Zionism vs. Anti-Zionism - Among Us Jews
Zionism vs.
Anti-Zionism – Among Us Jews!
Fear – Trauma – Genocide – Holocaust - (Self-) Centering – Empathy –
Community – Allyship – Co-Conspirators – (Toxic/Self-Centered) Christianity vs.
Jesus (which one – white or Not) – Settler Colonialism – Social Justice –
Systemic Change
Thinking of
my Heart – in contrast to Intellect – Head Space has me now in a Space of
Intense Anger and Grieving.
Rashida Tlaib (An Inspiration) + Georges (Bisharat and Marx) December, 2023
As I write
now, I was born over 73 years ago! What
has happened – October 7, 2023 through today/tonight (and seemingly continuing
onward for as far as I can see in the future) seems more Critically Important –
than all that I’ve witnessed in my life – including: Assassinations of: JFK (Kennedy), MLK (King,
Jr.), RFK (Robert Kennedy), 9/11 (September 11, 2001).
Perhaps the
partially related rise of Fascism – courtesy of a lot of serious work (in my
mind at least) dating at least back to the April 4, 1968 – Assassination of
Martin Luther King, Jr. – coming from a lot of committed right-wing, racist,
patriarchal, elitest/classist people – will have more impact – we will see!
--
We all have
fears and trauma in our lives! For some
– who seemingly “fit in” – their fears and traumas at least on the surface seem
less significant in their lives. Such
people may often indicate that they are: “not political” or are - “independent”. My sense is that there is at least a
correlation among such people – of either:
1.) A relatively narrow focus in their
lives – such as concerns limited to immediate/close family members, local
narrowly centered geographic communities, a relatively “simple”
spiritual/religious life (that doesn’t encourage questioning the status quo),
and/or:
2.) A deep focus – centering – upon –
significant parts of popular culture(s) – such as a deep allegiance to men’s
sports locally – as in a “Chicagoan” whose ties to The Chicago Bears, Bulls and
either The Cubs or White Sox or one whose life seemingly centers upon one or a
few – musical super-stars such as Taylor Swift or Elvis Presley.
I am focusing
here upon those of us who are Jewish – particularly (the) “traditional” Jews of
the United States who (now) are generally: Ashkenazi, white, upper-middle class
if not upper-class, identifying as either “religious” or “culturally Jewish”. There is a deep divide between those of who
identify as being:
1.) “Zionist”, including many who might
not see such a word being a part, or a significant part, of their identity, and
2.) “Anti-Zionists” – such as myself.
I would note
that there are many Jews who are opposed to the current Israeli Government, but
are clearly not Anti-Zionists. They
commonly separate the actions of Israel’s Prime Minister and his Cabinet from
the leadership and focus of Israel prior to recent years.
Similarly, I
would note that we are Not divided between being:
1.) Intelligent Jews and
2.) Not-as intelligent Jews.
A distant
relative of mine who died recently was incredibly intelligent, obviously, and
was Zionist. He graduated from probably
the most prestigious U.S. university, went to a major medical school, and was a
successful physician. Anti-Zionist Jews include similarly intelligent
individuals.
The
realities that separate us as Jews seemingly focus most clearly on issues
deeply related to “The Holocaust” and how it impacts us. Central to this are:
1. The rise and leadership of Adolf
Hitler,
2. World War II – focused/focusing upon Germany (not Japan and not as much upon
Italy),
3. Concentration Camps – and those
killed and surviving them.
Where we
are not – Anti-Zionists – The Holocaust – creates a clear “binary” that is
deeply important. Being Jewish and what happened separates us
– deeply – from non-Jews. “Never Again”
– means that we as Jews must never allow ourselves to be “The Victims”.
In saying
this I want to emphasize the seeming – uniqueness - that is key to this. Much less focus is placed upon others who
were killed (deliberately) in the Concentration Camps such as . Oft times – the word: “Holocaust” – is
seemingly – singular as in: “The Holocaust”.
