Royal Geographical Society: We won’t remove ‘Zionism is white supremacy’ rant from journal

The Royal Geographical Society has confirmed it will not remove an article published by its journal which described how “white supremacist ideology is at the heart of the Zionist project” and cited an academic describing “Zionist Israeli sources” as “the financiers of the Islamophobic industry”, with a spokesperson for the Society suggesting that to do so would be “censorship”.

Kawtar Najib, a French academic studying in the UK, had her piece, titled: “The United Kingdom’s first anti-Muslim pogroms in a context of genocidal Islamophobia in Gaza”, published by The Geographical Journal in August. The publication is one of a number disseminated by the Royal Geographical Society together with the IBG (Institute of British Geographers) which described them as “international peer-reviewed geography journals”.

In the article, which is publicly available, Najib claims: “White supremacist ideology is at the heart of the Zionist project” and refers to a supposed “transnational Zionist movement that reproduces exclusionary ideas against Muslims”.

She also cites an academic who she claims “exposes the financiers of the Islamophobic industry in the United States by explaining that more than 70% of anti-Muslim rhetoric comes from Zionist Israeli sources”. Najib also condemns the Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, for being “very reluctant to use the words ‘Islamophobia’ and ‘pogroms’ and instead talked about ‘far-right thuggery’”.

The Royal Geographical Society told Jewish News: “The Society considers academic freedom to be central to our mission of advancing geographical science – it is essential that individuals, and institutions, have the freedom to carry out geographical research activities without fear of discrimination, censorship or other restrictions.”

One of the academics cited in Najib’s piece is David Miller, the former University of Bristol professor who is now best known for regular pronouncements on social media such as “the entryist, subversion and surveillance networks that allow for complete Jewish supremacist dominance over our politics in Europe and the US … must be destroyed.”

Another is Hatem Bazian, best known by Jews as the man who once told attendees at an ‘anti-Israel’ protest to “take a look at the type of names on the building around campus—Haas, Zellerbach—and decide who controls this university”, as well as having shared antisemitic messages on social media, including one showing an Orthodox Jewish man with the caption, “I can now kill, rape, smuggle organs & steal the land of Palestinians”. Najib’s source for a claim that the far right rioters’ “sympathy for Zionism is open and enthusiastic” was a report from the Iranian regime’s outlet, Press TV.

Public statements by Najib include “I’m proud to say that I started tweeting Pro-Palestinian messages from October 8th and never stopped”, “it is soon the end of the Zionist so-called state – we can see it and we can feel it”. A tweet which included the wording “Why don’t Israelis just f*** off to Poland and Germany and America”, was shared by Najib with the words “Go girl!!” She also shared a Hamas propaganda video showing some of the female Israeli hostages being released, claiming that “Israeli hostages smile and are grateful to the al-Qassam brigades.”

The Royal Geographical society also told Jewish News: “In common with all papers published in the Society’s academic journals, the information, practices and views in Dr Kawtar Najib’s commentary are those of the author. All our journals operate within the framework of academic freedom and therefore can, and do, publish papers which contain views that some people may disagree with. The Geographical Journal, in particular, aims to be a space for critical reflection and to foster conversations between academia, policy, and practice.”