[thread]
Corbyn in his Shabbat Guardian piece:
"In the 1970s some on the left mistakenly argued that “Zionism is racism”. That was wrong, but to assert that “anti-Zionism is racism” now is wrong too."
(Z=R) = (a-Z=R)
Corbyn in his Shabbat Guardian piece:
"In the 1970s some on the left mistakenly argued that “Zionism is racism”. That was wrong, but to assert that “anti-Zionism is racism” now is wrong too."
(Z=R) = (a-Z=R)
First, as so often, Corbyn lies. He himself was patron of the PSC which always pushed the line that Zionism=Racism, for decades, well after the 1970s.
Z=R is an antisemitic trope.
It claims that there is no Zionist tradition or practice that isn't racist - erasing left Zionism.
It claims contra IHRA: "the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor".
It encourages people to assume Jews are racists (unless they disavow).
It claims that there is no Zionist tradition or practice that isn't racist - erasing left Zionism.
It claims contra IHRA: "the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor".
It encourages people to assume Jews are racists (unless they disavow).
Antizionism? Is it antisemitic?
The meaning of the term ‘antizionism’ couldn’t be more different after 1948 from its meaning before 1939, yet so often people who consider themselves to be Marxists are more concerned with the continuity of form than with the break in content.
The meaning of the term ‘antizionism’ couldn’t be more different after 1948 from its meaning before 1939, yet so often people who consider themselves to be Marxists are more concerned with the continuity of form than with the break in content.
Before 1939 anti-Zionism was a position in debates amongst Jewish opponents of antisemitism. After 1948 it became a programme for the destruction of an actually existing nation state.
Being "anti" an idea, or a politics is different from being "anti" a nation state.
Being "anti" an idea, or a politics is different from being "anti" a nation state.
How would it sound to define an "anti-British-ism" if you opposed the Empire in the past and Brexit in the future?
How would it sound to define an "anti-Pakistan-ism" if you thought that terrorism and forced marriage were significant problems?
How would it sound to define an "anti-Pakistan-ism" if you thought that terrorism and forced marriage were significant problems?
To move from a critique of particular racist practices or laws, or of the occupation, to a whole "-ism" - a worldview centred on the premise that one nation state is inauthentic, should not exist, is necessarily racist and should be treated as an evil on the planet, is menacing.
Jewish antizionism tends to start with a specifically Jewish interest in Israel, it moves into an obsession with what is wrong about Israel and it then proceeds to fight within non-Jewish organisations like parties, churches and unions for that institution to adopt the obsession.
"The main enemy is at home," said the Jewish antizionists. And the global antizionist movement agreed with them: the main enemy is in Israel. And they adopted the worldview with an enthusiasm and in tropes which demonstrate the influence, the thrill and the pull of antisemitism.
So, Jeremy Corbyn, is it analogous to claim that antizionism is antisemitic and to claim that Zionism is racism.
No. It isn't. One is an antisemitic libel on Israelis and most Jews.
No. It isn't. One is an antisemitic libel on Israelis and most Jews.
Antizionism in our time, in Britain, in the Labour Party, is antisemitic.
We could argue about whether it is necessarily so, but it is empirically so.
It is the antizionists who shout relentlessly that the claim that antisemitism is a problem is made by a conspiracy of Jews.
We could argue about whether it is necessarily so, but it is empirically so.
It is the antizionists who shout relentlessly that the claim that antisemitism is a problem is made by a conspiracy of Jews.
Which is true?
1. there is a problem of antisemitism.
2. Jews are paranoid and hysterical and they imagine it.
3. Jews do not imagine it or experience it but they pretend to do so in order to silence the voice of the oppressed.
1 is true. 2 and 3 are antizionist positions.
1. there is a problem of antisemitism.
2. Jews are paranoid and hysterical and they imagine it.
3. Jews do not imagine it or experience it but they pretend to do so in order to silence the voice of the oppressed.
1 is true. 2 and 3 are antizionist positions.
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