As the
Jews were the main targets of Nazi genocide, the victims of the killing centers
were overwhelmingly Jewish. In the hundreds of forced-labor and concentration
camps not equipped with gassing facilities, however, other individuals from a
broad range of backgrounds could also be found. … Political prisoners, such as
Communists, Socialists, and trade unionists wore red triangles. Common
criminals wore green. Roma View This Term in the Glossary (Gypsies)
and others the Germans considered "asocial" or "shiftless"
wore black triangles. Jehovah's Witnesses wore purple ones. And gay men and men
imprisoned for homosexuality had to wear pink triangles.
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/prisoners-of-the-camps
One estimate
of the victims of Germany in the Holocaust and “crimes against humanity” from
1933-1945 – not limited to Concentration Camps estimated:
1. 6 million Jews
2. 5.7 million Soviet civilians
3. 2.95 million Soviet prisoners of war
4. 1.8 million non-Jewish Poles
5. 375,000 Roma (Gypsies)
6. 312,000 Serbian civilians
7. 250,000 disabled persons
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1071011/holocaust-nazi-persecution-victims-wwii/
Anyone
interested in the genocide of the Roma People – which included/includes oppression
starting well before 1933, as well as at least deeply into the late 20th
Century, well beyond 1945 might look at the writing at:
https://www.historytoday.com/archive/feature/roma-holocaust
As Jews in
the United States, most of us have faced, and are aware of Anti-Semitism. How we view Anti-Semitism can vary greatly! The words:
“From the
River to the Sea”
And/or:
“Palestine
will be Free” may be seen as deeply Anti-Semitic or Not.
I believe
that how we experience our traumas and fears deeply impact the divide which I
see between many of us Jews! A lot of
us grew up in households and related to Jewish communities locally and beyond
that were tacitly or explicitly Zionist.
I arrived
initially in Haifa (from Naples, Italy) in April, 1963 (a month before my 12th
birthday) on a Zim (Israeli) boat. My father was born in Berlin and emigrated to Cincinnati at age nine in
1927. He was excited to see many, many
relatives he had last seen in Germany as a child. My other grandfather in NYC had purchased
inexpensive bonds in The Israel Development Bank for both my brother Daniel and
myself.
My brother
and I grew up learning of the heroic Jews who had amazingly won a war against
the invading armies of: Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon. Leon Uris novels such as: Exodus were
important to me as I became a young teenager.
The traumas
that I have faced in my life related to being Jewish include:
1. Growing up in a Very Christian town –
West Lafayette, Indiana where Christmas and the predominant mixture of religion
and “culture” felt like I didn’t belong as a Jew,
2. Some Anti-Semitism, though I don’t remember
it deeply impacting me as other Jews have experienced, and
3. The Holocaust.
I would
argue that bodily – historically – as a Jew, I also have/had historical trauma
related to the horrible Anti-Semitism that my Jewish ancestors faced both in
Germany on my father’s side, and Russia and Poland on my mother’s side. This went on for close to 2000 years.
I believe
that when we don’t work through our traumas as Jews, including
the historical trauma that goes back far before The Holocaust, we carry fears,
deep seated fears.
Noura Erakat + George Marx - Berkeley - February, 2024
https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/05/justice-for-some-noura-erakat-great-book.html
https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/palestine-important-noura-erakat.html
Presume that
40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 6th,
2023. Roughly 1100-1200 Jews were
killed through the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023. Israel’s Jewish population is over seven
million people. Gaza’s population is roughly
two million people. 40,000 Palestinians
vs. the equivalent of perhaps 1200 divided by at least 3 = 400
Palestinians. (This omits Jewish deaths
since October 7th, which might change this equivalency to perhaps 600
or so.) The United States has 165 times
as many people as Gaza has. 40,000
Palestinian deaths is the proportionate equivalent of 6,600,000 Americans. U.S. casualties in World War II were
slightly more than 400,000 or well less than 10% of the Gazan casualties –
proportionately.
