Dissident Voice
July 30 2010
Israeli Criticism of Zionism and the Treatment of Palestinians: The Politicians
by Edward C. Corrigan / July 30th, 2010
Critically analyzing the political ideology of Zionism, or criticizing
Israelâ??s policies toward the Palestinians, almost invariably leads to
attacks from the defenders of Israel. This is especially true in North
America, but far less true in most other countries in the World. As a
result most North American politicians have learned to be very careful
with their words when it comes to the subject of Israel and the
Palestinians.
Here is what noted financier, George Soros, writing in The New York
Review of Books, on April 12, 2007, had to say on this the lack of
debate in the United States and how open the political debate on the
Palestinian issue is in Israel:
The current policy is not even questioned in the United States. While
other problem areas of the Middle East are freely discussed, criticism
of our policies toward Israel is very muted indeed. The debate in
Israel about Israeli policy is much more open and vigorous than in the
United States. This is all the more remarkable because Palestine is
the issue that more than any other currently divides the United States
from Europe â?¦1
Former U.S President Jimmy Carter who helped bring about the peace
agreement between Israel and Egypt has also written and spoken out on
Israelâ??s policy towards the Palestinians. Carterâ??s book Palestine:
Peace, not Apartheid generated severe criticism from the American
Jewish community. Here is what Cecilie Surasky, from the Jewish Voice
for Peace and Muzzle Watch, had to say about this treatment.
Few people anywhere have endured more vicious demonization regarding
the Israel issue than Nobel-prize-winning former US president Jimmy
Carter. It is a sad statement that the man who did more for peace for
the Israelis than any other U.S. president, is now vilified as an
anti-Semite in Jewish communities across the land, most notably for
titling his book Palestine: Peace, not Apartheid. In fact, Carter is
one of Israelâ??s few true friends who remains impressively committed to
doing whatever he can to bring about some kind of resolution, rather
than taking the easy road by giving the self-destructive government
more of what it wants: arms and money to occupy more land.2
Issues that are virtually forbidden in the North American public arena
are treated much differently in Israel where such topics are part of
the general political discourse and debate. It is worth reviewing the
political debate and critical public discussion of these issues in
Israel to compare the environment in North America.
Two unlikely sources for Israeli criticism of â??the Jewish Stateâ??sâ??
policies are former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and former
Israeli UN Ambassador and Israeli Labor Party Foreign Minister Abba
Eban. In response to what Begin considered â??hypocriticalâ?? criticism of
his governmentâ??s bombing of Beirut in 1981 which killed hundreds of
Lebanese and Palestinian civilians he offered a â??partial listâ?? of more
than 30 Israeli military attacks against Arab civilians under Israeli
Labor Governments. This exchange was published in the Israel Press in
August 1981.
Begin wrote that: â??under the Alignment government, there were
retaliatory actions against civilian Arab populations; the air force
operated against them; the damage was directed against such structures
as the canal, bridges and transport.â??3
A rather shocked Abba Eban, wrote in reply: â??The picture that emerges
is of an Israel wantonly inflicting every possible measure of death
and anguish on civilian populations in a mood reminiscent of regimes
which neither Mr. Begin nor I would dare to mention by name.â??4
Here is Edward Hermanâ??s analysis of the exchange and other statements
on the use of military force made by Israeli officials:
Eban is harshly critical of Beginâ??s letter because of the support it
gives to Arab propaganda; he does not contest the facts. He even
defends the earlier Israeli attacks on civilians with the exact logic
which orthodox analysts of terrorism attribute to-and use to
condemn-retail terrorists: namely, that deliberate attacks may
properly be made on innocent parties in order to achieve higher ends.
Eban writes that, â??there was a rational prospect, ultimately
fulfilled, that afflicted populations [i.e., innocent civilians
deliberately bombed] would exert pressure for the cessation of
hostilities.â??
Beginâ??s list is indeed â??partial.â?? It is supplemented by former Chief
of Staff Mordechai Gur, whom stated that â??For 30 years, from the War
of Independence until today, we have been fighting against a
population that lives in villages and cities,â?? offering as examples
the bombardments that cleared the Jordan valley of all inhabitants and
that drove a million and a half civilians from the Suez canal area, in
1970, among others. The Israeli military analyst Zeev Schiff
summarized General Gurâ??s comments as follows: â??In South Lebanon we
struck the civilian population consciously, because they deserved it â?¦
the importance of Gurâ??s remarks is the admission that the Israeli Army
has always struck civilian populations, purposely and consciously â?¦
the Army, he said, has never distinguished civilian [from military]
targets â?¦ [but] purposely attacked civilian targets when Israeli
settlements had not been struck.â??5
Michael Ben-Yair was Israelâ??s attorney general from 1993â?`96. He writes
that after Israel won the Six Day War in June 1967:
We enthusiastically chose to become a colonial society, ignoring
international treaties, expropriating lands, transferring settlers
from Israel to the occupied territories, engaging in theft and finding
justification for all these activities. Passionately desiring to keep
the occupied territories, we developed two judicial systems: one â?`
progressive, liberal â?` in Israel; and the other â?` cruel, injurious â?`
in the occupied territories. In effect, we established an apartheid
regime in the occupied territories immediately following their
capture.
That oppressive regime exists to this day.6
Avraham Burg was speaker of Israelâ??s Knesset in 1999â?`2003 and is a
former chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel. Here is how Burg is
described in an article published in The New Yorker magazine.
