No Law, No Peace
Even the shortest definition of Zionism must begin by recognising that there is what might be called spiritualZionism and politicalZionism. In the sense that they look to Jerusalem as their spiritual capital or centre, all Jews who are religious could regard themselves as spiritual Zionists. The Zionism of my book’s title and substance and the Zionism I am speaking about is political Zionism (from here on Zionism).
It is Jewish nationalism in the form of a sectarian, colonial enterprise which, in the process of creating in the Arab heartland a state for some Jews – mainly by terrorism and ethnic cleansing – made a mockery of, and demonstrated contempt for, Judaism’s moral values and ethical principles. Judaism insists that the return of Jews to the Israel of the bible must await the Second Coming of the Messiah. Zionism said, in effect: “We can’t wait for Him. Zionism is the Messiah.” As noted by Yehoshafat Harkabi in his book Israel’s Fateful Hour, the “return” of Jews by the efforts of man and thus Zionism was “proscribed”by Judaism. (As I’ll explain later, there is another reason why the return of Jews was a deeply flawed concept).
For those who may not be familiar with Harkabi – he was Israel’s longest serving Director of Military Intelligence. In the same book he said Israelis had to be aware that “the price of their misconduct is paid not only by them but also by Jews throughout the world.”And he gave this warning: “It would be a tragic irony if the Jewish state, which was intended to solve the problem of anti-Semitism, was to become a factor in the rise of anti-Semitism.”Those warning words were published in Hebrew in 1986 and in English two years later. Today, more than two decades on, I think Israel’s “misconduct” and its appalling self-righteousness has become not only afactorin the rise of anti-Semitism, it is becoming the prime factor. And th
at’s why my latest book is titled Zionism: The Real Enemy of the Jews – a title which I believe has been given additional meaning by the latest display of Israeli state terrorism.
Now to why knowledge of the difference between Judaism and Zionism is the key to understanding. It explains two things:
One is why it is perfectly possible to be passionately anti-Zionist – opposed to Zionism’s colonial enterprise – without being in any way, shape or form anti-Semitic.
The other is why it is wrong to blame all Jews everywhere for the crimes of the hardest core Zionist few in Palestine that became Israel.
I gave more than five years of my life to researching and writing my book not only because I want justice for the Palestinians. I was also driven by the need to do my Gentile bit to stop Holocaust II, shorthand for another great turning against Jews.
In passing it’s worth noting that virtually all Arabs and other Muslims have always known the difference between Judaism and Zionism. And it can be said without fear of contradiction that throughout much of their history, Arabs and other Muslims were the best protectors of Jews in need of sanctuary. It was Zionism’s colonial enterprise that poisoned the relationship, but not to the point, yet, at which most Arabs and other Muslims blame all Jews for Zionism’s crimes.
I titled my talk PALESTINE AND ISRAEL – NO LAW, NO PEACE because I believe there’s not a snowball’s chance in hell of peace unless and until the Zionist state is called and held to account for its crimes. I also believe there’s not a snowball’s chance in hell of that happening unless and until the citizens of the Western world are informed about the difference between the lies and truth of history as it relates to the making and sustaining of the conflict in and over Palestine, a conflict I describe as the cancer at the heart of international affairs.
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