zionism for dummies
Zionism and anti-Semitism - for Dummies
Ali Wasti.Saturday, 30 April 2016
Because today even people on the left are confused and disoriented by this
topic, I present.....
Zionism and anti-Semitism - for Dummies
1. Is being anti-Zionist, racist?
Zionism is not a race or ethnic group. It is a political ideology. There are
anti-Zionist Jews and Zionist non-Jews. Being anti-Zionist is not a racist
position.
If most Germans were Nazis at some point, does that make opposing Nazism
'anti-German'? Does opposing British bombing of Syria or Iraq make you an
anti-British racist? Does opposing the Saudi regime make you an Islamophobe?
2. Isn't Zionism the voice of the Jewish people?
Zionism does not represent all Jews - any more than Republicanism represents
all Americans, or Toryism all British. And worse, unlike the Republicans and
Tories, no one voted for the self-appointed Zionists who claim to speak 'on
behalf of all Jews'.
3. Yes, but aren't all Jews Zionists?
Zionism was a tiny current within the Jewish diaspora before the Holocaust.
More Jews supported socialist currents, like the Bund. Today there are large
numbers of Jews disavowing support for Israel and its politicians: For
example, Jewish Voice for Peace in the US has been growing rapidly, in
opposition to the Zionist AIPAC.
4. Isn't Zionism just the national liberation movement of Jews?
A liberation movement was one that traditionally sought to expel foreign
occupiers. Zionism was, on the contrary, a movement that sought to expel the
native Palestinians and to colonize Palestine. It is more like the European
colonization of Africa, North America and Australia, than anything to do
with liberation. Furthermore, as a movement it had no interest in fighting
anti-Semitism. In fact the German Zionists saw the rise of the Nazi party as
an opportunity.
5. Oh, so now you're just saying Zionism=Nazism?
No, it clearly doesn't. However, both ideologies have common roots: 19th
century notions of 'race'; the belief that different races could not live
together; the desire to have states and laws based on ethnic identity; the
belief that colonization was acceptable. In Nazi Germany, both movements
shared a common goal: get Jews out of Europe. That's why there was a
symbiotic relationship between the Zionist movement and the Nazis. Goebbels
even had a medal minted with the Swastika on one side and the star of David
on the other.
6. But isn't Zionism just a response to anti-Semitism?
Yes, its a response. But one that counterposes fighting anti-Semitism to
colonizing Palestine. Its the wrong response. In the West today, there is
rampant Islamophobia. Does that mean Islamic fundamentalism must be
supported? Or maybe socialists should encourage Muslims to give up the fight
against racism and flee to the safety of Muslim countries? Its a response to
Islamophobia, after all. English people suffering under years of Tory
austerity can respond in two ways: join the Labour party and vote for
Corbyn, or they can join the fascist EDL. Both are not equally laudable as
responses to economic deprivation. Zionism was a right-wing, reactionary
response to anti-Semitism.
7. Isn't it unfair to pick on Israel all the time? Isn't that a
reflection of your latent anti-Semitism?
Israel IS getting special treatment - but not because it is singled out by
anti-Semites.
* It is never attacked for violating UN resolutions - 66 in total.
* It is not a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and,
according to Wikipedia, it has somewhere between 75-400 nuclear weapons -
and yet that is never discussed in polite company or by politicians. Compare
that to the pressure put on Iran, which doesn't have even one.
*It s leaders have never been tried for war crimes - despite the wars on
Gazan civilians, the use of human shields, white phosphorus or the massacres
stretching from Dier Yassin to Sabra and Chatilla.
* It receives between $3 and $4 billion in 'aid' from the US, despite having
the 16th highest per capita income in the world. And it gets another $1 to
$1.5 billion in private donations which are tax deductible - a privilege
given to no other nation.
*It even got paid to NOT join in the war against Saddam Hussain.
8. Doesn't Israel have a right to exist?
Not in its current racist form. The South African state and the Rhodesian
state also didn't have the right to exist. Current Israeli citizens,
however, should be free to live in a non-racial state in Palestine - just
like Whites continued to live in post-apartheid South Africa and Rhodesia.
9. Doesn't Israel's legitimacy derive from the UN mandate that
created it?
