatest contribution to the public understanding of antisemitism” – this year’s finalists are independent researcher David Collier, social-media activist Gillian Lazarus and journalist Nicole Lampert. Judges for the award are Heidi Bachram, Rachel Moiselle and Jen Gerber.
The winners will be announced on 7 December during the LCSCA’s annual Robert Fine Memorial Lecture, where author and academic Dave Rich is set to deliver the keynote address. The centre said the prizes honour the late lecturer Pete Newbon and aim to highlight individuals whose work deepens public understanding of contemporary antisemitism.
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