The Socialist Case for a Free Palestine

[From January 14th, 2009]

The Socialist Case for a Free Palestine

-Is fundamentally opposed to Zionism, an ideology rooted in racism and tied to the project of imperialist powers.

-Is correspondingly opposed to the state of Israel, as it rejects that any national or religious group should be valued over another.

-Advocates the creation of a secular, democratic, socialist Palestine where Jews and Arabs live together as the only viable and just long term solution.

-Argues that the conflict between Israel and Palestine is understandable only in the larger context of imperialism in the Middle-East and the vital role of Oil to the modern capitalist economy. We see US backing of Israel as similar to US backing of the dictatorial regimes of Egypt, Jordan and the Gulf monarchies.

-We argue that essential to Palestinian liberation are democratic challenges from working class Arabs to these complacent and corrupt US backed regimes. The unique situation of the Palestinian people with many living expelled outside of Palestine, and with those in Palestine marginalized in the Israeli economy, means that Palestinians must connect their struggle to the struggle of the only force with the power to challenge Imperialism, the Arab and International Working Class.

What is Zionism?

-Religious zionism has existed for a long time, and the formation of small religious communities has gone on for centuries, however political zionism built around the formation of a Jewish state is a relatively recent phenomenon rooted in the effects of industrialization and the divide and conquer strategy of the ruling class towards the working class. With the destruction of the old fuedal order many Jew's lost their position as lenders and organizers of commerce, and the powerful new factories led to the obliteration of the artisanal economy, leading to the creation of a very large Jewish working class, particularly in Eastern Europe. The new jewish working class faced intense repression, and in Russia in particular the Tsarist police would stir up pogroms (essentially lynchings of Jews) in the same way racism was used as a tool to undermine unions and divide the working class throughout the industrializing world and in America in particular.

-Jewish and non-jewish Socialists throughout the world saw that anti-semitism was a ridiculous, ignorant ideology being stoked by conservative organizations like the Army and Catholic church to help maintain control. Socialists consistently organized and fought against anti-semitism and because of this drew many Jewish people to their ranks. In particular anti-semitism was condemned by the SDP (German Social Democratic Party) as the "Socialism of fools" and in Russia leading jewish members of the Bolshevik party like Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kamenev and Sverdlov took on prominent roles before and after the revolution (Trotsky's role was so important in fact that it was often refferred to as the government of Lenin-Trotsky). The socialist position has always been firmly for fighting descrimination in anyway possible and standing for internationalism.

-There was however another group, who saw the people of Europe as fundamentally, inherently anti-semitic and advocated the formation of a separate Jewish state. This was given expression by Theodore Herzl, an Austrian journalist who covered the infamous Dreyfus trial. The Dreyfus trial involved the framing of a Jewish officer and showed the ridiculous level of anti-semitism in France at the time. Whereas Socialists and anti-racists used this to launch a campaign against anti-semitism, Herzl in his 1896 work "The Jewish State" accepted anti-semitism and pushed immigration to Palestine. It effectively amounted to an ideology of defeat in the fact of anti-semitism.

"I achieved a freer attitude toward anti-Semitism, which I now began to understand historically and to pardon. Above all, I recognized the emptiness and futility of trying to "combat" anti-Semitism."-Herzl

-He with other Zionist intellectuals formed the World Zionist Organization to advocated for the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine, unfortunately for him however the vast majority of Jewish people were simply not interested in it.

"In 1914, there were only about 12,000 members of Zionist organizations in the U.S. At the same time, there were as many Jewish members of the Socialist Party in the Lower East Side neighborhoods of New York's Manhattan!"

-Zionism only really began to gain a mass following in the 30's in the face of the ascendancy of the Nazis in Germany, an event which corresponded with the degeneration and defeat of the international left.

-No real socialist alternative existed to challenge the institutions of anti-semitism, and in fact Jewish organizations seeking to fight anti-semitism and the rise of the Nazi's were actually hampered by the existing Zionist organizations. These organizations which had been more then happy to appeal to British Imperialism in aiding them in the colonization of Palestine now sought to appeal to the most anti-semitic regime in the history to help them achieve their goal.

In 1933, the Zionist Federation of Germany sent a memorandum of support to the Nazis:

"On the foundation of the new [Nazi] state which has established the principle of race, we wish to fit our community into the total structure so that for us, too, in the sphere assigned to us, fruitful activity for the Fatherland is possible.10"

Later that year, the World Zionist Organization congress defeated a resolution for action against Hitler by a vote of 240 to 43.

