Zionism and racism allegations

Zionism was a political movement that supported the creation of a homeland for the Jewish People in Israel In 1948, the Zionist movement fulfilled its main goal with the birth of the State of Israel.

Some commentators, particularly in the context of the Arab-Israeli conflict consider some aspects of Zionist ideology or practice to be racist. They refer mainly to the way Palestinian Arabs were considered by Zionism in the period of Mandatory Palestine, to some implications of the creation of a Jewish State and to discrimination against Arab Israelis that still exists in Israel.

They consider Zionism to be a racist (racist in the sociological sense) kind of nationalism, in that it claims certain rights for the Jewish people which it denies to non-Jews. In particular, They Say Zionism claims a preemptive right to the Land of Israel, as is evidenced for example by the fact that all Jews in the world have the so called Right of Return to Israel, while this right is denied to Palestinian refugees.

Racism

As the term racism carries references to race-based bigotry, prejudice, violence, oppression, stereotyping or discrimination, the term has varying and often hotly contested definitions. Some definitions relate racism to beliefs in genetic differences. For example, they define racism as the belief that inherent differences between people (in particular those upon which the concept of race is based) significantly influence cultural or individual achievement, and may involve the idea that one's self-identified race or ethnic group or others' race or ethnic group is superior. Other definitions relate racism to social differences. For example, some sociologists have defined racism as "a system of group privilege". These scholars view "race" as a social construct with potent social and political effects but no basis in biological science.

The Jewish people have historically understood themselves to be part of a Non-exclusive ethnic group and/or a nation, distinct from non-Jewish nations. Like most nations, offspring of members are also considered members. Neither common ancestry nor race is required and new converts to Judaism are accepted based upon prescribed criteria, none of which is based on race. Not all Israelis are Jewish. 18% of Israeli are Palestinian Arabs and an unknown number of non-Jews emigrated to Israel (usually with Jewish family members) from the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and other places.

Historical background

The Land of Israel, also known as Palestine, is where ancient Jewish kingdoms existed between roughly 1300 BCE and 135 CE, until large part of the Jewish population was expelled by the Romans. Throughout the centuries, Jews around the world continued to see the area as their homeland and as the Promised Land. Despite the history of violence against the Jews, there is no evidence of any interruption in the Jewish presence in the Land of Israel for more than three millennia. In addition to traditional religious Jewish communities known as the old yishuv, the second half of the 19th century saw a new kind of Jewish immigrant, the GeneRally left-wing socialist who aimed to reclaim their land by working On It. Mikveh Israel was founded in 1870 by Alliance Israelite Universelle, followed by Petah Tikva (1878), Rishon LeZion (1882), and other agricultural communities founded by the members of Bilu and Hovevei Zion. In 1897, the First Zionist Congress proclaimed the decision to restore ancient Jewish homeland in Eretz Yisrael.

At that time, Palestine was a political subdivision of the multi-continental Ottoman Empire. This decision made Zionism different from most other nationalisms, as its proponents claimed territory as a safe haven for an ethnicity that had dispersed throughout the globe over time. Two millennia earlier, under the Kingdom of Judah and Kingdom of Israel, the same land had a Jewish majority, and Jews had never ceased to yearn for it (see Importance of Jerusalem in Judaism.) By the time the modern Zionist movement emerged in the mid-19th century this area had a longstanding Muslim majority, though some towns had Jewish majorities. For example, the 1922 census reported Jewish majorities in the towns of Jerusalem, Tiberias and Tel Aviv, with Muslims comprising only 21%, 30% and less than 1%, respectively, of each town’s population. By 1944 Jewish majorities were also reported for the towns of Petah Tiqvah, Rishon-le-Zion, Rehovoth, Nathanya, Haifa, Hedera and Afula. The Jewish plurality in Jerusalem dates back to at least 1844.

In the Balfour Declaration, 1917, Britain announced that it "view[ed] with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people," and put this into practice after capturing Palestine from the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Jewish immigration increased substantially, despite later widespread opposition from the existing inhabitants, profoundly changing the demographic balance of the area: over two decades the Jewish population went from 11% in 1922 to 31% in 1945. However, Britain later imposed a series of impediments to Jewish immigration during the decades leading up to World War II.