Hamas – is
feared by many of us Jews! It seems
apparent that “destroying Hamas” has seemingly failed so far. Both the Israeli and U.S. Governments are
Not speaking of this succeeding for the foreseeable future. We, as Jews, want to no longer feel afraid
that we will be killed because we are Jews, in Israel, and beyond.
Hamas and
how we look at it is a word and entity that deeply divides us as Jews!
Hamas is
seen as clearly a Genocidal Force who wish to either kill all the Jews of
Israel or to force them out of Israel.
Hamas is
also seen by Anti-Zionist Jews very differently. For some it is a “necessary evil”. For some it is an “obvious outcome” of a
variety of visions as to how far back we choose to look. For all Anti-Zionist Jews Hamas is a
force/government/entity that we need to talk with, negotiate with, and try to
work with.
For
Anti-Zionist Jews the fears that many Jews and others have of Hamas are
worsening and will continue to worsen unless a lasting Just Peace is
negotiated. There are disagreements
among Anti-Zionist Jews as to whether and what a Just Peace can and should be.
Relatively
few Anti-Zionist Jews believe that the killing of Palestinians and the survival
of the remaining hostages will occur unless The United States says: “NO” to
Israel’s leaderships continuing war effort.
Most of us don’t believe that it is a “war” at all. A war requires a “win” + a “loss” or a
“stalemate” (e.g. Korean War). A war
doesn’t include an army with nuclear weapons and an air force vs. essentially a
“guerrilla” force.
I don’t
agree with use of the word: “terrorist” as in: “Hamas is a terrorist
organization”. I might agree with such
a wording, if it was stated that: “Hamas has become a terrorist organization in
reaction/response to the terrorist state of Israel’s terrorism which began in
1948 with its establishment” though I
think that if we really want to look at “the issues” related to the “terrorism”
is goes back at least to Theodor Hertzl.
I speak of this, noting that Hertzl spoke of a “Jewish State” in
Palestine, negating the rights of the native Palestinian People.
The Balfour
Declaration of 1917 related directly to Anti-Semitism. The British Elites in 1917, during (The)
World War (I), wanted to have Jews leave Britain. They didn’t want Jews to threaten their
power. Other European countries wanted
the Jews to leave their countries and NOT be in Europe. This wasn’t Hitler talking (yet)!
“In March
1919,on the eve of the post World War I Paris Peace Conference, ‘Julius Kahn,
the German-born Jewish congressman from San Francisco, delivered to President
Wilson “A Statement to the Peace Conference” endorsed by 299 Jews. …[T]he
document denounced the Zionists for attempting to segregate Jews and to reverse
the historical trend toward emancipation.’ Its signers ‘objected to the
creation of a distinctly Jewish state in Palestine’ not only because they
feared it would jeopardize the status of Jews like themselves in the home
countries, but because they found it ‘contrary “to the principles of democracy’
to elevate Jewish immigrants over Palestine’s Muslim and Christian native
inhabitants. They explicitly denied ‘the existence of ethnic ties among
Jews’ and ‘asserted their wish not to see Palestine “either now or at any time
in the future’ become a Jewish state.’ They petitioned instead for
Palestine to be ‘made into an independent , free, and democratic state that
would not recognize any distinctions of creed, race, or ethnic descent among
its citizens.’ “ (18) (p. xii)
Stories
of Personal Transformation: RECLAIMNG JUDAISM From ZIONISM, edited by Carolyn L Karcher
I find the
words above from 1919 – highly, highly significant and – On Target
-
The
Holocaust seemingly changed things, confirming the fears of many Jews. Beginning with the end of World War II also
served as a real attempt by the governments of European Powers and the United
States to seemingly atone for what they had NOT done between 1933 and
1945. They were
dealing with
the obvious fact, that they’d NOT confronted Hitler and the Germans in both in
preventing the Holocaust, and the extent of it.