Ben-Gurion opposed a plan to allow German Jewish children to emigrate to Britain in 1938. To justify himself, Ben-Gurion said: "If I knew that it would be possible to save all the children in Germany by bringing them over to England, and only half of them to [Israel], then I would opt for the second alternative.

Contrary to the Israeli mythology now promoted that opposition to Zionism and anti-semitism are intertwined, Zionism was in fact founded on the acceptance of and collaboration with the most virulent anti-semitism.

Israel and Imperialism

The zionist movement from it's inception has attempted to "promote" itself to Imperialist powers, first to the British whose interests in protecting the Suez canal and supressing arab nationalism resulted in the Balfour declaration. It had support from both the US and the USSR.

However zionist leaders knew they stood most to gain from the vast resources of the United States. When Iranian Prime Minister Mossadegh nationalized Iran's oil reserves, the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz explictly made the offer to the the United States.

"The feudal regimes there have to make such concessions to the nationalist movements...that they become more and more reluctant to supply Britain and the United States with their natural resources and military bases...Therefore, strengthening Israel helps the Western powers maintain equilibrium and stability in the Middle East. Israel is to become the watchdog."

Despite this offer however it was only after the 1967 war that Israel took it's place as the favorite in Despite this offer however it was only after the 1967 war, when Israel obliterated the arab nationalist movement that it began to enter into the truly special relationship that it now has. US direct aid jumped and loans for purchases of weapons increased by a factor of 20. Israel now not only took on the US' dirty work in the Middle-East but internationally as well.

*Israel saved the regime of King Hussein in Jordan from Syria after being asked to by the United States
*Israel trained the armies and secret polices of the Shah, Mobuto Sese Seko, Idi Amin and Ian Smith
*Israel Sold US weaponry to Indonesia in the midst of what was a massive genocide being committed against the Timorese
*Israel sold weaponry to military dictatorships throughout South America
*Israel disobeyed the international arms embargo against Apartheid South Africa, and helped to train the South Africa armies and secret police

Regionally, the vital role of Israel is made clear enough with much more recent examples, like the oft threatened possibility of an attack by Israel on Iranian nuclear facilities and Israel's current work trying to suppress the Islamic movement that has become the main threat to the US backed arab regimes. Israel has and continues to play the essential role in suppressing radical arab movements to wrest control of their own oil resources which are so essential to the functioning of the global capitalist economic system and US geopolitical aims.The essential role of Israel to the US Imperialist project in the Middle-East poses two distinct challenge to the Palestinian fight for self determination.

The first is the distorted class nature of Israeli society. The extensive foreign aid from both official governments and zionist organizations, combined with the extensive role of the Military-Industrial complex in Israel's economy means that the challenge to the Israeli ruling classes that would traditionally be posed by the working class is deferred and distorted. Although individuals and groups have done significant work within Israel to improve the lot of the Palestinians a serious challenge from within is unlikely to emerge without a significant change in external circumstances.

The second is that the United States will back Israel to the hilt so long as it remains essential to US regional interest, and every American Politician and Political Organization built around the maintenance of United States hegemony in the world will back Israel (As the recent votes of support from Congress, including nearly every Democrat and spearheaded by leading Democrats shows). There is no doubt that an "Israel Lobby" exists and plays a significant role, but the far bigger project is the essential role of Israel to the preservation of US hegemony over the single most important region in the world.

Beyond that, a two state solution could not provide any real measure of independence

“.Divided into bantustans geographically disconnected from one another, with little control over air space, borders, water resources and the economy, a Palestinian mini-state would be entirely at the mercy of the U.S. and Israel.”-Snehal Shengavi, Socialist Worker

So a two state solution would effectively preserve Israel’s dominance over Palestine, and with the provision of greater moral legitimacy to Israel would help facilitate the enforcement of US imperialism in the Middle-East to the detriment of the world.

The key then to solving the problem created by Zionism is the creation of a single democratic state that casts out Imperialism and unites Jews and Arabs together. The only force capable of achieving this is the Arab and International Working Classes. By challenging and overthrowing the complacent puppet regimes and fighting for an end to US Imperialism and Zionism the Arab masses can strike significant blows for Palestinian liberation. By fighting against Imperialism and Zionism here, within the belly of the beast we can aid there cause significantly and work to alleviate the immediate suffering of the Palestinians. Ultimately however, a real, fundamental solution to the oppression and displacement of the Palestinian people will require a struggle against the global capitalist system and the imperialism that feed off of each other and for a world founded on democratic socialism, equality and internationalism.