Tuesday, April 15, 2008

What is the relationship between anti-Zionism and antisemitism?

David Hirsh's paper, here, is quite the best thing I have read on this topic. He is more critical of Israel than I would sometimes be, but he is spot on when he comes to analysing antisemitism. Central to his argument is his use of the "Livingstone Formulation", which I posted about here.

3 comments:

Ojalanpoika said...

I wonder if I got my facts straightened out for this:
http://www.helsinki.fi/~pjojala/Expelled-Jews-statistics.htm
?

It's about statistics on the expulsion of the Jews from the Moslim and European ("semi-Christian") countries. STATISTICS, not Zionism.

Pauli Ojala
Finland

James said...

Hi Pauli,
That looks about right. Roughly equal numbers of Jews were expelled from Arab countries as Arabs fled Israel/ Palstine in 1948. Some of the Arabs were driven out in the heat of battle, some fled to avoid being caught up ion the fighting, some were encouraged to leave by their own leaders with the promise they would be able to return after Israel's liquidation (which some Arab spokesmen have acknowledeged). All this happened in the context of a war initiarted by Arabs with the express intention of destroying Israel. Hence the Arab states bear primary responsibility for both refugee crises, but Israel is expected to pay the price for both!

Ojalanpoika said...

Thanks.

I would like to question the role of the Europe and USA as a peace mediator in the Middle East. I think the imbalance of the area has been esteemed as a benefit for the Euramerica.

Chaim Weizmann and Emir Feisal were companions and emphasized the racial relations and community between the Jews and the Arabs, in contrast to the European elitist thinking even officially in the Versailles treaty.

WHAT THE EUROPEAN (and US, later on) COLONIALISM HATED MOST, was the business collaboration between the Jews and the Arabs.

When 'bestowing' independence, the old landlords did EVERYTHING to knock down the close and friendly associations between those "cousins". Jews with their technology and Arabs with their oil would have constituted a rivalling power to Euramerica at the end of colonialism.

Wahhabites to lead Arabia. Yasser Arafat's uncle to serve as the great mufti of Jerusalem, the most pathological hater of the Jews the could found.

PLO was founded by the Arab League, not the Palestinians. Palestinians, whom I love, were and are USED.

Used as a 'vanguard'.

You can read it from the PLO articles directly:
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/mideast/plocov.htm

'Article 14:
The destiny of the Arab nation, and indeed Arab existence itself, depend upon the destiny of the Palestine cause. From this interdependence springs the Arab nation's pursuit of, and striving for, the liberation of Palestine. The people of Palestine play the role of the vanguard in the realization of this sacred (qawmi) goal.

Article 7:
It is a national duty to bring up individual Palestinians in an Arab revolutionary manner. All means of information and education must be adopted in order to acquaint the Palestinian with his country in the most profound manner, both spiritual and material, that is possible. He must be prepared for the armed struggle and ready to sacrifice his wealth and his life...

Article 10:
Commando action ('FEDAYEEN') constitutes the nucleus of the Palestinian popular liberation war. This requires its escalation, comprehensiveness, and the mobilization of all the Palestinian popular and educational efforts and their organization and involvement in the armed Palestinian revolution.


On this basis the Palestinian masses, regardless of whether they are residing in the national homeland or in diaspora (mahajir) constitute - both their organizations and the individuals - one national front working for the retrieval of Palestine and its liberation through armed struggle.

Armed struggle is the only way to liberate Palestine. This it is the overall strategy, not merely a tactical phase.'

Palestinians were sacrifized. I do not accept this loss of human dignity.