Short of being Prime Minister, Burg could not be higher in the Zionist
establishment. His father was a Cabinet minister for nearly four
decades, serving under Prime Ministers from David Benâ?`Gurion to Shimon
Peres. In addition to a decadeâ?`long career in the Knesset, including
four years as Speaker, Burg had also been leader of the World Zionist
Organization and the Jewish Agency for Israel. And yet he did not obey
the commands of pedigree. â??Defeating Hitlerâ?? and an earlier book, â??God
Is Back,â?? are, in combination, a despairing look at the Israeli
condition. Burg warns that an increasingly large and ardent sector of
Israeli society disdains political democracy. He describes the country
in its current state as Holocaustâ?`obsessed, militaristic, xenophobic,
and, like Germany in the nineteenâ?`thirties, vulnerable to an extremist
minority.7
In 2003 Burg published an article titled â??The end of Zionism.â?? In it he wrote:
Israel must shed its illusions and choose between racist oppression
and democracy.
The Zionist revolution has always rested on two pillars: a just path
and an ethical leadership. Neither of these is operative any longer.
The Israeli nation today rests on a scaffolding of corruption, and on
foundations of oppression and injustice. As such, the end of the
Zionist enterprise is already on our doorstep. There is a real chance
that ours will be the last Zionist generation. There may yet be a
Jewish state here, but it will be a different sort, strange and ugly.8
In 2007, another article was published in Haaretz on Avraham Burg. He
is quoted: â??to define the State of Israel as a Jewish state is the key
to its end. A Jewish state is explosive. Itâ??s dynamite.â?? In the
interview Burg said that he was â??in favor of abrogating the Law of
Return and calls on everyone who can to obtain a foreign passport.â??
This statement one of the strongest antiâ?`Zionist pronouncements yet
made by the former leading member of Israelâ??s Jewish establishment.
Burg, who was interviewed on the occasion of the publication of his
book Defeating Hitler said â??the strategic mistake of Zionism was to
annul the alternatives. Israeliness has only body; it doesnâ??t have
soul.â??9
Here are the words of another veteran Israeli politician, Yossi Sarid,
on the comparison of Israelâ??s policies toward the Palestinians and
Apartheid. Sarid served as a member of the Knesset for the Alignment,
Ratz and Meretz between 1974 and 2006. A former Minister of Education
and Minister of the Environment, he led Meretz between 1996 and 2003.
The white Afrikaners, too, had reasons for their segregation policy;
they, too, felt threatened â?` a great evil was at their door, and they
were frightened, out to defend themselves. Unfortunately, however, all
good reasons for apartheid are bad reasons; apartheid always has a
reason, and it never has a justification. And what acts like
apartheid, is run like apartheid and harasses like apartheid, is not a
duck â?` it is apartheid. Nor does it even solve the problem of fear:
Today, everyone knows that all apartheid will inevitably reach its
sorry end. One essential difference remains between South Africa and
Israel: There a small minority dominated a large majority, and here we
have almost a tie. But the tiebreaker is already darkening on the
horizon. Then the Zionist project will come to an end if we donâ??t
choose to leave the slave house before being visited by a fatal
demographic plague. It is entirely clear why the word apartheid
terrifies us so. What should frighten us, however, is not the
description of reality, but reality itself. Even Ehud Olmert has
understood at last that continuing the present situation is the end of
the Jewish democratic state, as he recently said.10
Another prominent Israeli politician who served many years in the
Knesset, Shulamit Aloni, has also been scathing in her criticism of
Israelâ??s policies toward the Palestinians.11 Aloni, is the Israeli
Prize laureate who once served as Minister of Education under Yitzhak
Rabin. She wrote, â??Jewish selfâ?`righteousness is taken for granted
among ourselves to such an extent that we fail to see whatâ??s right in
front of our eyes. Itâ??s simply inconceivable that the ultimate
victims, the Jews, can carry out evil deeds. Nevertheless, the state
of Israel practises its own, quite violent, form of Apartheid with the
native Palestinian population.â??12
Aloni also defended former U.S. President Jimmy Carter:
The US Jewish Establishmentâ??s onslaught on former President Jimmy
Carter is based on him daring to tell the truth which is known to all:
through its army, the government of Israel practises a brutal form of
Apartheid in the territory it occupies. Its army has turned every
Palestinian village and town into a fencedâ?`in, or blockedâ?`in,
detention camp. All this is done in order to keep an eye on the
populationâ??s movements and to make its life difficult. Israel even
imposes a total curfew whenever the settlers, who have illegally
usurped the Palestiniansâ?? land, celebrate their holidays or conduct
their parades.12
On the Palestinian issue she argued:
â?¦Israel is an occupying power that for 40 years has been oppressing an
indigenous people, which is entitled to a sovereign and independent
existence while living in peace with us. We should remember that we
too used very violent terror against foreign rule because we wanted
our own state. And the list of victims of terror is quite long and
extensive.