By 1947, as the British decided to leave, the 1947 UN Partition Plan proposed a division of the area between Jewish and Arab states, granting 55% of the land (most of it Negev desert) to a Jewish state which would have had a 60% Jewish population. The Jewish Agency accepted the plan; however, the Arabs rejected it as unjust, and heated fighting between Zionist and Arab guerrillas immediately broke out in a Civil War that was accompagnied by a massive exodus and the defeat of Palestinian Arab forces. On May 14 1948, the British Mandate of Palestine expired and Israel declared independence. The Civil War evolved into a regular war which is known as the 1948 Arab-Israeli War with the immediate intervention of several Arab states armies.

Some commentators see examples of the alleged racist nature of Zionism in these events. Only with a few exceptions, Zionist leaders consider a Jewish State could only be viable with a small Arab minority. To solve this, they considered two solutions : a massive immigration in Palestine from the diapora and a potential transfer of Arab population. Some historians, such as Benny Morris, consider nevertheless the 'population transfer' was inevitable due to the long antagonism between Jews and Arabs and because it was 'built-in into Zionism'. Anti-Zionists and some other historians, such as Nur Masalha, go farther and consider that the 1948 Palestinian exodus was a direct result a this transfer ideology and that Palestinian were deliberately expelled. Ilan Pappe goes one more step farther and considers that the 1948 events are the results of a plannified expulsion of Palestinian to which he refers as an ethnic cleansing.

Critics also point to current inequities between Jews and Arabs in Israel, similarly viewing them as attributable to Zionist beliefs and ideologies. Alternatively, supporters of Zionism suggest that persecution of Jews in Europe and Arab lands has transpired for thousands of years. Accordingly, the migration of millions of Jews from Arab nations in the mid-20th century to Israel is justified by their pursuit of a safe and democratic society. Further, people of any descent can become Israeli citizens, although by a different process than what is proscribed for Jews.

Since Palestinian Arabs constituted a majority of the population of the British Mandate of Palestine at the time, many have seen Israel's declaration of independence as denying the right of self-determination to the Palestinians; they note also that it had been made possible by the Balfour Declaration, an explicit contravention of the idea of self-determination insofar as it was decided entirely without Palestinian consent. Detractors of this argument note that by 1947 the Jews had come to constitute a majority in the areas designated to the Jewish state by the UN partition they accepted, and view the Arab leadership's refusal to negotiate, as well as their rejection of any partition as attempts to deny the Jews their right of self-determination. Some also claim that "Palestinians" as a unified people or culture did not exist until very recently, and that the term "Palestinian" was geographical in nature. 1 Others claim that since Jordan's Palestinian population outnumber by a "wide margin" the Hashemite "East Bankers", this establishes Jordan a de facto Palestinian state. 2

After the declaration of Israel and the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the vast majority of the Palestinians who had lived in what became Israel fled and had their property and land redistributed to Jewish immigrants. In his September 1 2004 interview 3 with the Ha'aretz daily, Benny Morris said:

In the months of April-May 1948, units of the Haganah (the pre-state defense force that was the precursor of the IDF) were given operational orders that stated explicitly that they were to uproot the villagers, expel them and destroy the villages themselves. At the same time, it turns out that there was a series of orders issued by the Arab Higher Committee and by the Palestinian intermediate levels to remove children, women and the elderly from the villages.

According to Christopher Hitchens, the radio broadcasts, monitored by the British and American governments, contain orders by Arab leaders for Palestinians to stay put and keep their claim to the territory. Arabs who remained gained Israeli citizenship with equal rights to voting, and in many cases kept their land.

The claim that Zionism is racism

Both the 1922 League of Nations Palestine Mandate and the 1947 UN Partition Plan supported the aim of Zionism, but in November 1975, the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379 declared that "Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination."

