The New Anti-Zionists
“Although Israel won its existence more than fifty years ago, a new and insidious critique has begun to spread, attacking anew the legitimacy of Israel’s very establishment as a Jewish state. The new line does not come from Tehran or Riyadh but, surprisingly from largely European intellectuals and certain voices on the fringe American Left, surfacing recently in The Guardian and The New York Review of Books. It proposes the elimination of Israel and is generally accompanied by calls to establish a bi-national Palestinian-Jewish state in its place. The new anti-Zionists invariably start with the claim that there are no Jewish rights to sovereignty in Israel, or that, in any case, Jewish nationalism is inherently unjust.” (c/o Internet Haganah)
Screw ’em.
how profound.
This article conspicuously neglected to mention that the people behind the article in the NY Review of books (Tony Judt) and other recent articles questioning Israel’s legitimacy are Jews and that there are other Jews, Israelis, and IDF veterans who support a one state solution such as Aron from IsraelBlog.org
“Recently, several articles appearing in the West (most of them written by Jewish commentators) questioned whether it was a mistake to establish the State of Israel along ethnic lines – as a Jewish state. The settlements, it has been written, have ended any possibility of geographic separation between Jews and Palestinians, and therefore the remaining solution, in practice, is to establish a binational state.”
http://www.israelblog.org/Articles/Israel_is_bad_for_the_Jews.html
Sorry to post twice in a row, but I think this article cries out for analysis.
By claiming that this so-called ‘new’ anti-Zionism is “largely European intellectuals and certain voices on the fringe American Left”, leaving out the fact that the majority of it is coming from Jews and also by artificially associating them with Tehran and Riyadh, the authors seek to create an impression of some connection to anti-Semitism.
The authors are playing into the myth that any opposition to Zionism is inherently anti-Semitic – even when it comes from Jews – and even if the opposition comes from people who staunchly oppose ethnic nationalism in all situations.
Throughout the authors trot out old Zionist myths one after another:
“[Israel] in no way infringes the rights of minority citizens” which we know is utter bullshit if you read Ha’aretz or BetSelem or Gush Shalom
They go on and on about how there has been a continual Jewish presence in the region and somehow try to twist that into an exclusive right to the land.
Yes, the fight against Britain in the 1940s could be interpreted as anti-Imperialist – but – an argument could also could be made that the European Zionists and the British were two vastly mismatched competing imperialist forces. Or another argument could be made that the Zionist movement had both anti-imperialist and imperialist elements at different times in its history. But to claim that Israel today is still an anti-imperialist movement is laughable, IMO.
One could spend a lot of time taking issue with the various claims made.