We do limit ourselves to denying the [Palestinian] people human
rights. We not only rob of them of their freedom, land and water. We
apply collective punishment to millions of people and even, in
revengeâ?`driven frenzy, destroy the electricity supply for one and half
million civilians. Let them â??sit in the darknessâ?? and â??starve.â??12
Here is what Yossi Paritzky, a member of the Shinui Party who served
in the Israeli Knesset and also in the Israeli cabinet, had to say
about racial discrimination in Israel:
One of the clearest rules that distinguishes a democratic state from a
nonâ?`democratic state is the principle of equality when it comes to
rights and obligations. In a democratic country, all citizens
regardless of race, religious, gender or origin are entitled to
equality when it comes to national assets, services and resources, and
all citizens regardless of race, religion, gender or origin are
equally obligated by national duties.
For example, in a democratic country everyone must pay taxes (although
at different rates, of course,) and everyone must obey the law. On the
other hand, every citizen in a democratic state is entitled to enjoy
individual freedoms. One is entitled to purchase assets in the
country, marry anyone he or she wish, work wherever one wants, study
whatever one wishes, and express himself or herself as they wish.
In short, equality is the basic tenet of a liberal western democracy
and without it a country is not democratic in practice although
possibly democratic by law.
â?¦ in a series of three decisions that are separate but connected
through a stench of racism and discrimination, Israel entered the
dismal pantheon of nonâ?`democratic states. This past Wednesday, Israel
decided to be like apartheidâ?`era South Africa, and some will say even
worse countries that no longer exist.13
The following are comments made by Yossi Beilin, a member of the
Knesset, and chairman of the Israeli Meretzâ?`Yahad Party, on the uproar
caused in the United States over former U.S. President Jimmy Carterâ??s
book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.
I cannot recall when the publication of a book has generated such a
debate in Israel. And even though we are talking here about a book
that was published in the United States and has yet to be translated
into Hebrew, the quiet way in which â??Palestine: Peace Not Apartheidâ??
has been received in Israel is nevertheless noteworthy, not least
because it is Israel itself that is the object of Carterâ??s opprobrium.
Part of the explanation for why Carterâ??s book did not set off any
public outcry in Israel lies in the difference in literary culture.
For better or worse â?’ and I, for one, certainly think that it is for
worse â?’ books just donâ??t matter here in the way they still do
elsewhere. Yet perhaps a larger part of the explanation lies with the
difference in political culture, and with local sensitivities (or
perhaps insensitivities) to language and moral tone.
It is not that Israelis are indifferent to what is said about them,
but the threshold of what passes as acceptable here is apparently much
higher than it is with Israelâ??s friends in the United States. In the
case of this particular book, the harsh words that Carter reserves for
Israel are simply not as jarring to Israeli ears, which have grown
used to such language, especially with respect to the occupation.
In other words, what Carter says in his book about the Israeli
occupation and our treatment of Palestinians in the occupied
territories â?’ and perhaps no less important, how he says it â?’ is
entirely harmonious with the kind of criticism that Israelis
themselves voice about their own country. There is nothing in the
criticism that Carter has for Israel that has not been said by
Israelis themselves.14
Uri Avnery, the leader of the Israeli peace organization Gush Shalom,
also served in the Israeli Knesset. He has written many articles
criticizing the occupation of Palestinian land after the 1967 War.15
In one of his many articles he compared Manifest Destiny in the United
States and Israel.
In this respect, too, Israel resembles the United States, which was
founded along the Eastern seaboard and did not rest until it had
reached the Western shores on the other side of the continent. The
incessant stream of mass immigration from Europe flowed on westwards,
breaching all borders and violating all agreements, exterminating the
Native Americans, starting a war against Mexico, conquering Texas,
invading Central America and Cuba. The slogan that drove them on and
justified all their actions was coined in 1845 by John Oâ??Sullivan:
Manifest Destiny.
The Israeli version of Manifest Destiny is Moshe Dayanâ??s slogan: â??We
are fatedâ??. Dayan, a typical representative of the second generation,
made two important speeches in his life. The first and better known
was delivered in 1956 at the grave of Roy Rutenberg of Nahal Oz, a
kibbutz facing Gaza: â??Before their [the Palestinians in Gaza] very
eyes we turn into our homestead the land and villages in which they
and their forefathers have lived â?¦ This is the fate of our generation,
the choice of our life â?` to be prepared and armed, strong and tough â?`
or otherwise, the sword will slip from our fist, and our life will be
snuffed out.â??
He did not mean only his own generation. The second, lesser known
speech is more important. It was delivered in August 1968, after the
occupation of the Golan Heights, before a rally of young Kibbutzniks.
When I asked him about it in the Knesset, he inserted the entire
speech into the Knesset record, a very unusual procedure in our
parliament.
This is what he told the youth: â??We are fated to live in a permanent
state of fighting against the Arabs â?¦ For the hundred years of the
Return to Zion we are working for two things: the building of the land
and the building of the people â?¦ That is a process of expansion, of
more Jews and more settlements â?¦ That is a process that has not
reached the end. We were born here and found our parents, who had come
here before us â?¦ It is not your duty to reach the end. Your duty is to
add your layer â?¦ to expand the settlement to the best of your ability,
during your lifetime â?¦ (and) not to say: this is the end, up to here,
we have finished.â??
Dayan, who was well versed in the ancient texts, probably had in mind
the phrase in the Chapter of the Fathers (a part of the Mishnah, which
was finished 1800 years ago and formed the basis of the Talmud): â??It
is not up to you to finish the work, and you are not free to stop
doing it.â??