In December 1991, the General Assembly rescinded this resolution through Resolution 4686. At the time, the Soviet Union, a major sponsor of the "Zionism is racism" doctrine (see Zionology), had completed its rapid collapse. Israel made revocation of resolution 3379 a condition of its participation in the Madrid Peace Conference.

Finkelstein says Zionism uses racist arguments: 'The injustice inflicted on Palestinians by Zionism was manifest and, except on racist grounds, unanswerable: their right to self-determination, and perhaps even to their homeland, was being denied.' Finkelstein says none of the justifications given by Zionists could withstand even cursory scrutiny. For example he says the 'historical right', based on the Jewish presence in Israel two thousand years ago is 'neither historical, nor based on any accepted notion of right', and is 'not a right except in mystical, romantic nationalist ideologies'. He says the argument that Palestine was 'empty' when the Zionists arrived is ironic, because 'it is a back-handed admission that, had Palestine be inhabited, which it plainly was, the Zionist enterprise was morally indefensible.' He says non-Zionist supporters of Zionism could only come up with a racist justification, 'the fate of Jews was simply more important than that of Arabs'.

According to A.F. Kassim: "Racial discrimination has become 'legally' institutionalised in the state of Israel. The Nationality Law, and particularly, the doctrine of return, gives hard evindence of Israel's discriminatory and racist policies. [... This Law is] an integral part of the Zionist policy consistently pursued ever since the Zionist colonisation processes began in Palestine."

Arguments of defenders of Zionism

Defenders of Zionism disagree with the identification of Zionism with racism on a number of grounds:

• The charge is too vague, as the views of Zionist groups differ widely from each other
• Judaism and Jewish Law hold that any person may choose to become a Jew and enjoy all the benefits and responsibilities of membership. Zionism is therefore, by definition, non-racial.
• Palestinians and Jews are not racially distinct from each other and both claim mixed ancestry (see The ancestry of the Palestinians, Jewish ethnic divisions). Israeli Jews are racially mixed (nearly half of Israel's Jewish population consists of Arab Jews, and there are also almost 100,000 black Jews from Ethiopia).
• Even if the State of Israel discriminates against Arabs, such discrimination is based on ethnic, cultural and/or religious discrimination, rather than race. Further, such discrimination cannot be connected to the Zionist movement, but rather may occur through political processes and dispersed among individuals and small groups that cannot be proven to be the majority view of Zionism.

Mitchell G. Bard writes in his book Myths and Facts: a Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict that "Arabs in Israel have equal voting rights; in fact, it is one of the few places in the Middle East that women may vote. […] Israeli Arabs have also held various government posts […]"

He also explains that "The sole legal distinction between Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel is that the latter are not required to serve in the Israeli army. This is to spare Arab citizens the need to take up arms against their brethren. Nevertheless, Bedouins have served in paratroop units and other Arabs have voluteered for military duty. Compulsory military service is applied to the Druze and Circassian communities at their own request."

Though the modern incarnation of the Zionist ideology is the state of Israel, this itself is a source of debate among some Zionists. The nature of the Jewish state has not been finalized. Some Zionist intellectuals still make a careful distinction between advocacy for a Jewish ethnic homeland and a Jewish state, which is perhaps similar to the difference between patriotism and nationalism.

Discrimination in Israel

According to M.C. Hudson: 'there is no doubt that Zionism today remains an exclusivist, particularist ideology, a throwback to the folk nationalisms of the mid-nineteenth century. Nor is there any doubt that the behavioral manifestations of Zionism in the Israeli state have given rise to systematic discrimination against Arabs, both Muslim and Christian, and also against Jews from Arab societies. This pattern of discrimination has been widely observed by Western journalists, Arab lawyers like Sabr Jiryis, and even by Israelis such as Israel Shahak and Felicia Langer.'

