By Larry Jones
“Zionism is the problem” was the headline of an opinion column by freelance journalist and novelist Ben Ehrenreich in the March 15 Los Angeles Times. Emotionally moving, Ehrenreich stated:
“To be Jewish, I was raised to believe, meant understanding oneself as a member of a tribe that over and over had been cast out, mistreated, slaughtered. Millenniums of oppression that preceded it did not entitle us to a homeland or a right to self-defense that superseded anyone else’s. If they offered us anything exceptional, it was a perspective on oppression and an obligation born of the prophetic tradition: to act on behalf of the oppressed and to cry out at the oppressor.”
He quotes the Old Testament prophet Amos in arguing that Israeli Jews should no longer “turn justice into wormwood and hurl righteousness to the ground." I believe he is correct when he says that Israel as a Zionist state is no longer viable if peace is to be reached between Israel and Palestine. But it’s far more than the idea of Zionism that is the problem.
What is Zionism?
Theodor Herzl (1860 -1904) is considered the father of Zionism, the basic concept of which is that Jews who were being oppressed throughout Europe and the United States should have their own exclusive state. Several places in the world were considered for such a refuge for Jews. Settling in Uganda, for instance, was debated at the Sixth Zionist Congress in 1903, the year before Herzl died.
In 1947 the United Nations in 1947 created the state of Israel in what was then Palestine. U.N. General Assembly Resolution 181 called for the partition of the British-ruled Palestine Mandate into a Jewish state and an Arab state. It was approved on November 29, 1947 with 33 votes in favor, 13 against, 10 abstentions and one absent.
The resolution was accepted by the Jews in Palestine, yet rejected by the Arabs in Palestine and the Arab states. Through the wars of 1948 and 1967, and the forced establishment of Jewish settlements on the Palestine side of the borders, Palestinians now have a great deal less land, and that is under siege by Israel, as we have seen in the December/January horrific destruction of Gaza, the small green strip in the last map above. Gaza is now being strangled by an Israeli blockade, leaving the people without adequate food and medical supplies. The fragmented portions of Palestine show how Israeli settlements have broken up Palestine’s contiguous land.
In his opinion piece, Ehrenreich wrote that:
“Israeli policies have rendered the once apparently inevitable two-state solution less and less feasible. Years of Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem have methodically diminished the viability of a Palestinian state. Israel’s new prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has even refused to endorse the idea of an independent Palestinian state, which suggests an immediate future of more of the same: more settlements, more punitive assaults.”
A number of Middle East observers have agreed with Ehrenreich that a two state solution no longer seems viable. In 1925 a Jewish organization called Brit Shalom (covenant of peace) was formed to push for a single secular bi-national state. Ehrenreich believes that such an idea must again come to the fore.
Can the Idea of a Bi-national State Overcome the Idea of Zionism?
The truth is that ideas don’t contend, people and groups who hold them do. Ehrenreich admits that there are numerous political problems standing in the way of bringing a bi-national state into being, but the realities of the situation are far more complex than even he realizes. A recent research study done by social psychologist Daniel Bar-Tal of Tel-Aviv University and Rafi Nets-Zehngut of Columbia University dealt with the perception of Israeli Jews regarding Israel’s history with Palestinians. Their study showed discouraging results. They concluded:
“Israeli Jews’ consciousness is characterized by a sense of victimization, a siege mentality, blind patriotism, belligerence, self-righteousness, dehumanization of the Palestinians and insensitivity to their suffering. The fighting in Gaza dashed the little hope Bar-Tal had left – that this public would exchange the drums of war for the cooing of doves.”
The United States voted for the U.N. partition in 1947 and has supported Israel and its Zionist ideology ever since. There would be no Israel as we know it were it not for U.S. aid and its consistently killing U.N. resolutions critical of Israel. Over the years Israel has been the recipient of U.S. largesse for both economic and military aid. The Israeli military now receives approximately $3 billion a year from the U.S. Amnesty International (AI) has stated that detailed evidence has emerged of Israel’s extensive use of US-made weaponry during its war in Gaza, including 500lb bombs, Hellfire missiles, and white phosphorus artillery shells,
When white phosphorus lands on skin it burns deeply through muscle and into the bone, continuing to burn until deprived of oxygen. Using it in civilian areas is a war crime. AI has said that “among the places worst affected by the use of white phosphorus was the UNRWA (U.N. Relief and Works Agency) compound in Gaza City, at which Israeli forces fired three white phosphorus shells on 15 January. The white phosphorus landed next to some fuel trucks and caused a large fire which destroyed tons of humanitarian aid.”
Obama’s Position on Middle East Dilemma
As I indicated in my article on this site on March 15, President Barack Obama has been a consistently strong supporter of the Israeli and its Zionist policies. When Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently visited the Middle East he restated the U.S. policy of favoring a two state solution to the conflict. While I appreciated Ehrenreich’s moral position, the emergency of a bi-national state solution will be a long time in coming, especially unless the U.S. takes the lead in radically altering its position on Israel’s crimes. Don’t hold your breath waiting for that to happen.
Larry Jones describes himself as a former Protestant minister and American, but says he gave them both up for the sake of humanity.
