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Zionism - more than traditional colonialism and apartheid
by Lasse Wilhelmson Saturday, Jan. 17, 2004 at 11:08 PM
There is a law in Israel, passed in 1985, which forbids political
parties to openly oppose the principle of a Jewish state.

The Jewish colonisation of Palestine under the Zionist
slogan "the land without people to the people without
a land" started almost a hundred years ago and reached
its first climax with the proclamation of The Jewish
State of Israel in 1948. A second climax is now in the
offing through the ongoing colonisation of the West
Bank and Gaza.

A Jewish state needs a substantial majority of Jews in
the population. This has been insured by means of
immigration, terror and expulsion of the native
Palestine population. Jewish hegemony in Israel today
is secured through a system of apartheid inherent in
all aspects of Society, be it law, administration or
religion. Israel lacks a constitution and fixed
boarders, which is fully consistent with Zionism's
call for continual expansion.


Israel - not even a democracy for Jews

There is a law in Israel, passed in 1985, which
forbids political parties to openly oppose the
principle of a Jewish state. Neither are they allowed
to work for a change of this principle through
democratic means. A party so doing will be banned from
elections to the Knesset.

Democracy is thus denied to those citizens - even Jews
- who wish to work within the parliamentary system
towards replacing the Jewish state with a secular
state which represents all its citizens' equal rights
regardless of religion or ethnic origin. This law
alone prevents Israel from being seen as a liberal
democracy of Western type.

All Jews living outside Israel are entitled by law to
immigrate and become citizens immediately, while the
Palestinian refugees who were expelled from their
homes are prohibited from returning. This is a
violation of international law. Israel is the only
country in the world that defines its land as
belonging to just one group of its citizens, namely
Jews. This law works as a fundamental national
apartheid law and turns all Jews into potential
enemies of the Palestinians.

Israel is an apartheid state

Other laws and administrative regulations emphasize
Israel as a Jewish apartheid state. Israeli ID cards
indicate whether the holder is Jewish or not and Jews
in Israel may not marry non-Jews. Non-Jewish Israelis
cannot purchase government-owned land. Many Arab
villages in Israel are not zoned as residential areas,
as a result of which they have no access to public
services such as electricity and water. The
disqualification of most Arab Israelis from military
service reinforces discrimination as regards social b
enefits, education and the like.

In Israel/Palestine today, there are three apartheid
classes of people.

1. Jews are fully qualified citizens of Israel, the
West Bank, Gaza and the whole world.

2. Non-Jews in Israel, mainly Palestinians (20
percent) are second class citizens

3. Palestinians are stateless non-citizens on the
West Bank, in Gaza or in refugee camps in
neighbouring countries.

Israel continues to violate international law and
commit crimes against humanity. They have conducted
genocide against the Palestinians for a hundred years.
When Israel became a member of the UN in 1949 an
objection was raised regarding a previous UN demand
that the refugees be allowed to return home at the
earliest possible date and that they should receive
full compensation for property, according to
international law and practice. For 55 years, Israel
has completely ignored this demand. On these grounds
alone Israel could be expelled from the UN. No other
state, saving Israel, has so completely ignored so
many UN resolutions.

Israel is a military superpower with nuclear weapons
and took active part in the US and England's war
against Iraq. Without any provocation, Israel recently
bombed targets in Syria and armed its fleet with
nuclear weapons. Previously they attacked Egypt and
Lebanon amongst others.

How could this evolve? What is the ideology behind
this very special project of colonialism, the only one
that has survived two turns of a century? What sort of
ideology is Zionism?

More than a hundred years of colonialism

Colonising Palestine continues today on the West Bank
and in Gaza according to the practical plan presented
by Theodor Herzl in his book "The Jewish State"
(1896). The book is mainly about how the project could
be financed and how land in Palestine could be
transferred to Jewish ownership. The plan was affirmed
by the first Zionist Congress 1897.

Herzl had some important starting points for the
Zionist Project.

