Not an Experiment


The comment above appeared below the article by Sami Abdel-Shafi  on CiF on December 29th. Ranong’s comment was not deleted, which presumably indicates that the CiF moderators do not realise or do not care about the extent of its bigotry.
As we are painfully aware, many on the Left and increasingly in other political camps as well, view Zionism as part of the ‘Jewish conspiracy’. They link Zionism with their theories of ‘world domination’ and the end result is a Jewish World Conspiracy which of course exists only in their bigoted minds.
The fact is that Zionism is a Jewish response to antisemitism: a Jewish liberation movement. Lenin was of the opinion that Jews should assimilate as a political move in order to avoid persecution, but assimilation is actually no more than giving up on the fight against antisemitism; it is satisfying the bigots by trying to become un-Jewish.
It matters not whether we are talking about the assimilation of individual Jews in the Diaspora or the theoretical assimilation of the Jewish people advocated by those who propose a one-state ‘solution’, which is in fact what those who oppose Zionism suggest. In both cases, Jews must obliterate their identity in order not to be oppressed or attacked.
As millions of European Jews discovered 70 years ago, assimilation does not guarantee protection. Logically, there is no way it could because the society into which Jews are being told to assimilate is inherently racist and antisemitic. If it wasn’t, there would be no need for assimilation in the first place.
Those like Ranong who advocate the end of Zionism are advocating an end to the Jewish liberation movement and thereby condemning Jews to an inferior existence riddled with discrimination, racism and lack of self-determination. Strangely, this sort of person usually has no problem supporting other organisations describing themselves as liberation movements, without actually investigating their real intentions or reading their charters. Ranong above waxes lyrical about ‘freedom and justice’ – just not for Jews.
As the late Steve Cohen wrote as far back as 1984, “However, much of what the left poses as anti-Zionism is transcendental: it relates neither to the struggle of the Palestinians nor to what the Israeli state is actually doing. Rather it is concerned with ascribing world power to Zionism and holding all Jews in the world responsible for this. Left practice presents as anti-Zionism something which is neither about Zionism nor about Palestinian liberation, but is about some alleged responsibility of Jews on a global scale. This is anti-Semitism.”
That, Ranong, is why your comment is both bigoted and offensive, and there’s nothing ‘civilised’ in that.

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