#Iraq Syria Egypt etc would have been way more progressive had it not been for the USs interventions and installing right wing govs

[brick-van-dyke]

Jews deserve love so I'm gonna side eye this since Zionism wasn't mentioned. The political movement of Zionism is the problem, not Jews or Judaism.

This all being said, it is also important that we all, as those who aren't being starved, murdered or imprisoned in this genocide stay informed and, yes, that does mean being aware and actually seeing what is happening and thinking about why it's happening. I understand being overwhelmed and I understand the emotional toll that takes. However, if we are not actively having our safety and welfare harmed to the same extent as Palestinians are currently with being bombed every single day and not having enough food or medicine to know if they'll see tomorrow, I think being supportive and present is the least we can do. Solidarity to our Jewish brothers and sisters, but we all have to do our part as we show solidarity to our Palestinian brothers and sisters too.

Many suffer due to the decades long siege on Gaza and the West Bank and the consequences of it; antisemetism (specifically the collective blaming of all anti-Zionist Jews for the Zionist colonialist project) and Islamophobia (collectively blaming all Muslims for the suffering of Jews, which is pushed by the anti Muslim and anti Arab propaganda that labels all middle eastern people as "terrorists"). I understand that is exhausting, so yes, if Jews AND Muslims and Arabs need to rest and a reminder they're loved? Yeah. We should say it. We just can't forget that it's not just Jews, but the Palestinians who are bearing the brunt of the far right Israeli government's Zionism and aggression.

Division of the shared struggle of Palestinians and Jews caused by Zionists is reductive. What we need to push for is solidarity for a problem caused by a common enemy; Zionism/ imperialism and western intervention. Which, yeah, is precisely why I want Jews to remember they're loved, but also that staying educated and informed is so so important. Zionism is dependent on propaganda and raising children in western ideals of colonial expansion ("the culture of surrounding nations needs to be fixed and erased for the greater good" or "because those around us are so savage and evidently are so sexist and homophobic and bad we have to fix them" or "Arabs colonised Jews so the Arabs need to die" are often used to try and create a target out of groups that are actually really progressive and/or not at fault for what the Romans did to the ancient Kingdom of Israel, but are labelled as evil by the west due to how they're in the way of resources and advantageous areas). If you've ever heard of the US's "cop cities", I'd compare Israel, a place built on Zionism, as one of those. The way it pushes militarisation is very similar and essentially teaches Jews to fight or die from a threat that is actually not even there until it's made to be there; Palestinian resistance groups that then prove all their worst fears when they resist after previous attacks by the IDF.

October 7th wasn't the first and it won't be the last as long as Israel antagonizes the countries and people around it until an attack happens. Which, again, is exactly why it's so important for Jews to know what sort of system Israel is and that getting far far away from that system is important for Jews and their literal safety. That's what I mean by a shared struggle, because so much of the antisemetism we're seeing? That's not from pro Palestinian protesters or the Palestinians themselves who are scared (rightfully so) of an attack from Jews who could be Zionists, that's from the conflating for Zionism (again, something that's been used to justify terrorist attacks towards surrounding groups of civilians for over 76+ years if we're only asking about Israel and not even the militias before it). And it is that system and that ideology that is to blame for the Palestinians' suffering.

I know I rambled a lot here and, honestly, there's so much to this that it's hard to summarise. But it's important; Jews aren't our enemies and are fellow victims ofa Zionism. Yes, Zionism began as an ideology centring Judaism that was then merged with western ideals of imperialism. No, that doesn't make it antisemetic to criticise as it is still a far right extremist ideology that calls for the establishment of an ethno-state using methods copied from Germany and actively has killed Jews in that westernised political pursuit, even before the establishment of modern Israel.

To every Jewish person:

I hope you are remembering to take care of yourselves.

I hope you are eating well. Staying hydrated. Getting plenty of rest.

I hope you are remembering to take a break from everything. Turn off social media and the news and find some joy.

I hope you remember how strong your people are and how far they have come.

I hope that you remember that you are also strong. Being strong doesn't mean you have to face everything alone.

I hope you look at the sky once a day and find beauty there.

I hope you remember to sing.