No European countries welcomed Jews or more than tokenly escape to their
countries, protecting them against the Germans.
-
-
The
Palestinian People have been minimized and/or ignored all the way back to the Zionism’s
beginnings in the late 1800’s.
Occasionally there has been honesty from Jewish leaders including even
David Ben Gurion. More commonly, the
myths have pervaded such as:
1. There are
many Arab countries, so the Palestinian People can join them (and leave
Palestine) or
2. We are/were
increasing the standard of living of the Palestinian People so they will or
should welcome us, and most recently
3. We are
affirming of gay/lesbian/trans rights, so we are accepting people, in contrast
to Arab leaders.
A
significant number of Palestinian People were attacked and forced out of their
villages starting in 1947. This was well
prior to May 15, 1948, when Israel declared its independence and outside armies
attacked the Jewish forces.
The Jewish
population in Palestine grew rapidly after Hitler’s rise to power in 1933. Much of my father’s family, privileged
German Jews, left Germany, emigrating to Palestine in 1933 itself after Hitler
came to power.
It is
unclear how the Palestinian People were responsible for what transpired in
Europe? Prior to then, Palestine’s
Jewish population was only 15%, a relatively small part of the country.
All “offers”
of a supposed Palestinian State after World War II proposed giving a minority
of the land to the Palestinian People, who were a significant majority of the
population.
The myths
about the War, once the Arab armies invaded are further distortions of
reality. Jordan had by far the best
trained army. Jordan’s leadership
(royalty) explicitly sought to rule over the Palestinian People as an expanded
part of Jordan. Jordan sought to
control the Moslem Holy Areas of the Old City within Jerusalem. Jordan’s leadership and Army (trained by the
British) were clear in not seeking to defeat Israel beyond the limited
territory that it sought (The West Bank and East Jerusalem). To this day the leadership of Jordan is Not
Palestinian, while a majority of its people are Palestinian.
As an
Anti-Zionist Jew, I firmly believe that the lives of individuals are important,
regardless of religion, ethnicity, or nationality. A Jewish Israeli is no more important than a
Palestinian person! It is racist to
value Jewa, and particularly “white” Jews, over non-Jews, often people who are
not “white”.
Within
Israel the media obviously does not portray an “equal focused” picture of the
killings and treatment of Palestinian People by Jewish Israelis, in contrast to
the killing of Jews by Palestinian People.
Within the
United States we also get a strongly disproportionate picture of the
Palestinian People. Sources like: Democracy Now, with Amy Goodman,
and The Electronic Intifada are heard by relatively few of us Jews. The “experts” that we hear are rarely: Rashid Khalidi or Ilan Pappe or Peter Beinart
or John Mearsheimer.
I would
challenge doubters to look at the background experience and sources of
knowledge of virtually all, if not all of the advisors of President Biden. Republican sources even worse.
It is
certainly fine to presume that there is: “Arab Propaganda” and similar. What is NOT okay, is to minimize how we are
inundated with pressure from sources including The Israeli Government. John
Hagee and his Christian Coalition are awaiting the return of Jesus, when all
the Jews will then be killed, unless they have fully accepted Jesus as their
Savior. They and the Christian Right,
are the strongest Zionists. AIPAC and wealthy Jewish and non- Jewish donors
support the military weaponry from US defense contractors which are given
directly to Israel.
The tragic
and horrible reality is that the fears of many of us Jews, both within Israel,
as well as in the United States, and elsewhere of – Genocide – the mass killing
of Jewish People – grow larger and larger and larger – as the killing of
Gazans, and West Bank Palestinians, and even of Palestinian Israeli Citizens
continue!