That is the hidden agenda. We must haul it up from the depths of our
unconscious minds to the realm of consciousness in order to face it,
to reveal the terrible danger inherent in it, the danger of an eternal
war which may in the fullness of time lead this state to disaster.16
Sometimes the sons and daughters of leading Israeli politicians also
strongly disagree with their parentsâ?? politics on the Palestinian
issue. Here are the comments of Steven Plaut, a strong Zionist
supporter, who has taken upon himself the task of attacking former
Israeli critics of Israel.
Perhaps the most bizarre antiâ?`Israel expatriateâ?¦ is Yigal Arens, who
works at the University of Southern California in computer technology.
Arens is the son of Moshe Arens, the militant nationalist political
leader of the Likud in Israel, who served as Israelâ??s Minister of
Defense. Arens junior however has devoted himself to demonizing Israel
and promoting boycotts of Israel. Perhaps he enjoys making his daddy
angry.17
What Plaut does not acknowledge is that a highly regarded authority on
International law Richard Arenâ??s, the brother of Moshe Arens, also was
a strong critic of Israel. He equated Israeli policies towards the
Palestinians with the Nazi persecution of the Jews.18 Their family
gatherings must have been interesting.
Uri Davis, author of Israel: An Apartheid State (London: Zed Books,
1987) and many other studies19 on Israel and Zionism was elected in
August 2009 to serve on the Fatah Revolutionary Council. 20 In an
interview with the British daily newspaper The Observer, Davis
explained his views on Zionism. To quote the article:
Davis is careful with his definitions of both â??Zionismâ?? and his own
â??antiâ?`Zionismâ??. The Zionism that he opposes is the â??political Zionismâ??
of Israelâ??s founders, the Zionism that amounts, he says, to land grab
based on ethnic cleansing.
Davis himself insists on reclaiming a wider meaning for the word, not
least because he was shaped, as he grew up, by a different school: the
â??spiritual Zionismâ?? of thinkers such as Ahad Haâ??am, religious
philosopher Martin Buber and Judah Magnes, coâ?`founder of Jerusalemâ??s
Hebrew University.
In contrast to political Zionism, which saw Jewish statehood alone as
a solution to the Jewish question, these spiritual Zionists believed
Palestine could not accommodate a Jewish homeland but should become a
national spiritual centre that would support and reinvigorate the
Jewish diaspora.21
Davis is not the first Palestinian Jew to serve in Palestinian
governing structures. Ilan Halevi, a Jewish Palestinian, held a
topâ?`ranked position in the PLO. He was the PLO ambassador to Europe
and its representative to the Socialist International.22
The antiâ?`Zionist Neturei Karta Jewish religious sect has also asked
for affiliation with the Palestine National Council. Rabbi Moshe
Hirsch has even offered to serve as minister for Jewish Affairs in a
Palestinian governmentâ?`inâ?`exile.23 Rabbi Hirsch stated:
We are as Palestinian as Yasser Arafat. There are Jewish Palestinians,
and there are Muslim Palestinians and Christian Palestinians. In
regard to issues relating to the Palestinian people, we also have our
interests. If a state is established we would like to have our
representation in the government.
Another example of the type of discussion that goes on in Israel is
the following statement made by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert:
â??For sixty years there has been discrimination against Arabs in
Israel. This discrimination is deepâ?`seated and intolerable.â?? Olmert
made this statement while addressing a meeting of the Knesset
committee that was investigating the lack of integration of Arab
citizens in the Israeli public service.24 Prime Minister Olmert also
made the following comment in an interview with Haaretz: â??If the day
comes when the twoâ?`state solution collapses, and we face a South
Africanâ?`style struggle for equal voting rights, then as soon as that
happens, the State of Israel is finished.â??25
Yet another example is Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin (from the
right-wing Likud Party) who called for a fundamental change in
relations between Jews and Arabs in Israel. He urged the founding of a
â??true partnershipâ?? between the two sectors, based on mutual respect,
absolute equality and the addressing of â??the special needs and unique
character of each of the sides.â?? The Speaker was reported to say all
this in an address to be delivered at the presidentâ??s residence in
Jerusalem on August 3, 2009. Quoting from Rivlinâ??s prepared speech
which was released to the media:
â?¦ the establishment of Israel was accompanied by much pain and
suffering and a real trauma for the Palestinians (in large part due to
the shortsightedness of the Palestinian leadership). Many of Israelâ??s
Arabs, which see themselves as part of the Palestinian population,
feel the pain of their brothers across the green line â?` a pain they
feel the state of Israel is responsible for.
Many of them encounter racism and arrogance from Israelâ??s Jews; the
inequality in the allocation of state funds also does not contribute
to any extra love.26
Can you ever imagine a top American or Canadian politician making
statements like these, or a leading Canadian or American newspaper
publishing comments like these ones? If the politicians did make
statements like these what would be the reaction?
