Israel and the U.S. Empire are playing roulette. They are betting big on red, the color of blood, the worship of power and the logical outcome of ideological Zionism.
Zionism has always been, as pointed out by its critics from the beginning, an intellectual current that leads to racism, war and authoritarianism just like other forms of ethnic and/or religious nationalism. An “other” is necessary for any nationalism to prosper. As nationalisms grow more extreme, which seems an historical inevitability, especially for ones based on ethnicity or religion, ever worse treatment of the “other” becomes justified.
In the intellectual history concerning Israel, to be written decades from now, the historiographical debate will concern hubris and the overreach of Zionism that ultimately led to its demise. Like the Confederacy and its proponents of slavery who, pre-Civil War used their political and economic power to consistently get their way, even forcing “free” states to enforce the “property rights” of slave owners, Zionists have managed to portray themselves as “victims” while engaging in what looks an awful lot like ethnic cleansing and genocide.
As more and more people object to the mass slaughter conducted by Netanyahu’s extreme right, racist, Jewish supremacist government, the defenders of empire and Israel’s role within it, must resort to naked power to silence the voices of dissent. Anti-free speech laws have been pushed, people fired, protesters harassed and the mainstream media “thought police” have claimed the simple aspirational slogan “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is antisemitic and a call to “murder Jews”. Anything and everything to distract from the mass slaughter of civilians that Israel is actually doing right now.
Proving the quote attributed to Mark Twain that “history doesn’t repeat itself but often rhymes” the defenders of Israel seem very much like the southerners who claimed Nat Turner was a “terrorist” and pre-1860 abolitionists were anti-property radicals who aimed to “destroy their way of life”. Or like the White South Africans who called Nelson Mandela a “terrorist” out to “destroy their way of life”.
The most significant common denominators of Israel, apartheid South Africa and pre-Civil War American South? The use of ever-increasing force to enable their “way of life” and their wilful blindness to the other side’s point of view.
The problem is, like the Confederacy or pro-apartheid South Africans, Zionists drink their own bathwater. They have been convinced by rhetoric. Jews everywhere are an oppressed minority so they must have a state of their own. The only possible motivation to oppose an ethno-religious state for Jews is antisemitism. Israel must have a powerful military because force is the only thing Arabs understand. All resistance by Palestinians is “terrorism” and must be met with ever more force and repression.
Too many supporters of Israel around the world are true believers in their cause. This becomes a problem when they are willing to do anything in their power to “win” including lying, cheating, bullying, firing, bribing, slandering, destroying people’s lives, all while supporting war crimes and genocide. Reasonable people notice this behaviour and become enemies, mostly silent at first, but eventually speak up. The response of true believers is ever more use of their power to silence dissent.
How long can this go on and at what cost? Forever? Unlikely for two reasons. First, because of the moral cost. Such behaviour creates too many enemies and even weakens support from former true believers. Second, and most important, is the overestimation of their power. It is true that Zionists are over-represented in the world of great wealth. But not that over-represented. They no longer control the narrative, which, regarding Palestine, has slipped away.
For decades Israel has been able to count on the USA to play the Mafia don in its role as neighbourhood enforcer. If you mess with me you mess with Uncle Sam. But will that continue indefinitely? Interestingly, in so far as articles in Foreign Affairs are a reflection of elite debate on Israel-USA relations, Oct. 7, 2023, and its aftermath have provoked serious rethinking about the utility of Israel as an American outpost in the Middle East. An Israel that unites the Arab world and Muslim world in opposition to both it and the USA may no longer be a strategic asset. Then what?
Will Donald Trump and his legion of Rapture hopeful Protestant Zionists ride to the rescue? Will supporters of Israel rely so much on the power of crying “antisemitism” at every attempt to defend Palestinian human rights that the word becomes meaningless at best or actually creates real antisemitism at worst? Will Israel proceed with its ethnic cleansing of Palestinians? Will that be the trigger for Europe and the rest of the world to finally embrace BDS? What happens when a nuclear power, run by extreme right-wing ethno-religious nationalists feels cornered by their enemies?
The post No Good Outcomes for Israel’s True Believers first appeared on Dissident Voice.
This content originally appeared on Dissident Voice and was authored by Gary Engler.
Gary Engler | Radio Free (2023-12-11T21:28:08+00:00) No Good Outcomes for Israel’s True Believers. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2023/12/11/no-good-outcomes-for-israels-true-believers/
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