* Antisemitism cannot be remedied by the
assimilation of Jews.

* Jews are a race of people with a right to their
own state.

* Palestine (or Zion) is the home of the Jewish
State. The goal is a socialist Utopia - a model
state

The term Zionism was, however, conceived by Nathan
Birnbaum in 1885. Together with Herzl he made up the
leadership of the Zionist World Organisation. Later on
he became a spokesman for Judaism in the Diaspora -
outside Israel/Palestine.

Moses Hess - the Communist Rabbi

The fundamental ideology of Zionism however evolved
much earlier with Moses Hess. He was one of Germany's
earliest renowned Socialists. He was a Utopian, a
Hegelian and a good friend of Karl Marx. Hess also
wrote a contribution to The Communist Manifesto (1848)
on the question of Religion as opium to the masses. He
is considered by Zionists as the first Zionist. As he
grew older he dissociated himself from Marx and
"returned" to his People, that is to say Judaism. Marx
shunned Hess' chauvinistic ideas. "Communist Rabbi
Moses" as he was also called, wrote Zionism's Magnum
Opus which Herzl later referred to as the book which
says everything there is worth saying about Zionism.

This book, "Rome and Jerusalem" was published by Hess
in 1862. He was inspired, amongst others, by Spinoza.
He defines the Jewish Nation by the following
components:

* The Jewish race - superior and chosen

* Palestine - the homeland of the Jewish people

* The Jewish religion - the best guarantee for
Jewish nationality.

The importance of Blood in defining racial purity was
common at that time and was also part of Hess'
conception. He saw the German race as antagonistic to
the Jewish race. He worried about the antisemitism
apparent in Germany at that time and this was his main
reason for "returning" to Judaism. For him, Socialism,
apart from developing equality of the classes must
also develop a moral dimension. The Jewish State
should have the makings of a Socialist State.

Hess predicted both the foundation of the State of
Israel and the Holocaust 80 -85 years in advance of
these occurrences. Hess considered France to be the
foremost ally of the Jews. This was before the Dreyfus
trail in France which came to be the one event that
convinced Theodor Herzl that Zionism was the only
solution to antisemitism.

Marxist Zionism and Zionist Revisionism

After the first Zionist Congress, the renowned Marxist
Ber Borochov developed the rigorous policies of the
Zionist Project. He argued territorial concentration
as a solution to, among other things, the Jewish
question. He founded Poalei Zion, the Marxist Zionist
Party which supported the Russian Revolution in 1917.
David Ben Gurion, one of the Party members and
Israel's founder, came to Palestine at the beginning
of the twentieth century. He considered himself a
Bolshevik and was in favour of the dictatorship of the
proletariat in all countries, except Palestine where
he favoured the dictatorship of Zionism. Ben Gurion
considered Jewish national interests superior to class
interests in Palestine: a clear case of unmitigated
National Socialist leanings.

When the Poalei Zion split up, Ben Gurion became the
leader of the Social Democrat wing and was influential
in Zionism for years to come. The colonisation took
place in the name of Socialism and the enlightened
culture of the Western World. Under the forceful
leadership of Ben Gurion the colonisation proceeded in
stages while upholding negotiations with the
Palestinians. The foundation of the Jewish state could
wait. The first issue was the building of a strong
army (Hagana), which could drive the Palestinians out
and create and defend a substantial Jewish majority on
as large a part of Palestine as possible. The strategy
was very successful.

Israel was proclaimed in 1948 on land which
geographically comprised almost 80% of the whole of
Palestine: a considerable increase to the UN Partition
plan which offered Jews 55%. Today Israel has seized
all of the original Palestine, while the Palestinian
villages are now surrounded by The Wall, cut through
by motorways - only for Jews - and interspersed with
hundreds of check points and fortified Jewish
settlements.