Israel is a state with a Jewish majority that was the result of a series of Jewish migrations in the early 20th century and the forced exodus of over 2 million Palestineans; the Arab minority constitutes less than 20% of its population within Israeli occupied and blocked off lands. Although the 1948 Israeli Declaration of Independence guarantees equality of political and social rights for all its citizens, irrespective of their race, religion or [...], the Declaration also contains multiple references to the Jewish nature of the state, resulting in some laws treating Jews and non-Jews differently. In particular, the jus sanguinis law of the right of return which, despite Israel's otherwise restrictive immigration policies, grant every Jew in the world the right to settle in Israel. This is especially agitating for the many Palestinian refugees, who (or whose ancestors) used to live in the territory that is modern Israel, but are denied their wish to return, which they deem a right. Supporters of the law maintain that allowing a hostile majority that were adversaries in a war for Israel's independence to return would be tantamount to the political, demographic destruction of the Jewish character of Israel, and would endanger the Jewish population living there.

The Article 11 of the UNGA Resolution 194, upon which the Palestinian refugees usually base their claim of a "right of return," "[r]esolves that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property..." without naming Israel and specifying either Palestinian or Jewish refugees.

Many opponents of Zionism declare that Zionism is racist, and compare its continuation to the reform of Germany's former 'Blood Laws', which had allowed ethnic Germans to claim citizenship, even if they were nationals of another country. The defenders of the Law of Return point out that it is designed to serve as a safe haven for Jews fleeing persecution, and as a guarantor against possible [...]. They refer to violent history of anti-Semitism and the abundance of anti-Semitic propaganda in the Arab media as an indicator of plausibility of such scenario. They also note that many modern states implement immigration policies favoring certain groups.

In December, 1994, Jews attempted to settle on a mountain belonging to the Palestinian village of Al Khader, in the Bethlehem area. Faced with strong local protests from Palestinians and Israelis, the Israeli government halted the settlement construction. However, instead of giving the land back to the Palestinians, the government retained it as a "military zone" and gave the settlers another mountain to settle on within the same village. Israel Shahak, an Israeli anti-Zionist, wrote to a newspaper:

After the confiscated land is announced to belong to the State of Israel, it is officially designated for use by the Jews only. It is not only the Palestinians (including those among them who serve in the Israeli army, police and Shabak) who do not have the right to use such land. The racist regulations of the Jewish National Fund, which is in charge of such matters, also prohibit its lease or any other use to any non- Jews.

In my view, the thus institutionalized racism exceeds in importance the robbing of the land from the Palestinians. There are many states which systematically robbed land. The U.S., for example, robbed Indian land, transforming most of it into state land. Nevertheless, such land is now available for use by any U.S. citizen. If a Jew in the U.S. were prohibited to lease land belonging to the state only because he were Jewish, this would be rightly interpreted as anti-Semitism.

Unless we recognize the real issue--which is the racist character of the Zionist movement and the State of Israel and the roots of that racism in Jewish religious law [Halacha]--we will not be able to understand our realities. And unless we can understand them, we will not be able to change them.

In an article titled 'The Racist Nature of Zionism and of the Zionistic State of Israel' Shahak says: 'It is my considered opinion that the State of Israel is a racist state in the full meaning of this term: In this state people are discriminated against, in the most permanent and legal way and in the most important areas of life, only because of their origin.' He says non-Jews are discriminated against in the areas of security, work, housing and health.

According to the 2004 U.S. State Department Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for Israel and the occupied territories, the Israeli government "did little to reduce institutional, legal, and societal discrimination against the country's Arab citizens." It based this finding on studies by Haifa University, reports from Human Rights Watch, Israeli government reports to the UN, and rulings of the Supreme Court of Israel, among other sources. See Israeli Arabs for details.

Alleged racism in Zionist ideology

In an article titled 'Zionism? Racism? What Do You Mean?', L.H. Walz summarises the basic assumptions of Theodor Herzl and his successors as fourfold:

1. Jews and Gentiles are inherently [...] incapable of living harmoniously in the same society. Anti-Semitism is an incurable Gentile affliction.
2. For self-preservation all Jews must settle together in the same country. [...]
3. Non-Jews must either be displaced from the Jewish State or kept apart from the Jewish settlers by legal and psychological walls of separation.
4. Gentile cooperation is needed from two sources: Anti-Semites who will stimulate Aliyah, and at least one Great Power whose backing can make up for the relatively scattered smallness of world Jewry. [...]

