Israel and Zionism Commentary |
home |
Back to Israel and Zionism Commentary
By GIL TROY
The Canadian Jewish News Internet Edition - August 27, 2003
Is Israel an apartheid state, undergoing “fascistization,” fooled into fighting by the Israel Defence Forces which,
like “every army… wants war, at least every once in a while”? Is Yasser Arafat a peacemaker, with his Palestinian
Authority “a group of mainstream moderates who supported the historic compromise with Israel?” Is it true that the
Palestinians, “by any reckoning, can only be seen as victims,” that “the occupation has ruined every good part of
Israeli society” and that a Holocaust “guilt complex” silenced most Europeans, while “at least part of Europe” has
heroically denounced Israeli “war crimes”?
Sadly, such myopia comes from some of Israel’s “best and brightest,” who proclaim themselves “voices of refusal and
dissent.” In a recent anthology, The Other Israel, two-dozen Israeli academics, attorneys and activists denigrate their
country, spewing malice and bias.
As liberals and democrats, North Americans, and especially North American Jews, instinctively cheer lonely dissenters.
Those of us who see the complexities of the Middle East conflict, who mourn the suffering of innocents on both sides,
want to applaud contemporary prophets seeking “a just peace.”
Unfortunately, these essays lack fairness, balance and accuracy. The Other Israel is an exercise in selective perception
and mass delusion that minimizes Palestinian terror, otherwise known as “resistance.” Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus is
described as “abandoned in the fall of 2000 under fire,” rather than desecrated by a Palestinian mob. We learn that
“Since Sept. 29, 2000, the Israeli army has waged a ‘dirty war’ against the Palestinian Authority” with no mention, in
that essay or most others, of suicide bombers or the hatred Palestinian institutions foment. Perhaps most disturbing, in
206 pages overflowing with compassion for Palestinians, Jewish suffering is coldly pooh-poohed as a political posture.
This one-sidedness suggests a bovine instinct to mimic progressive trends and a disgust for one’s own people. To explain
such fecklessness, many consult the textbook of Jewish pathologies – the self-hatred born of statelessness, the
provincial Israeli intellectual’s need to curry favour in intellectual circles. Yet considering many western
intellectuals’ contempt for their own nation and civilization, and so many intellectuals’ tendency to back the wrong
horse – from being soft on Josef Stalin to “contextualizing” Osama bin Laden – a broader western pathology is also at
work.
Fortunately, such decadence is not contagious. While many students ape their professors’ politics, others resist.
Thirty-seven free-thinking Canadian students recently published a response to the crisis in Israel. The essays, poems
and photographs in Gam Yachad (Also Together) engage constructively and intelligently with Israel and Zionism from
diverse political and religious perspectives.
Gam Yachad, which is dedicated to “the victims of terror” shows a mix of compassion and passion. While Oxford’s Avi
Shlaim writes tediously about “A Palestinian David facing an Israeli Goliath,” one poet dreams of “the day when/ David
and/ Goliath, both boys/ of strength and will, work their bodies/ to exhaustion to extract green from the sand.”
These students have endured the on- campus onslaught of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism, yet refuse to cower. One
Birthright Israel alumna who wants to “come to terms with her identity,” laments the “worldwide” spread of the
anti-Israel “poison.” David Weinfeld, a Montrealer studying at Harvard, mocks Noam Chomsky for criticizing divestment
from Israel while signing a petition advocating it. Chomsky then offers the Orwellian claim that “No one who signs a
petition is expected to approve of every word, even of large parts, if the main thrust is appropriate and sufficiently
important.” Shira Goldberg, a McGill student, writes insightfully about “Zionism Reborn,”urging her peers to “adapt our
Zionism to meet the fluctuating factors of the moment.” Other essayists do just that, appreciating “The Endurance of
Zionism,” pondering the “inherent contradiction” of “Zionism and Judaism” and confronting “The Problem with Zionism.”
These students see shades of grey. One refuses to be “force-fed the ‘official’ community policy regarding Israel.”
Another “understand[s] the anger and frustration that is felt by Israelis and Palestinians alike.” Nevertheless, these
Canadian students still believe in Israel and Zionism. They seek solidarity in their search for identity and their love
for Israel and the Jewish people, even as they develop individual perspectives. They demonstrate that you can be
patriotic and thoughtful, self-critical without being self-loathing. Their elders on both sides of the Atlantic should
learn from them
.Posted by permission from
Self-critical without self-loathingThis article appears in Israel and Zionism Commentary
Note - Commentary does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Zionism on the Web
This site provides resources about Zionism and Israeli history, including links to source documents. We are not responsible for the information content of these sites. These links are NOT intended to be an exhaustive reference about Zionism, but the list will keep growing...
Please tell us about your favorite links and we will review them for inclusion.
Copying - Please do copy these pages, and especially these links to your Web site, giving credit to Zionism on the Web www.zionismontheweb.org
Thank you.
Please link to our Sister Web sites - at http://www.zionism-israel.com Information about Israel and Zionism
and http://www.zionism.netfirms.com The Zionism Pages
Wikipedia article about Zionism
- A comprehensive article including the history of Zionism as well as links to specific topics and articles about anti-Zionism.Zionism - Table of contents at the Jewish Virtual Library
Zionism - Definition and Brief History - A balanced article that covers the definitions and history of Zionism as well as opposition to Zionism and criticisms by Arabs, Jewish anti-Zionists.
Labor Zionism - Early History and Critique - Contribution of Labor Zionism to the creation of the Jewish state, and problems of Labor Zionism in a changing reality.
The US Library of congress has a comprehensive and balanced set of articles about Zionism:
Zionist Precursors - US Library of Congress
Political Zionism - US Library of Congress
Cultural Zionism - US Library of Congress
Labor Zionism - US Library of Congress
Revisionist Zionism - US Library of Congress
Jewish Agency Zionism pages - Links to basic information about Zionism from the Jewish Agency
Ambassador Herzog explains Zionism in the UN
Advocacy
Active Zionism - A Zionist advocacy site with many useful links
Realistic Religious Zionism - moderate religious Zionist Web site