A minority within Zionism, represented by Zeév
Jabotinsky wanted immediate action. In 1925 he founded
a Zionist revisionist movement. In the article "The
Iron Wall" (1937), he stated, among other things, that
all native people are against colonisation, even the
Palestinians. Colonisers must therefore use the utmost
determination to show that opposition does not pay
off.

"We hold that Zionism is moral and just. And since it
is moral and just, justice must be done, no matter
whether Joseph or Simon or Ivan or Achmet agree with
it or not. There is no other morality." (ibid.)

The above mentioned are the two main standpoints
within Zionism which have also, during different
periods of time, served as the official ideology in
Israel. Interwoven in these and of varying importance,
are other movements such as practical Zionism, radical
messianic Zionism, religious Zionism,
spiritual/cultural Zionism and more.

Zionism, National Socialism and Fascism

While Ben Gurion sympathised with Marxism and later on
with Social Democracy, Jabotinsky sympathised with
Fascism. He admired Mussolini who supported him.
Jabotinsky died in 1940 before the proclamation of The
State Of Israel. He founded the Jewish terror
organisation Irgun which committed its most horrible
deeds during the expulsion of the Palestinians. The
Lehi, a splinter group headed by Stern, murdered Folke
Bernadotte who was the UN representative and mediator.
The man who pulled the trigger became Ben Gurion's
good friend and security guard when he retired to the
kibbutz Sde Bocker. The leaders of both organisations
-- Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir -- later became
Prime Ministers of Israel.

It is remarkable how similar the two Zionist
standpoints are in practical politics. The Iron-Wall
policy is now being completed by Israel's present
Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, with greater military
force than ever before. Sharon belongs to the same
right-wing group as Begin and Shamir (Likud). However
it was the governments lead by the Social Democrats
that started and completed most of the considerable
expansion of Jewish settlements on the West Bank and
Gaza.

The Eastern European Jews, who were Marxists, stamped
their mark on the colonisation of Palestine during the
first half of the twentieth century. Collective farms
- the kibbutz - were the main instrument in bringing
it about. They were democratic, socialist,
experimental units, often secular. No money was in use
and the collective upbringing of children was common
for a long time. Only Jews were allowed to be members.
The seemingly racist kibbutz played an important part
in the capture and military defence of occupied
territory. The settlements of today on the West Bank
and in Gaza serve a similar purpose, though they are
religiously orthodox.

A Zionist leftist ideology dominated in the beginning.
As shown above this can also be seen as Jewish
National Socialism, upheld by Ben Gurion. After the
occupation of the West Bank and Gaza in 1967, a
Zionist right-wing ideology, like Jabotinsky`s, has
dominated. The Israeli "left" of today is
predominately left-wing Zionism.

Within Zionism's two main standpoints there has been
interaction. Thus left-wing Zionism has targeted
policies for the settlements, while the right-wing has
been responsible for terrorism and ethnic cleansing.
After 1967, the religious influence on Israel's
politics has grown. However, religion has always been
important in Zionism. Nowadays in Israel, religion and
politics have merged.

Zionism and Jewish Religion

Classic Judaism (and orthodox of today) has its roots
in the Jewish societies in Europe of the Middle Ages.
Zionism has given it a boost. Its antagonism towards
non-Jews and the opinion that Jews are God's Chosen
People has great impact on Israel's policies towards
the rest of the world.

According to Halachah, classic Judaism's laws and
customs, for example "compassion towards others"
extends to Jews only. Murder or manslaughter is judged
mildly when the perpetrator is Jewish and the victim a
non-Jew. Also according to Halachah, it is accepted
for a Jew to kill a non-Jew if he is laying claim to
"eternal Jewish land". This is what the settlers'
religious organisations are alleging. There is no
corresponding law in Israel's judicial system but in
effect it influences the system as punishment of such
crimes is very mild.

Israel's state terrorism, theft of land and
occupation, demolition of houses, the building of the
Wall, etc., including the so called 'extra-judicial
killings' (assassinations), are seen by Zionists as
legitimate defence of the Nation and therefore fall
under international law - which Israel ignores.