I hope you remember how much you are loved. Every single one of us is a gift. We will do what we do best and continue on.

[socialistsephardi]

The Political History of Zionism

With everything currently going on, I’ve decided to make this post detailing the different streams of Zionism, in order to deconstruct rhetoric surrounding Zionism. I do this to aid arguments against Hasbara, which often claims that Zionism is unified and simple.

To begin, Political Zionism is generally considered to start with the writings of Theodor Herzl, in the 19th century political climate of Central and Eastern Europe. Prior to this, numerous pre-zionist movements were competing among the Jews of europe following an event called the Haskalah, or “Jewish Enlightment”. The French Revolution caused France to become the first european nation to recognize Jews as citizens with rights, which would be followed by Britain and Germany. This allowed for the formation of a new secular Jewish middle class enthrawled by enlightment principles - mainly, rationalism, romanticism, and nationalism. However, this also generated a shift from religious persecution towards ‘racial’ antisemitism. As the Jews of various countries were subjected to either intense expectations of assimilation, or reoccuring waves of pogroms, it became clear that most of europe regarded these emancipated Jews as foreign nationals of alien religion and culturally compatible. The proto-Zionists begin building a consensus pushing for immigration to Ottoman Palestine, some seeking to provide an alternative to the pogroms, some believing themselves witness to the signs of an imment messiah, etc. Moshe Hess, an associate of Karl Marx, calls for Jews to create a socialist state in Palestine (more on Hess later). Waves of European Jews arrive, and organizations aiming to support Jewish farmers and artisans in Palestine and Syria are founded. The local authorities begin to differentiate between the immigrant Jews and the Jews from the local communities. Herzl enters the Jewish public consciousness with his writings calling specifically for the creation of a Jewish majority state. appealing to the British and French empires to aid them. He rejects Hess’s socialist proposal and instead proposes a reconstruction of Jewry altogether, rejecting the diaspora entirely, arguing that only separation could ensure Jewish survival. Herzl proposes establishing this state in Argentina, but concludes that Palestine would likely have more ideological appeal. I feel it crucial to note here that in his early writings, Herzl is hostile to religious Jews, claims that the Jews of the Ghettos and Shtetls hold back the intellectual, and calls the Sephardi Jews living under France in Algeria mixed blood barbarians. These attitudes would carry over into the political zietgiest of early Zionism.

From here, Zionism begins to grow, the call for simple immigration to the land is supplanted by a demand for a Jewish majority state, and competing schools of thought emerge. The World Zionist Organization is created, and the Zionists pivot attempt including the consent of the Ottomans in the project. Herzl here also begins to explicitly call for the colonization of Palestine, in line with his admiration for the french and british empires. The first major split within the Zionist movement comes with the formation of Labor Zionism based on Hess’s writings. Wheras Herzl’s camp depended on gaining support from the empires and from prominent Jewish figures, Labor Zionism argued that only the Jewish working class could create such a nation, and sought to emphasize a progressive Jewish identity. This is also where a re-alignment for the religious backing begins. Originally, orthodox Jews are in an uneasy alliance with the entirely secular Jews in the movement, mostly because despite his early writings, Herzl emphasized a need to manufacture support from orthodox rabbis and communities. With Herzl eventual death, the orthodox separate from the mainstream movement, citing the believe that only the Messiah can reassert Jewish control over the land. Reform Jews at this time also reject Zionism, as it is perceived as a threat to Jewish citizenship in Europe and America. The Reform rejected the notion that Jews were bound by a shared nationality, a position which held true until the holocaust.

