August 10, 2010

The Death of Zionism

Zionism is a thorn in the world's side. Like all forms of politico-religious collective extremism, it is deceptive, cruel, and arrogantly self-righteous. Zionists have overstayed their welcome in the Middle East by about fifty years, and the longer they remain in power the worse off Israel, the Middle East, and the world will be. And they are not going anywhere, nor will they pursue a new policy, so it naturally falls on the injured party to remove a thorn from its side, and since America has the most powerful arm in the world, it must be the one to pull it out from the world's side, and stop the bleeding.

How should this thorn be removed? Strong international pressure on Israel backed by the American military, and American Jews. The belief that Zionists will correct their destructive thinking on their own, and peacefully engage with the world is a dangerous and false one, and it must be rejected by all rational minds. Zionists are committed and bloodthirsty revolutionaries, justice or truth are not part of their political program, and they use whatever means that are available to them to achieve their goals: terrorism, deception, mass brainwashing, war, bribery, intimidation, censorship, absolutely anything, no matter how evil or corrupt.

Until now the world has played "catch-up" with Israeli leaders, who have cunningly crafted the image of Israel as a victim of Arab, and now, Persian aggression. To Netanyahu, and Israel's other arrogant leaders, peace can only be achieved once the whole world submits to Zionist conquest. The world must wise up to the double game that Israeli leaders are playing, and challenge them with the truth. If the truth is not established, and boldly declared, then there will never be any peace in the Middle East.

Israel is foolhardy to believe that like America, the idea of Manifest Destiny applies to it, too. There is no historical resemblance between Israel, and America, and to say so is utter lunacy. America is a nation for all people; Israel is a nation for the Jewish people, and there are real boundaries to an ethnic state. America is the land of imagination, something that Zionists can't have because they are single-minded. Also, Gaza, and the rest of the Middle East is not the Western hills of America, Arabs are not Native Americans, and 2010 is not 1810. Instead of a "Greater Israel," Israel must settle for a "Great Israel." It must recognize the limits to its growth, or else it will risk its own survival, and the survival of others in the region.

The fundamental question that the people of Israel must ask themselves, and one that will define their future is this: Is Israel, and its surrounding area boundless property to be filled with Jewish settlers, or should it be viewed strictly as a spiritual homeland for the Jewish people, where peace can reign forever within narrow borders? The second view is a realistic, necessary, and supportable claim; while the first is a ludicrous proposition because it is unattainable. Answering this question is crucial. Israel's relentless expansion has come at a price. It is no longer considered by all Jewish people as the spiritual homeland of the Jewish people, but a country of religious fanatics with a death wish. A country that constantly conquers is full of passion, but devoid of spirituality. Affront God too many times, continually thwart the work of peacemakers, and you'll find yourself in a corner, isolated, paranoid, and vindictive.

In an earlier era, Zionism could be defended. If it weren't for Zionist terrorism, there wouldn't be a state of Israel, and Zionists secretly admit the virtues of terrorism. As a means to an end, there is no greater weapon. When put into historical context, Zionism served its function well, it gave the Jewish people a homeland, something that only committed revolutionaries could pull off, it then built a powerful state with strong political support from the U.S., and provided it with the most weapons in the region, but all things have a limit, all things must end, and the end is near for Zionism.

Zionist terrorism has run its course. It can't be justified in the name of security. After a while, people stop calling your terrorism "freedom fighting" and just call it terrorism. And terrorism by an occupying state is unforgivable. Zionism's most outrageous act of terrorism was the destruction of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, which was falsely blamed on Al Qaeda, and the Islamic world. The attacks started a manufactured war on terrorism, a war that is in many ways more deadly than a real war.

In the wake of Zionism's self-destruction, a new Israel will have the opportunity to reform itself, be more tolerant towards its neighbors, and check its territorial ambitions. I believe this new Israel should strongly maintain its Jewish identity, but divorce religion from its public life, and become totally secular. The full rights that Jewish citizens currently have should be extended to all Arabs living in Israel, and reparations should be paid to Palestinians.

I can't condemn Zionism's illegal tactics in its earlier days. What nation is peacefully, and naturally born? If Israel's existence, and very legitimacy is threatened because how it was founded, then so should the legitimacy of other state. Isn't America considered illegitimate in the eyes of Native Americans, and the British? One of them was treated like dirt to be killed, and relocated, and the other was rightfully viewed as a tyrant that was then overthrown. Why should a higher standard be applied to Israel? At some point, all states were considered illegitimate by competing powers. Might makes right in geopolitics. Where I take part with Zionism is its extreme intolerance, greed, and uncompromising nature. A wiser class of Israeli leaders would've abandoned the policy of Israeli expansion, suppressed the young nation's land-lust, and incorporated Palestinian citizens into the new state, instead of treating them inhumanely for so long.

After years of humiliating the Palestinians, denying them basic rights, and a place to live, Israel has become an international pariah. Might makes right, but might is not limited to Israel. If it wants to survive, it must begin to walk the path of justice and peace, not instigate a new war with Iran, which will be catastrophic for everyone in the region for many years to come. The question the rest of us need to ponder is can an old dog learn new tricks?

There are two recent historical examples that Zionism can look to as it determines its own future. One of them is Nazism, and the other is Communism. The first ended in a bang; the second, with a whimper. In my understanding, Zionists are more like Fascists because both rely on support from religious extremists. Also, Zionist Israel, like Nazi Germany, is dominated by powerful oligarchical corporations, and families. The wealth gap between the rich and the poor shows in a clear way that Israel is far from a citizen-led democracy.