Israel Shahak discusses the influence classic Judaism
has on Israel's policies in his book "Jewish History,
Jewish Religion" (1996). For a long period of time
Shahak was chairman of Israel's Society for Human and
Civil Rights. He is especially critical of the double
moral standards kept by prominent left wing
intellectual Jews, particularly Martin Buber, the well
known philosopher. Buber criticized Nazism while
commending the Jewish Religion (Hassidism) but keeping
quiet about its dehumanising of non-Jews (goyim).
These double standards act to increase Israel's
chauvinism and hatred of all non-Jews. Israel's Peace
Movement has been accused of harbouring similar
sentiments.

Many countries which think of themselves as modern,
attempt to do away with religious thinking from the
Middle Ages, mainly by the separation of Church from
State and laws against racism. The opposite has
occurred in Israel. The revival of classic Judaism in
Israel's politics can be seen as an expression of
Zionist expansion, thus increasing opposition to the
Palestinian Arabs.

Had the Jews, some 75 years ago, chosen a bi-national
democracy for their national sovereignty, there could
have been peaceful development of the English Mandate
for Palestine. The Mandate was partitioned by the UN
in 1947 even though this meant the further extension
of land already colonised. Judah Magnes, head of the
Hebrew University in Jerusalem, advocated
bi-nationalism, as did Folke Bernadotte, the UN
mediator. A Jewish nationalism which acknowledges the
Palestinians right to national sovereignty is more in
keeping with Judaism's long tradition of humanity and
"Jewish Enlightenment". But the Zionists under their
leader Ben Gurion demanded a Jewish State in no less
than the whole of Palestine.

The next opportunity Israel had to achieve a peaceful
development was the Oslo Agreement. The Palestinians
accepted a Jewish State on 78% of land that was the
original Palestine in return for the development of
their own State on the remaining 22%. But the Zionists
turned down this generous offer. Israel has thus
repeatedly rejected solutions which could have insured
Jewish national interests and given them international
recognition. Instead of this, Israel has chosen a
policy which runs the risk of shattering The Jewish
state. The logic of this can not be understood without
taking into consideration classic Judaism's close
connection with Zionism.

Zionism and Nazism

Moses Hess put together the fundamental components
Race, People, Nation and "the Chosen" to make a
National Socialist version of colonialism. It was
later to be known as Zionism. Hitler, 60 years on, put
together the same components in Mein Kampf and formed
his National Socialist Party. Hess' opinions about the
"purity of the Jewish race" correspond to Hitler's
belief in "the pure Aryan race".

This is extreme chauvinism based on the theory of the
connection between "Blood and Soil". Despite the
similarity of ideological structure, there are
differences in constitutional and organisational
structures. The same goes for similarities to the
former apartheid State of South Africa. Family ties
(Blood ties) are however still basic to Jews all over
the world and in the Jewish state of Israel. A person
with a Jewish mother is defined for religious purposes
as a Jew, according to the Jewish Community in
Stockholm, even if he considers himself an atheist.
Jewish religion and family ties today are interwoven
at a personal level, like religion and politics are in
Society as a whole, as shown above.

"I too, like Hitler, believe in the power of the blood
idea", Chaim Nachman Bialik writes this in "The
Present Hour" (1934). Bailik is Israel's most
acclaimed poet. Had it been 10 years later he would
probably have chosen to refer to Moses Hess, or kept
quiet on the matter. Bialik's sentiments on the enigma
of the Blood can also be found in the above mentioned
Martin Buber's book "On Judaism" (1967).

Summary

Israel is not only a traditional colonial State with
apartheid and racism, but also a Western imperialist
fortress in The Orient. Zionism also means expansion
and ethnic cleansing. Furthermore, it is an elitist
ideology. It grows politically and religiously amongst
the broad masses of people and is thereby
strengthened. Religious totalitarianism is its
ideological base with strong links to National
Socialism and Fascism.

