[NYTr] Cracks in Zionism

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

sent by Tim Murphy (activ-l)

AntiWar.com - Jul 17, 2007

Cracks in Zionism 

by Charley Reese

One of the myths created by the Israeli lobby is that Jews around the
world are unanimous in their support of Israel, regardless of what it
does. That's not true and never has been true.

Modern political Zionism, whose ideology demands a Jewish state with a
Jewish majority, was invented by an Austrian journalist and for decades
struggled desperately. It wasn't God who created the modern state of
Israel. It was British colonialism, the U.S., the Soviet Union, and
Zionists.

Only about a third of the world's Jews choose to live in Israel, despite
nearly a century of efforts to persuade Jews to immigrate. There were
many early Jewish critics of Zionism, and there still are, despite
modern Zionists adopting fascist tactics to silence debate.

Joel Beinin, a Jewish liberal who has been on the receiving end of the
campaign to silence critics of Israel, had this to say in a recent
article reprinted on Znet:

"Organizations claiming to represent American Jews engage in a
systematic campaign of defamation, censorship and hate-mongering to
silence criticism of Israeli policies. They hollow the ethical core out
of the Jewish tradition, acting instead as if the highest purpose of
being Jewish is to defend Israel, right or wrong.

"Why discredit, defame and silence those with opposing viewpoints? I
believe it is because the Zionist lobby knows it cannot win based on
facts. An honest discussion can only lead to one conclusion: The status
quo in which Israel declares it alone has rights and intends to impose
its will on the weaker Palestinians, stripping them permanently of
their land, resources and rights, cannot lead to a lasting peace.

"We need an open debate and the freedom to discuss uncomfortable facts
and explore a full range of policy options. Only then can we adopt a
foreign policy that serves American interests."

Avigail Abarbanel, a native-born Israeli Jew who lived there 27 years
before emigrating, has even harsher words:

"Palestinian citizens of Israel live under an arbitrary and brutal
police state. Their dealings with Israeli bureaucracy are not just
frustrating but can be outright dangerous.

"The Palestinians in the Occupied Territories live under a Pinochet-like
regime. They can and do disappear in the middle of the night. They are
blindfolded, cuffed, beaten, humiliated, taken to unknown locations
with no information given to them or their families, tortured
physically and psychologically and incarcerated indefinitely, often
without charges and regardless of whether they are guilty of anything.

"Israel is not a nice country. It is a powerful police state founded on
pathological paranoia with only a veneer of civility, carefully crafted
and maintained for the consumption of those who still believe in the
myth of Israeli democracy."

You might want to send that paragraph to the next politician you hear
repeating AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) propaganda
that "Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East."

Abarbanel is a psychotherapist, and her article appeared on the Web site
ElectronicIntifada.net, which I highly recommend as a source of
information about the Middle East.

America badly needs an open and frank debate, based on facts, with no
name-calling. Our politicians are as timid as an introverted baby when
it comes to Israel. The Israeli lobby likes to boast about defeating
candidates who don't toe the Israel-right-or-wrong line. As a tip to the
not-completely-gutless politicians, the way to handle that is to make
AIPAC an issue in the campaign.

A group of Zionist leaders is meeting in Israel as I write this,
worrying about an increase in criticism of them for stifling debate.
They are not invincible. They can't silence any American unless the
American succumbs to fear of being called names, and I learned as a
child that sticks and stones can break bones, but words can't hurt you.