In a 2007 interview former Israeli nuclear technician turned whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu
, who exposed Israel's nuclear weapons program to the British media in 1986, called Israel a "psychological superpower" that is able to brainwash the people of the United States, to a lesser extent the people of Europe, and especially the people of Israel, and get to them think that every deed that Israel does is justifiable, that the Palestinian people are solely responsible for the failure of the peace process, that Israel's survival is at stake, that Israel is the only rational state in the Middle East, that Israel is the victim in every war, or violent incident, that Israel is the defender of morality and western civilization, that Israel is peaceful, democratic, honest, just, and means well; that it is not racist, barbaric, irrational, territorial, hostile, indignant towards Palestinian suffering, or a paranoid bully. They are all lies, but since Zionists have excessive control of the U.S. media and U.S. Congress, these lies are part of the leading narrative about Israel/Palestine.

Israel has subverted reality, and positioned itself as the underdog, even though it is the chief instigator of conflict in the Middle East. And if it is ever attacked, it has the full military capability to defend itself, and it also has the luxury to turn to the most powerful superpower in the world, the United States for protection. It stands on its shoulders when it stares down Iran, or any other country in the region. As a result of this toxic relationship, the current regimes of both America and Israel are destined to collapse. Israel, radical and irrational, has a Napoleonic complex; and America, which is in its own way radical and irrational, has a military-industrial-congressional complex, and neither are honest with their citizens, or the world about their motives in the cooked-up "War on Terrorism."

For all irrational extremists, compromise equals death. Zionist leaders believe that they must have more land to survive, more money from the U.S., more weapons, more threats to neighbors, more walls, more security, more troops, more of everything that only further poisons the soul of Israel. If Israel is not the top dog, and sole possessor of power in the Middle East, then the Zionists think Israel is finished. The rise of Islam in Iran presented a major obstacle in their vision for the Middle East, and they can't adjust to the circumstances, so they've been on a war footing ever since.

Israel's monstrous leaders don't want to make decisions based on concrete reality, or share power with other nations in the region. Negotiating to them means backing down. Acknowledging the misery of the Palestinian people means showing shame. So the fear, and agony persists, and develops into more fear, and more agony. And they can't show any remorse for past wrongful acts, because by doing that they would admit guilt, and in Zionists' eyes guilt would signal weakness to the international community, as well as shatter the illusion that the state of Israel is a victim.

The most deplorable shield that Zionists hide behind is the assertion that all criticism of Zionism, and Israel is anti-Semitic. Much like the anti-American label, it is baseless, and evident of Zionism's bankruptcy as an ideology, and movement. Murderers like the leaders of Israel and America can consider themselves untouchable all they want, but that does not mean we have to believe them, and refrain from criticizing their evil policies.

Zionists can't claim that its critics are stoking the fires of anti-Semitism when they are inadvertently supplying the wood, and blowing the smoke in the world's eyes. As Tony Judt, the great historian who recently died, said in 2003, Israel's policies are hurtful to itself, and to all Jews:
"Diaspora Jews cannot influence Israeli policies, but they are implicitly identified with them, not least by Israel’s own insistent claims upon their allegiance. The behavior of a self-described Jewish state affects the way everyone else looks at Jews. The increased incidence of attacks on Jews in Europe and elsewhere is primarily attributable to misdirected efforts, often by young Muslims, to get back at Israel. The depressing truth is that Israel’s current behavior is not just bad for America, though it surely is. It is not even just bad for Israel itself, as many Israelis silently acknowledge. The depressing truth is that Israel today is bad for the Jews." - Tony Judt, "Israel: The Alternative" NY Review of Books: September 25, 2003.

A nation that was born in deception, and grown up advancing terrorism, cannot strengthen itself by continuing to use deception, and terrorism; it will die if it continues to act in that diabolical way. If Israel wants to secure itself from outside attack, it has to recover from its paranoia, cease to be an instrument of terror, and transform itself from the Middle East's Death Star into something else entirely, a true Holy Land.

Israel can come to terms with its crimes, and reform itself, much like America corrected its sins by abolishing slavery in the 19th century, or as Russia disbanded the Communist system in 1989. Or, it can continue to act aggressively, and eventually die from the wounds of war. Indeed, if Israel launches an attack on Iran, and gets defeated, then only the world's forgiveness and kindness will keep Israel in the neighborhood of nations. In the end, I think forgiveness for Israel's behavior is necessary so that hostilities in the future don't resurface, and humanity can live in eternal peace. Israel's actions are hard to forgive, but I think it is the rational thing to do, and it will be a "teaching moment" if there ever was one in human history.

As we edge ever closer towards world war three, it is paramount that we all face down the Zionist murderers, and the wild forces of Islam, just as the world faced down the Nazi murderers during world war two. But we must stare into the eyes of darkness lightly, because the threat posed by Zionists, and other lethal extremists to human civilization is infinitely greater due to their access to nuclear weapons.

In December 1943 French writer Albert Camus wrote a letter to a die-hard Nazi that also applies to the most rabid Zionist today:
"You no longer distinguish anything; you are nothing but a single impulse. And now you are fighting with the resources of blind anger, with your mind on weapons and feats of arms rather than on ideas, stubbornly confusing every issue and following your obsession," - Albert Camus, Second Letter in "Letters to a German Friend."