The brutal violence, the intransigence and the
dehumanisation of the Palestinians can only be
understood against this background. Against this
background, the genocide of the Palestinians is
possible and consistent. It is the background against
which Israel is a "time bomb" in the Middle East
policies of the US. It is high time Zionism and its
Jewish State was replaced by a secular parliamentary
democracy with equal rights for all citizens
regardless of ethnic or religious beliefs. The grounds
for a system of apartheid and the occupation of the
West Bank and Gaza would thereby disappear. This is a
necessary, if not conclusive, requirement if there is
to be lasting peace between Israeli Jews and
Palestinian Arabs. Whether it results in one or two
secular democracies is of secondary importance.

A feasible strategy for achieving democracy in
Israel/Palestine would be the start of a liberation
movement where Jews and Palestinians could pull
together similar to the ANC movement in South Africa.
Those Jews and Palestinians who are already fighting
Zionism should therefore be given support first.

It is also high time Jews - both in Israel and
elsewhere - started reforming the Jewish religion. The
concept of Blood ties should be replaced by religious
conviction, the idea of Jews as "The Chosen People"
should be rejected and Jews looked upon as people like
everyone else.

The current genocide must stop. First of all for the
sake of the Palestinians but also for the Jews. It
fires a growing hatred of Jews in large parts of the
World. United Nations forces are needed to protect the
Palestinians and worldwide sanctions of Israel should
be maintained.



Bibliography

Moses Hess, The Revival of Israel - Rome and
Jerusalem, The Last Nationalist Question. Bison Book,
1995

Theodor Herzl, The Jewish State, 1896. Web edition

Shabtai Teveth, BEN-GURION and the Palestinian Arabs,
From Peace to War, Oxford University Press, 1985

Zeév (Vladimir) Jabotinsky, The Iron Wall. Article in
The Jerusalem Herald 26th November 1937, Web edition

Israel Shahak, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Pluto
Publishers, 1996

Martin Buber, On Judaism, Schocken Books, New York
1967

Avi Shlaim, THE IRON WALL, Israel and the Arab World,
Penguin Books, 2001

Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, Parts One and Two. Hägglunds
2002

Marx och Engels, Kommunistiska manifestet,
Arbetarkultur, Stockholm 1947

Gilad Atzmon, Israeli People's Most Common Mistakes.
Article in Counter Punch, Web edition, August 28th
2003

Lasse Wilhelmson, Demokrati eller folkmord? Article in
SVD/Brännpunkt June 3rd 2003

Lasse Wilhelmson, Israel Must Choose The Path of
Democracy. Article in The Palestine Chronicle, Web
edition, 17th September 2003

Jabotinsky Institute in Israel, on the Web

Ber Borochov Internet Archive

Jewish Virtual Library, on the Web

The Jewish Agency for Israel, on the Web


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About the author:

Lasse Wilhelmson was born in 1941 in Sweden. Recently
he signed an international petition of Jews who waived
what they regard as the colonial right of return to
Israel. Wilhelmson's ancestors fled to Sweden from the
Tsar's pogroms during the 1880s. Wilhelmson lived in
Israel for several years during the early 1960s. He is
currently employed as a woodworking instructor in an
immigrant neighbourhood on the outskirts of Stockholm.
He has long been active in the labour movement, as
well as the antiwar movement during the Vietnam era.
Wilhelmson has been a member of his local city council
for 23 years, including four years on the Board. He
belongs to the Jews for an Israeli-Palestinian Peace
in Sweden. Wilhelmson also published the article
"Israel Must Choose the Path of Democracy" in The
Palestine Chronicle the 16th of September 2003. A
somewhat modified version of that article was
published the 3rd of June 2003 in one of the two
biggest daily morning newspapers in Sweden - Svenska
Dagbladet (independent conservative).

Mr. Wilhelmson may be contacted at: wilhelmson@gmx.net



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