Yes, that's what Israel claims. The truth is that the creation of Israel was
a typical act of imperial high handedness. Once the British Mandate ended,
Palestine should have become a self-governed state. Instead, the UN, decreed
the creation of 2 states, despite many member states at the time arguing
that the UN had no legal authority to do so.
That was resolution 181. One year later, resolution 194 was also passed. We
don't hear much about it, even though it is reaffirmed ever year since 1949
by the UN. It called for ""refugees wishing to return to their homes and
live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the
earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the
property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to
property which, under principles of international law or equity, should be
made good by the Governments or authorities responsible."
Multiple subsequent resolutions from the United Nations have reaffirmed the
right of return, including General Assembly Resolution 169 (1980), and
Security Council Resolution 237 (1967).
Israel has ignored every UN resolution since 181, the one that it claims
gives it legal authority. And yet, there are never any threats, no wars, no
sanctions. So, yes, Israel is singled out for special treatment.
10. But why do you call Israel racist? Shouldn't Jews have a homeland
too?
In order to create an everlasting Jewish majority, Israel has to implement
racist laws, and - a demand becoming increasingly vocal in Israel - move to
the expulsion of the remaining non-Jews. Any state based on ethnic identity
is structurally racist. It has to be. That was true of Nazi Germany, that
was true of Apartheid South Africa and its true of Israel. The states that
Israel likes to compare itself to, in Europe and the US, are democratic,
secular states by and large. Citizenship is generally based on residence,
not ethnic identity.
To put the issue starkly, imagine if you took the immigration, housing,
welfare and citizenship laws of Israel and changed it from Jewish and
non-Jewish to White and non-white. Imagine a state where anyone who was
White - from anywhere in the world - had an automatic right to citizenship.
And anyone who was nt white had no such right, by law - indeed was actively
discriminated against. Would you call it racist?
11. But surely, most Jews want to live in Israel?
Not according to the numbers. By some estimates there are as many Jews
living in the US (a democratic, secular state) as in Israel. The majority of
Jews today vote with their feet and choose to live outside of Israel.
12. But the holocaust, the pogroms, the eternal persecution of the
Jews means they deserve a safe haven, don't they?
The idea that anti-Semitism is eternal, is baked into the DNA of gentiles,
is itself a deeply anti-Semitic idea and propounded by Herzl, the founder of
modern political Zionism: "In Paris... I achieved a freer attitude toward
anti-Semitism, which I now began to understand historically and to pardon.
Above all, I recognized the emptiness and futility of trying to 'combat'
anti-Semitism."
Because if it were true, you'd have to ask the question, Why? Why does
everyone through all of time hate Jews? IF its indeed eternal,inevitable and
uncontrollable, then the obvious conclusion would be it must be the fault of
the Jews. But its not true.
It is ahistorical nonsense to say that anti-Semitism has always existed or
is inevitable or that it has always taken the same form. Today, Jews outside
of Israel are well integrated in most countries. No politician in the USA,
however rabidly racist they are towards Muslims and Mexicans, dares to utter
an anti-Semitic word. And Jews in the USA and Europe today are a minority,
but not an *oppressed* minority - by any socio-economic indicators. Even the
fascists oozing out of the pores of European society have largely turned
their attention to Muslims and Arabs and, at least in public, downplayed the
anti-Semitism.
Israel, far from being a 'safe haven' for Jews, is probably the most
dangerous place on earth for Jews to live. You can't live in peace when your
presence demands continuous discrimination and oppression of the native
population. Indeed the rhetoric and politics in Israel are moving ever
rightwards. With genuinely fascist groups appearing. Israel is today and for
evermore condemned to be an armed fortress in a hostile region. And the
propagandist claim by Zionists that Zionism = Judaism does nothing but
spread anti-Semitism around the world. It is ironic while Muslims are
encouraged to distance themselves from the actions of fundamentalist
extremists, Zionists are lauded for attempting to associate all Jews with
the actions of Israel. Small wonder then, that some people accept that at
face value and blame all Jews for the actions of Israel.
Only true democracy, one person, one vote and a single democratic state of
Palestine, with equal rights for all, will bring peace to Jews in Israel.
And that demands the destruction of Zionism.