According to A.W. Kayyali Herzl saw the parallel between Zionism and anti-Semitism and saw the last as a natural ally of Zionism. Herzl said 'the anti-Semites will be our most dependable friends, the anti-Semitic countries our allies.' According to Kayyali Herzl accepted that Zionism and anti-Semitism had a common frame of reference and common interests.

According to A.F. Kassim "racial discrimination is inherent to Zionism. In a state of Jews, those who are 'nationals' of the 'Jewish people' cannot be equal to those who are not, and should they become equal the raison d'être of having a state of Jews would vanish"

Viewed as antisemitism

According to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Jews were considered by God the "Chosen People"; in Judaism, this is still believed to be the case. Some have argued that this moniker implies that Jews believe themselves superior to all other peoples, and thus that Judaism as a religion is racist. According to a 1984 hearing record before the Subcommittee on Human Rights and International Organizations in the US Congress concerning the Soviet Jewry,

"This vicious anti-Semitic canard, frequently repeated by other Soviet writers and officials, is based upon the malicious notion that the "Chosen People" of the Torah and Talmud preaches "superiority over other peoples," as well as exclusivity. This was, of course, the principal theme of the notorious Tsarist Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

Jewish religious scholars often teach of "choseness" as a mandate to do good deeds in the world through the principle of social justice in Judaism tikkun olam (repairing the world). According to rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik,

"Even as the Jew is moved by his private Sinaitic Covenant with God to embody and preserve the teachings of the Torah, he is committed to the belief that all mankind, of whatever color or creed, is "in His image" and is possessed of an inherent human dignity and worthiness. Man's singularity is derived from the breath "He [God] breathed into his nostrils at the moment of creation" (Genesis 2:7). Thus, we do share in the universal historical experience, and God's providential concern does embrace all of humanity."

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), describes the assertion that "Zionism is racism" as "discredited," saying that "This divisive, offensive equation is based on hatred and misunderstanding" and is "anti-Jewish." An American long active in issues of race relations, Pennsylvania State Rep. Mark B. Cohen, said:

"Racism claims superiority, while Zionism merely claims difference. Racism seeks the persecution of long powerless groups, while Zionism seeks to protect the members of a group long persecuted. Racism seeks to degrade its victims, while Zionism seeks to protect those who have been victims. The U.N. was right to repeal its discredited resolution."

Jews, Judaism, Jewish Law, and Jewish Zionists hold that any person may choose to become a Jew, after meeting the necessary requirements, and enjoy all the benefits and responsibilities of membership. Since anyone can (i.e., regardless of race, ethnicity or nationality) both join the Jewish people and equally enjoy the benefits of membership, Zionists conclude that Zionism is anti-Racist. One of the benefits of membership, according to the Zionists, is the right to live freely without fear of persecution, as a Jew, in the national homeland.

Soviet influence

The Soviet Union officially opposed nationalism. At the same time, it opposed racism and ethnic discrimination, including antisemitism. The early Bolsheviks defined their stance as one of support for the Jewish people (many leading Bolsheviks were Jewish themselves), but they favored the assimilation of Jews into a greater Soviet people and were adamantly opposed to Zionism. As early as 1918, Yevsektsiya was established to promote Bolshevik ideas among the Jewish working class in Russia. Political Zionism was officially considered a form of bourgeois nationalism and this was pushed through Zionology sponsored by the Department of propaganda of the Communist Party and by the KGB.

Without changing its official anti-Zionist stance, the Soviet Union briefly supported the establishment of Israel in 1947 and 1948, expecting it to become a Soviet ally in the Cold War. Before voting for the 1947 partition, Soviet Foreign Affairs Minister Andrei Gromyko stated:

"As we know, the aspirations of a considerable part of the Jewish people are linked with the problem of Palestine and of its future administration. This fact scarcely requires proof... The United Nations cannot and must not regard this situation with indifference, since this would be incompatible with the high principles proclaimed in its Charter..."