Rivlin, however, still tried to focus the blame on the Palestinian
leadership for the problems and does not fully acknowledge Israelâ??s
part in the expulsions. These expulsions and massacres started before
the official declaration of Israelâ??s Independence on May 14, 1948 and
before the â??interventionâ?? of the Arab armies. According to Israeli
Historian Ilan Pappe there were expulsions of the Palestinians from 30
villages after the War had ended in 1949 and in fact continued until
1953.27
Here is what Israeli Historian Ilan Pappe wrote on the ethnic
cleansing of the Palestinians:
Ethnic cleansing is not genocide, but it does carry with it atrocious
acts of mass killing and butchering. Thousands of Palestinians were
killed ruthlessly and savagely by Israeli troops of all back grounds,
ranks and ages. None of these Israelis was ever tried for war crimes,
in spite of the overwhelming evidence.27
Rivlin also does not address the land seizures from Palestinians who
fled or were expelled from their homes but remained in Israel. These
individuals were considered Israeli citizens, but still lost all of
their property. These individuals are called â??present Absentees,â?? an
Orwellian phrase if there ever was one. Here is how one Israeli
academic, Gabriel Piterberg, describes the phrase and how it relates
to Israel: â??How the founding myths of Israel dictated conceptual
removal of Palestinians, during and after physical removal. The
invention of â?`retroactive transferâ?? and â?`present absenteesâ?? as the
glacial euphemisms of ethnic cleansing.â??28
Nor does Rivlin acknowledge that most of the Zionist leadership wanted
all of Palestine without its Arab population and this wish
â??miraculouslyâ?? came true.29 Palestinian leadership, inept as it was,
cannot be blamed for everything.
Veteran Israeli Peace activist, and former Knesset member, Uri Avnery
had the following to say on the Goldstone Commission findings:
Is there no limit to the wiles of those dastardly antiâ?`Semites?
Now they have decided to slander the Jews with another blood libel.
Not the old accusation of slaughtering Christian children to use their
blood for baking Passover matzoth, as in the past, but of the mass
slaughter of women and children in Gaza.
And who did they put at the head of the commission which was charged
with this task? Neither a British Holocaustâ?`denier nor a German
neoâ?`Nazi, nor even an Iranian fanatic, but of all people a Jewish
judge who bears the very Jewish name of Goldstone (originally
Goldstein, of course). And not just a Jew with a Jewish name, but a
Zionist, whose daughter, Nicole, is an enthusiastic Zionist who once
â??made Aliyahâ?? and speaks fluent Hebrew. And not just a Jewish Zionist,
but a South African who opposed apartheid and was appointed to the
countryâ??s Constitutional Court when that system was abolished.
All this in order to defame the most moral army in the world, fresh
from waging the most just war in history!
Richard Goldstone is not the only Jew manipulated by the worldâ?`wide
antiâ?`Semitic conspiracy. Throughout the three weeks of the Gaza War,
more than 10 thousand Israelis demonstrated against it again and
again. They were photographed carrying signs saying â?`End the massacre
in Gazaâ??, â?`Stop the war crimesâ?? â?`Israel commits war crimesâ??, â?`Bombing
civilians is a war crimeâ??. They chanted in unison: â?`Olmert, Olmert, it
is true Theyâ??re waiting in The Hague for you!â??
Who would have believed that there are so many antiâ?`Semites in Israel?!30
Avnery also commented on the reaction of Israelis to the accusations
of Israel committing war crimes:
The instinctive reaction in such a situation is denial. Itâ??s just not
true. It never happened. Itâ??s all a pack of lies.
By itself, that is a natural reaction. When a human being is faced
with a situation which he cannot handle, denial is the first refuge.
If things did not happen, there is no need to cope. Basically, there
is no difference between the deniers of the Armenian genocide, the
deniers of the annihilation of the Native Americans and the deniers of
the atrocities of all wars.
>From this point of view, it can be said that denial is almost
â??normalâ??. But with us it has been developed into an art form.30
The 2009 Israeli election which occurred after the attack on Gaza saw
a further shift to the right in the Israeli electorate. Right-wing
parties that were once considered racist fringe parties had moved into
the Israeli mainstream and Kadima, founded by Ariel Sharon, found
itself on the left of the Israeli political spectrum. The out
emigration of more than one million Israelis,31 clearly has had some
effect on Israelâ??s politics. Many Israelis who were opposed to the
direction Israel politics was taking and being opposed the continued
occupation of the West Bank left Israel. Many of these emigrants did
not want their children to do their compulsory military service in the
Occupied territories and be part of a perpetual war with the Arabs.
This exodus supplemented by the immigration of militant right-wing
Zionists and right-wing religious Zionists to Israel, in my opinion,
has resulted in a decided shift towards the right in Israeli politics.
This shift has supported the rise of politicians like Avigdor
Lieberman who openly calls for the expulsion of the Arabs. Here is
what one Jerusalem born Israeli expatriate had to say on the shift in
Israeli politics:
The Arab citizens of Israel, traditionally ignored by left and right
Zionists as a â??barely tolerableâ?? minority, embody the impossibility
and futility of the attempt to achieve ethnic purity by means of
division. A few years of rising racism inside Israel turned its Arab
citizens into a â??ticking bombâ?? of the â??demographic dangerâ??, and
unleashed unprecedented attacks against them by the right wing, with
little to no response from the Zionist left. Avigdor Lieberman gained
his startling achievement in Tuesdayâ??s elections by riding this wave
to its natural conclusion. His revolutionary idea â?` giving up not only
territories in the West Bank and Gaza but even territories of Israel
proper, in order to get rid of as many Arabs as possible â?` confused
and embarrassed the Zionist left. It had also exposed the absurdity
and moral unacceptability of the whole Zionist idea by taking it to
its only rational conclusion. If having a Jewish state is the most
desirable goal, than getting rid of the nonâ?`Jewish citizens is the
only rational way to go about it. And hey, it is all to take place in
a very benign way: no more talks of â??transferâ??, but an adoption of the
â??leftyâ?? slogans of division. And all this under the new sinister
banner â??No loyalty â?` No citizenshipâ??.