October 7,
2023 – forever changed things! Whatever
safety Israel’s Jews felt was shattered – probably forever (absent a lasting,
Just Peace Settlement). Until October 7th,
there was a feeling that Israel’s Government could protect the Jews.
Despite the
lack of an Air Force, the lack of military strength, Hamas has NOT been “beaten”
and is unlikely to be defeated. It is a
guerilla force – a political and military force – supported in general by a minority
of Palestinians both in Gaza and beyond Gaza.
I’d recommend
several excellent sources on the current situation (among others) of:
Rashid
Khalidi’s lengthy recent writing at:
as well as a
book from a few years ago he recommended to me (I emailed him requesting
suggestions) – my review of which is at:
https://www.georgemarx.org/2024/02/hamas-contained-tareq-baconis-excellent.html
in which Tareq Baconi provides a
detailed analysis of Hamas. In the
latter one can easily read in – a prediction – which one can now see makes October
7th, most understandable.
--
Fear and military
solutions to that fear – will not result in a lessoning and resolution of the
deep trauma – that many of us Jews have!
A lasting,
just peace is the only way to lesson our fears!
It is of
course scary to think deeply of “peace” – and an end to The Wars – where:
There is
either a single – Palestinian/Israeli State or a “two state solution” (or a
confederation or third option). There
are always risks in seeking change. The
bigger risks – I see – are that Israel will become “no longer strategic” to The
United States, as oil in the Middle East runs out (probably beyond my
lifetime).
The United
States – can and should say:
NO
most empathically,
including NO U.S. aid whatsoever, unless there is an immediate, lasting
Ceasefire in Gaza, and clear efforts of the United States to force Israel to
recognize the rights of the Palestinian People – through a multiplicity of Palestinian
Voices. Hamas – “the enemy” – must be
negotiated with! One can not seek peace,
absent Hamas. There are plenty of other
Palestinian Voices who will seek to speak for the Palestinian People, as we
move forward.
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
It won’t be
easy!
As Jews, we
Anti-Zionists, have a lot of work to do!
We listen to other Jews, hear their fears, their hatred, their anger,
while also working on our own fears, and anger, and where we have it our own
hatred.
Centering
ourself on our common humanity we become co-conspirators – putting
ourselves – including our bodies – risking our lives and general safety at
times seeking to end the ongoing Genocide and working for a Just Peace. We are “conspiring” in supporting
Palestinians, Muslims, the People (but not the Governments almost always) of
the Middle East. It is tricky, dealing
with supporting the People of Iran, as well as Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Turkey!
Joe Biden
and Anthony Blinken and Donald Trump are NOT our “Enemies”! Genocide Joe – in my eyes “should” know
better, but doesn’t!
India – is a
country that we should be deeply concerned about – in collaboration with Israel
and The United States!
The India
and Israel alliance has been described as a full-blown romance, but the ongoing siege of Kashmir makes
this a bloody affair – covert for years.
India has
bought arms from Israel since the 1960s. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is
to visit Israel in 2017, marking the 25th anniversary of full diplomatic
relations.
The two
nations are passionate about their brutal occupations of Kashmir and Palestine.
India is one of Israel’s biggest arms
exports clients, spending about $10bn over the past decade. Indian
police
forces have been receiving training in Israel for
“anti-terror” operations, which Israeli conducts against Palestinians.
August 28, 2016
- https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2016/8/24/kashmir-and-palestine-the-story-of-two-occupations
We, as Jews,
and as Human Beings, can do a lot (more)!
We can learn more, we can listen more, and we can become more active in
our political work!
Many others
such as Peter Beinart and Jewish Currents and The Electronic Intifada and Jewish Voice
for Peace are excellent places to ally ourselves and help us in our sustained
efforts (for me lifetime I anticipate).
My writings and reviews are accessible at:
https://www.georgemarx.org/2022/12/palestine-israel-judiasm-posts-links-my.html
Amazing Interview !!:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMJJiZlXOi0 - Avi Shlaim
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