Jon Soske

Overview

Jon Soske [Jon Dylan Soske] has demonized Israel and is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

In February 2015, Soske was affiliated with the McGill University chapter of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR), an affiliate of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). He also endorsed a BDS campaign at McGill that was pushed by SPHR.

As of November 2017, Soske was listed by McGill as an Assistant Professor in the Department of History and Classical Studies, where he taught modern African history. 

As of the same date, Soske’s McGill profile said he received a Ph.D. in History from the University of Toronto (UToronto) in 2009, as well as a master’s degree in Comparative Literature from the University of California - Berkeley (UC Berkeley) in 2000. 

In September 2020, Soske was listed on the website for the Rhode Island Community for Addiction Recovery Efforts (RICARES) as the group’s “Community Engagement & Education Coordinator.”

Demonizing Israel

On November 23, 2014, Soske co-edited an “ebook” titled: “Apartheid Israel: The Politics of an Analogy,” which featured essays by 11 scholars. 

Soske co-authored a contribution which claimed Israel had “colonial practices.” It also said: “The editors believe that the African Studies Association should move toward endorsing the academic boycott of Israeli universities.” 

Two other contributors to the ebook were pro-BDS professors Marissa Moorman and Robin D.G. Kelley. In her essay, Moorman described Israel as being part of “an alliance of white settler states.”

In his contribution, Kelley wrote: “How are Black lobbyists for Israel able to invoke the memory of Dr. [Martin Luther] King [Jr.] in the service of settler colonialism and genocidal war in the West Bank and Gaza?” Kelley’s reference to “genocidal war” in Gaza referred to Israel’s Operation Protective Edge (OPE) against Hamas which concluded three months earlier, as well as other Israeli military operations in Gaza since 2008.

Israel commenced Operations Cast Lead (OCL), Pillar of Defense (OPD) and Protective Edge (OPE) in 2008-09, 2012 and 2014, respectively, in order to stop Hamas rocket fire from Gaza targeting Israeli civilians.

In November 2015, Soske co-edited a book also titled: “Apartheid Israel: The Politics of an Analogy.” The book’s description on the publisher’s website said: “Eighteen prominent South African scholars reflect on the analogy between apartheid South Africa and contemporary Israel.”

Soske, Kelley and Moorman all contributed to the book. Mahmood Mamdani, who also contributed to the book, has written other essays where he called for dismantling Israel and equated Israeli Jews to Nazis.

On June 15, 2016, Soske co-authored an article in the anti-Israel website Mondoweiss titled: “Are comparisons of South African apartheid and Israel useful?” In the article, he accused Israel of having “colonial origins” and that it has committed “ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and the denial of their right to return.”

The “right of return” is a Palestinian demand discredited as a means to eliminate Israel. International law mandates no absolute right of return and UN Resolution 194, which defined principles for “refugees wishing to return to their homes,” was unanimously rejected by Arab nations following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

In “Winter 2016,” Soske taught a course at McGill titled: “Israel, Palestine and South Africa.” The course description said: “The course will conclude by discussing arguments for the ‘one state’ solution for Israel/Palestine and the 1994 South African transition.”  

The “one-state solution” has been denounced from the Right and the Left as a scheme to dissolve Israel as the Jewish State. 

Supporting BDS

On February 24, 2015, Soske appeared on a Facebook event page as a speaker at an SPHR McGill event titled: “Boycotting Apartheid States: A Panel on BDS.” Soske’s role was to “speak primarily about apartheid South Africa and its similarities to Israel.”

On February 28, 2016, Soske signed a McGill BDS Action Network statement on Facebook. He was one of 33 McGill professors who signed the statement.

On March 7, 2016, Soske signed onto a McGill BDS statement accusing Israel of “colonialism.” The statement included the BDS movement demands that Israel end its “colonization of Arab lands” and that it should start “dismantling the Wall,” a reference to Israel’s security barrier.