The fact that Lieberman can easily claim to be a genuine successor of
Israelâ??s founder, Labourite David Ben Gurion, should be an alarm bell
in the ears of any Israeli liberal. It is time for any Israeli with an
enlightened selfâ?`image to look at the mirror and see Avigdor Lieberman
staring back. It is time to stop the procrastination over the question
whether Israel can be both Jewish and democratic. Lieberman provided
the answer loud and clear: it cannot. At this late hour, when the
shadow of protoâ?`fascism is hovering over the land, it is time to join
forces with Palestinian citizens in the battle against ethnic purity,
and for a true democracy. It is time to stop fidgeting, and to admit
that monoâ?`ethnicism cannot be a framework for liberal values. It is
time to apologise to MK Azmi Bshara, who was dabbed â??an Arab
nationalistâ?? by Israeli liberals because of his call for â??a state of
all its citizensâ??. It is time to rethink Zionism.32
Other critical voices from Israelâ??s political circles include the late
Livia Rokach, (also transliterated as Rokah) the daughter of Israel
Rokach, Minister of the Interior in the government of Moshe Sharett,
second prime minister of Israel;33 and former General and Knesset
Member Mattityahu Peled who headed the Progressive List for Peace;34
his daughter Nurit Peled-Elhanan a lecturer in Language Education at
Hebrew University;35 and his son Miko Peled;36 and Meron Benvenisti,
former Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem.37
This article only reviews a portion of the critical debate in Israel
from Israeli politicians. There is much more debate and critical
examination of Zionism and of Israelâ??s policies toward the
Palestinians. Serious discussion of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
must include the full spectrum of opinion in keeping with democratic
values, free speech and much needed critical inquiry. In Israel, there
is a vibrant political debate, and while this debate and democratic
discourse is coming increasingly under attack, this debate contributes
to the vitality of Israeli society as it deals with the Palestinian
issue, the nature of a â??Jewish Stateâ?? and how to govern its society.
America, which provides a great deal of financial, military and
political support for Israel, needs to be aware of this debate in
Israel and in Jewish circles, and to understand the ramifications of
uncritical support for the policies and actions of Israel toward the
Palestinians and its Arab neighbors. To stifle and censor the
discussion of these important issues does no favors for the United
States or for Israel or the Jewish people.
1.George Soros, â??On Israel, America and AIPAC,â?? The New York Review of
Books, Volume 54, Number 6, April 12, 2007. [â?©]
2.â??Jimmy Carterâ??s apology to the Jewish people,â?? by Cecilie Surasky.
Muzzle Watch. December 28, 2009. [â?©]
3.Menahem Begin, letter, Haaretz, August, 4, 1981; translated in
Israleft News Service, 191, August 20, 1981, cited in Edward Herman,
The Real Terror Network, (Montreal: Black Rose Books, 1982), p. 77.
[â?©]
4.Abba Eban, â??Morality and warfare,â?? The Jerusalem Post, August 16,
1981 in cited in Edward Herman, The Real Terror Network, (Montreal:
Black Rose Books, 1982), p. 77. [â?©]
5.Edward Herman, The Real Terror Network, (Montreal: Black Rose Books,
1982), p. 77-78. For further discussion of what Edward Herman
describes as â??Israelâ??s Sacred Terrorism,â?? see p. 76-79. [â?©]
6.â??The Six Day Warâ??s Seventh Day,â?? by Michael Benâ?`Yair, Haaretz, March
3rd, 2002. This article is also reproduced in The Other Israel, Voices
of Refusal and Dissent, Foreword by Tom Segev and Introduction by
Anthony Lewis, edited by Roane Carey and Jonathan Shainin. (New York:
New Press, 2002), p.13-15. [â?©]
7.â??The Apostate: A Zionist politician loses faith in the future,â?? by
David Remnick, The New Yorker, July 30, 2007. [â?©]
8.â??The end of Zionism,â?? by Avraham Burg, The Guardian, September 15, 2003. [â?©]
9.â??Burg Defining Israel as a Jewish state is the key to its end,â?? by
Ari Shavit, Haaretz, June 7, 2007. See also â??Leaving the Zionist
ghetto: Interview with Avraham Burg,â?? by Ari Shavit Haaretz June 8,
2007. [â?©]
10.â??Yes it is apartheid,â?? by Yossi Sarid, Haaretz, April 25, 2008. [â?©]
11.â??You can continue with the Liquidations, by Shluamit Aloni, January
18, 2002 published in â??The Other Israel, Voices of Refusal and
Dissent,â?? Foreword by Tom Segev and Introduction by Anthony Lewis,
edited by Roane Carey and Jonathan Shainin. (New York: New Press,
2002) p. 85-87; and â??Murder of a population under cover of
righteousness,â?? by Shulamit Aloni, Haaretz, March 6, 2003; â??Just make
sure we donâ??t know,â?? by Shulamit Aloni, YNet News, April 8, 2006. Also
see â??First Lady of Human Rights: A Conversation with Shulamit Aloni,
Former Knesset Member Who Headed the Meretz Party,â?? interview with Amy
Goodman, Democracy Now, August 14, 2002. [â?©]
12.â??Indeed there is Apartheid in Israel,â?? by Shulamit Aloni, Yediot
Acharonot, May 1, 2006. The article is was published in Israelâ??s
largest circulating newspaper in the Hebrew edition but not in the
Englishâ?`language YNetNews. It was translated by Sol Salbe, an
Israeli-Australian editor and translator, and distributed through the
Australian based Middle East News Service sponsored by the Australian
Jewish Democratic Society. The Hebrew original is here. [â?©] [â?©] [â?©]
13.â??Our apartheid state, Three racist, discriminatory decisions
undermine Israelâ??s democratic character,â?? by Yossi Paritzky, YNet
News, July 24, 2007. [â?©]
14.â??Carter Is No More Critical of Israel Than Israelis Themselves,â?? by
Yossi Beilin, The Forward, January 19, 2007 republished in Occupation
Magazine, February 2, 2007. [â?©]
15.See for example â??On Israeli Fascism: A Little Red Light,â?? by Uri
Avnery, CounterPunch, April 28, 2009; and â??Racists for Democracy,â?? by
Uri Avnery, Gush Shalom, May 30, 2009, published in Occupation
Magazine, May 31, 2009. [â?©]
16.â??Manifest Destiny?,â?? by Uri Avnery, Gush Shalom, April 12, 2008. [â?©]
17.â??Network of Expatriate Treachery,â?? by Steven Plaut, FrontPage
Magazine, July 9, 2007. [â?©]
18.Rosie DiManno, â??Israeli policies like Nazi persecution Arensâ??