By the end of 1948, however, the Soviet Union realized that Israel had chosen the "Western option" (alliance with the West), and withdrew its support. For the rest of the Cold War, the Soviet Union decided to support Arab regimes against Israel. Soviet propaganda featured a number of criticisms of Zionism that frequently bordered on antisemitism, recycling old conspiracy theories. Howard Sachar describes the atmosphere of the Soviet "anti-Zionist" campaign in the wake of the Six-Day War:

"In late July 1967, Moscow launched an unprecedented propaganda campaign against Zionism as a "world threat." Defeat was attributed not to tiny Israel alone, but to an "all-powerful international force." ... In its flagrant vulgarity, the new propaganda assault soon achieved [...]-era characteristics. The Soviet public was saturated with racist canards. Extracts from Trofim Kichko's notorious 1963 volume, Judaism Without Embellishment, were extensively republished in the Soviet media. Yuri Ivanov's Beware: Zionism, a book essentially replicated The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, was given nationwide coverage."

The meaning of the term Zionism was misrepresented to conform to a policy of the ruling Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The official position of the Soviet Union and its satellite states and agencies was that Zionism was a tool used by the Jews and Americans for "racist imperialism". The Great Soviet Encyclopedia in the 1970s thus defined Zionism as follows: "the main posits of modern Zionism are militant chauvinism, racism, anti-Communism and anti-Sovietism,... overt and covert fight against freedom movements and the USSR."

See also: History of the Jews in Russia and Soviet Union, rootless cosmopolitan, Prague Trials, Doctors' plot, Zionology, Anti-Zionist committee of the Soviet public.

UN resolutions

The Soviet Union initiated the "Zionism is racism" campaign in the United Nations (see Zionology for context) in response to United States proposals for UN resolutions against discrimination that criticised the Soviet Union.

On November 10 1975 the United Nations General Assembly adopted, by a vote of 72 to 35 (with 32 abstentions), Resolution 3379, which stated that "Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination." However, on 16 December 1991, it was rescinded by Resolution 4686, with a vote of 111 to 25 (with 13 abstentions).

See also

• Allegations of Israeli apartheid
• Anti-Zionism
• Antisemitism
• Peace process
• Projects working for peace among Israelis and Arabs
• New Antisemitism
• Islam and antisemitism
• World Conference against Racism 2001

External links

• Five articles with 'allegations' from The Link, Dec. 1975
• Does Zionism = Racism? from Zionism On The Web
• National Association for the Advocacy of Modern Zionism
• Israeli Ambassador Herzog's response to the UNGA resolution 3379 (10 November 1975)
• Anti-Zionism is Racism, Judea Pearl at Zionism On The Web
• Report on Ethiopian Jews in Israel (BBC) November 17, 1999
• ADL Urges U.N. Members to Reject Anti-Israel Focus at Forum Against Racism (Anti-Defamation League)
• "Myths and Facts": Zionism and Racism by Mitchell G. Bard (Jewish Virtual Library)
• Zionism as a Racist Ideology (Counterpunch)
• Information about Zionism from the Islamic Association of Palestine
• Legal center for Arab minority rights in Israel

• (Hamoked)

• Challenging Israel's accusers (Active Zionism)
• Zionism is not a settler-colonial undertaking (The Mail & Guardian, South Africa)
• Do not treat Israel like apartheid South Africa (The Guardian, UK)
• Why Zionism Is Not Racist

Further reading

• Arie Dayan: "The Debate over Zionism and Racism: An Israeli View"; Haaretz, 27 December 1991; translated in Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 22, No. 3. (Spring, 1993), pp. 96-105.
• Michael Adams: "Israel's Treatment of the Arabs in the Occupied Territories"; Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 6, No. 2. (Winter, 1977), pp. 19-40.
• Janice J. Terry: "Zionist Attitudes toward Arabs;Journal of Palestine Studies", Vol. 6, No. 1. (Autumn, 1976), pp. 67-78.
• Michael Suleiman: "National Stereotypes As Weapons in the Arab-Israeli Conflict"; Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 3, No. 3. (Spring, 1974), pp. 109-121.
• Roselle Tekiner: "Race and the Issue of National Identity in Israel"; International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 23, No. 1. (Feb., 1991), pp. 39-55.