Over the next few decades, various zionist groups in palestine compete for power. Many begin attacking the Muslim and Christian Palestinian communities, often forcibly separating the local Jewry in the process. Jewish terrorist groups launch attacks on British centers following WW1. Labor Zionists rejected traditional Jewish practice, arguing that these represented a diaspora mentality. They also set up the early Kibbitzim. Jabotinsky develops a trend known as Revisionist Zionism, with the aim of territorial maximalism. Revisionist Zionism becomes ingrained as the right wing faction, and eventually becoming the ideological foundation of the current Likud party. Jabotinsky admired and borrowed core concepts from Mussolini and fascism, in particular the centrality of the state, social conservative unity, and racial supremacy. Mussolini knew of this and told the founder of the World Jewish Congress “For Zionism to succeed, you need to have a Jewish State with a Jewish flag, and Jewish language. The person who understands that is your fascist, Jabotinsky". The revisionists during this time approved of the idea of building a Mediterranean alliance and opposing British influence. In 1939, Stern forms Lehi, and they oppose Britain in WW2, instead arguing that Jews must align with the Axis, eventually going so far as to claim that if they were to take control of the mandate, they would negotiate with Hitler to see the Jews in the camps transfered in as new citizens, and in exchange join the German sphere.

Following WW2, the Nakba occurs, and the Haganah (including groups like Lehi) is reorganized into the IDF. The liberal/general Zionists are now faced with oppozing interal forces such as the labor Zionists and the revisionists. They now turn to emphasis liberalism in the new state, mostly the democratic electoral system and the free market, but largely become a backdrop to the rest of the political movements, which turn themselves into party affiliation, since the basic liberal structure had already been established. The labor Zionists become the dominant trend in Israeli politics until the 70′s. Following the Six Day Way in 67, Israel seizes control of the rest of the land from the mandate. This sets off a new movement. Previously, Religious Zionism was a minor stream mostly simply meaning religious Jews who supported Zionism. From here on, however, it becomes dominated by a right wing religious trend and becomes NeoZionism. NeoZionists combined religious and nationalist elements, specifically advocated settlements beyond the green line, and often advocate the removal of Arab people, citing Arab Israelis as a potential 5th column. Neozionists believe that the secularism of other zionist branches is a significant weak point, and usually incorporate far right orthodox talking points. Groups such as the Hebron settlers are highly influenced by Neozionism. Neozionists are also usually behind the call to establish an entirely orthodox state in the west bank if Israel were to pull out. On the opposite end, there are the post-Zionists, who believe Zionism has fulfilled its goal. Post-Zionists are not really coordiated in the same way others on this list are, but generally they are critical of the direction israel has moved, they typically seek to try to make Jews safer in the diaspora, generally support Arab Israelis and some post-zionists believe in transforming the state into an entirely liberal-democratic one. Right wing Israelis also use “post zionist“ to refer to the Israeli left after the Oslo Accords in the mid 90′s.

Finally, I’d like to take note of Kahanism. Kahanism is an extremist ideology based on the work of Rabbi Meir Kahane, and materialized as the Kach party in Israel, a party which was boycotted by every other faction the single time they were elected to the Knesset, and is now banned and labeled a terrorist organization. Kahanists believe that every single Jew should live in Israel, and that only Jews should live in Israel. They advocate for Israel to enforce traditional Jewish law at the national scale, and together with Neozionists have engaged in actions to provoke fear in diaspora communities. Kahanists believe that all Arab people are the mortal enemy of all Jews and that Israel should seize land from Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Egypt. Kahane himself proposed laws, including banning intermarriage, banning cultural meetings between Jewish and Muslim students, and re-segregating areas that had already undergone desegregation.

So that is a compressed history of the trends within Zionism. I write this not to garner sympathy for Zionism, but in hopes that this helps pick apart hasbarist simplification. At best, Zionism produced a labor movement with a terribly racist history which stole yemenite Jewish children and encouraged discrimination and segregation against sephardi and mizrachi Jews within Israel from a secular ashkenazi ‘core‘. At worst, fundamentalists and militant zealots who are overwhelmingly hostile to anyone else, groups who align with historic and current fascist and nazi movements, and a massive, overwhelming history of abuse and human rights violations against Palestinians, other Arabs, Jews of color, diaspora movements, etc. If you needed any reason beyond the sheer weight of the Palestinian cause to oppose Zionism, here you go. I hope this sways the mind of any lingering ZIonists reading this, and I hope this is used to more effectively call out Zionism for what it is - a racist, imperialist, and fascist ideology hellbent on redefining Judaism for its aims against any act of solidarity between groups, completely fueled by western interests in carving up and controlling West Asia / the middle east/ Al-Mashriq.