brother says,â?? Toronto Star, September l9, 1983, (published only in
the Metro edition). See also John Motavalli, â??The Arens brothers,
agreeing to disagree,â?? The Middle East, March 1983, p. 19â?`20. [â?©]
19.See for example Uri Davis, Palestinian Arabs in Israel: Two Case
Studies (co-author), (London: Ithaca Press, 1978); Citizenship and the
State: A Comparative Study of Citizenship Legislation in Israel,
Jordan, Palestine, Syria and Lebanon, (Reading, Berkshire UK: Ithaca
Press, 1997); and Apartheid Israel: Possibilities for the struggle
within, (New York: Zed Books, 2003). [â?©]
20.See, â??First Jew is elected to Fatah Revolutionary Council,â?? by DPA,
Haaretz., August 15, 2009. [â?©]
21.â??Why Israeli Jew Uri Davis joined Fatah to save Palestine,â?? by
Peter Beaumont, The Observer, August 23, 2009. See also â??The lonely
struggle of Uri Davis: The Jewish born Fatah councillor is widely
mocked but his secular vision for a binational Israel is not so
crazy,â?? by Seth Freedman, The Guardian, September 1, 2009. [â?©]
22.Brendan Weston, â??An Interview with Ilan Haâ?`levi: Both Jew and PLO
Member,â?? The Arab World Review, April 1988, p. 16. For an example of
his work see Ilan Halevi, A History of the Jews: Ancient and Modern,
translated by A. M. Berrett (London & Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Zed
Books, 1987). [â?©]
23.Press release: Tevet 20, 5748, January 10, 1988, from Sevenâ?`man
Neturei Karta Supreme Council. See also Ed Krales, â??Orthodox Jews
Oppose Israel,â?? Palestine Focus, Julyâ?`August, 1987, p. 8. [â?©]
24.See â??PM slams â?`discrimination’ against Arabs,’ by Elie Leshem and
Jpost.com Staff, Jerusalem Post, November 12, 2008. For another
example of see `Olmert voices sorrow for plight of Palestinian, Jewish
refugees,’ by Shahar Ilan, Haaretz, September 15, 2008. [?©]
25.See `Olmert to Haaretz: Two-state solution, or Israel is done for,’
by Aluf Benn, David Landau, Barak Ravid and Shmuel Rosner, Haaretz,
November 29, 2007. `Olmert: Clock ticking on Jewish state,’ Jewish
Telegraph Agency, November 29, 2007. See also `Olmert warns of end of
Israel,’ BBC, November 29, 2007. Olmert also made similar statements
in an interview in November 2003. See `Maximum Jews, minimum
Palestinians,’ Haaretz, November 13, 2003. [?©]
26.See, `Knesset Speaker: Establishment of Israel caused Arabs real
trauma,’ by Haaretz Service, Haaretz, August 3, 2009. [?©]
27.See `Completing the Job,’ Ilan Pappe, The Ethnic Cleansing of
Palestine, (Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2006) p. 179-198. See also
`The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine,’ by Ilan Pappe review by Stephen
Lendman, Global Research, February 7, 2007. [?©] [?©]
28.See `Erasures,’ by Gabriel Piterberg, New Left Review, July-August
2001; see also `Unrecognized` Palestinians,’ by Stephen Lendman, ICAHD
website, September 09, 2007, published in Occupation Magazine,
September 9, 2009. [?©]
29.One unrestrained expression of this view is found in the book They
Must Go, by Rabbi Meir Kahane (New York: Grossett & Dunlap, 1981). [?©]
30.`Those Dastardly Anti`Semites,’ by Uri Avnery, Information Clearing
House, September 19, 2009. [?©] [?©]
31.Emigrating from Israel is called Ayeridah (going down). Immigrating
to Israeli is called `Aliyah’ or `ascent’. Demography is a sensitive
topic for Israelis and there is considerable debate over the numbers
of emigrants and their reasons for leaving Israeli. See `Israel’s
demographic dilemma,’ by Howard Skutel, International Perspectives,
March/April 1987, p. 21-23. A YNet News article reports that 800,000
Israelis are living in the United States. See `Demographic threat a
myth: The Jewish majority west of the Jordan River will remain
strong,’ by Yoram Ettinger, YNet News, February 9, 2006; see also,
`Recent Trends in Emigration from Israel: The Impact of Palestinian
Violence,’ by Ian S. Lustik, paper presented at annual meeting of the
Association for Israel Studies, Jerusalem, June 14-16, 2004; and also
`Aliyah sees 9% dip from 2005,’ by Moti Bassok, Haaretz, February 21,
2007; `Emigration from Israel exceeds immigration, report,’ Deutsche
Presse`Agentur (dpa) April 20, 2007 posted on the St. Louis Jewish
Community’s web site. To quote the article: `¦.Maariv newspaper
reported that approximately a quarter of the Israeli population was
considering emigration. Almost half of the country’s young people were
thinking of leaving the country, the report said. Their reasons
included dissatisfaction with the government, the education system, a
lack of confidence in the political ruling class and concern over the
security situation.’ [?©]
32.`It’s time to rethink Zionism,’ by Daphna Baram, The Guardian,
February 17, 2009. Daphna Baram is a freelance writer and journalist.
Her features and articles have appeared in the Guardian, New
Statesman, Independent, Jewish Quarterly, Ha’aretz and Yediot. Born in
Jerusalem 1970, she worked as a human rights lawyer in the military
courts in the Went Bank and Gaza, and later as a feature write,
commentator, news editor and deputy editor`in`chief for the Jerusalem
based weekly Kol Ha’ir. Her book Disenchantment: The Guardian and
Israel (2004) was written during a fellowship period at the Reuters
Foundation programme and a year as a senior associate member at St
Antony’s College in Oxford. Her translation into Hebrew of The
Nuremberg Interviews was published in March 2006 (Ivrit). She is based
currently in London. [?©]
33.Livia Rokach, Israel’s Sacred Terrorism: A study based on Moshe
Sharett’s Personal Diary, and other documents, (Belmont,
Massachusetts: Association of Arab`American University Graduates Inc,
1986). See also `Livia Rokach Israel’s Sacred Terrorism: A Study Based
on Moshe Sharett’s Personal Diary and Other Documents,’ Washington
Report on Middle East Affairs, March 18, 1985, p. 11. Review by
Richard Curtis. [?©]
34.On the 1967 `Six Day War’ General Mattityahu Peled, a member of
Israel’s general staff in 1967, opined that `the thesis according to
which the danger of genocide weighed on us in June 1967, and that
Israel struggled for its physical existence is only a bluff born and
developed after the war.’ Le Monde, June 3, 1972, p. 4; For an example
of his views see, `Israeli`Palestinian Peace: If Not Now, When?’ by
Mattityahu Peled. keynote speech given at the Breira National
Conference in 1977; see also, `The Palestinian Position: An Exchange,’
by Mattityahu Peled, and Reply by Bernard Avishai, New York Review of
Books, Volume 27, Number 3 Ã – March 6, 1980. See The Other Israel for
commemorative articles published in his honor after his death
including, `A `traitor’ before his time,’ by Teddy Preuss, Translated
from Davar, March 12, 1995; and `I shall not see his like again,’ by
Uri Avnery, translated from Ma’ariv, March 3, 1995. [?©]
35.`On education, racism and murder,’ by Nurit Peled`Elhanan,
Jerusalem, March 16, 2006, translated and published in Occupation
Magazine, November 24, 2007; and In the State of Israel the Jewish
mother is disappearing,’ by Nurit Peled`Elhanan, speech given to the
Israeli Peace group Women in Black, on December 28, 2007, translated
and published in Occupation Magazine, January 6, 2008. She blamed
Israel’s policies for the death of her daughter Smadar. Smadar (14
years old) was killed by an Arab suicide bomber on September 4, 1997.
[?©]
36.See `Fighting for peace,’ by Judd Handler, San Diego Jewish
Journal, October, 2003; `It’s Time To Visit Gaza,’ by Miko Peled,
Electronic Intifada February 17, 2007. `Torture: Read it in the
Israeli press,’ by Miko Peled, The Electronic Intifada, April 4, 2007,
republished in Occupation Magazine on April 5, 2007; `A crack in the
wall,’ by Miko Peled, The Electronic Intifada, October 1, 2007;
`Pardon me, But I’m Jewish,’ by Miko Peled, Activist Magazine, October
15, 2008. `They like to call it war,’ by Miko Peled, Occupation
Magazine, September 20, 2009. He is an Israeli peace activist and
writer living in the US. Peled is co`founder of the Elbanna Peled
Foundation in memory of Smadar Elhanan and Abir Aramin. [?©]
37.`A ridiculous war against the gaps,’ by Meron Benvenisti, Haaretz,
June 29, 2006. [?©]
Edward C. Corrigan is a lawyer certified as a Specialist in
Citizenship and Immigration Law and Immigration and Refugee Protection
by the Law Society of Upper Canada in London, Ontario, Canada. He can
be reached at: [email protected]. Read other articles by
Edward, or visit Edward’s website.
From: A. Papazian