Recently, the book Overcoming Zionism by Joel Kovel was added to the illustrious list of banned books alongside George Orwell's 1984, Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five and Joseph Heller's Catch-22. Why has Kovel's book been challenged? It calls for “a single democratic state in Israel/Palestine,” where Jews and Arabs live side by side together. By doing so, Kovel’s book is a threat to all Zionists who equate Judaism with support for the state of Israel, and justify the colonialism of Palestine on racist grounds. Local Zionists have therefore attempted to pressure the University of Michigan Press to cease distribution of Kovel's book. All those that consider themselves anti-racists simply cannot let this happen!
THIS INCIDENT IS AN ATTACK ON ARAB AND MUSLIM PEOPLE AS WELL AS ON BASIC DEMOCRATIC FREEDOMS! It is an extension of Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib and wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and elsewhere. It is aimed at denying the self-governing capacities of people of color everywhere.
Similar incidents abound: Norman Finkelstein was recently denied tenure at DePaul University after a lengthy campaign by Zionists; at Barnard College, Zionists seek to reverse the recent decision to grant Nadia Abu El Haj tenure; finally, at Wayne State University just last year, Wadie Said, son of the late Palestinian academic Edward Said, was denied a position at the law school after Zionists once again raised questions about his academic credentials. These cases represent a concerted attack on Arabs, Muslims, anti-Zionist Jews and other Palestine solidarity activists by racist Zionists. Anti-Racist Action stands in solidarity with these academics as well as with people around the world seeking to live free from colonial domination.
As usual, Zionists of all stripes consider an attack on their racist ideology an attack on Jewish people, although Judaism and Zionism have nothing in common! The reason Zionists have such a problem with Kovel's book is because it refuses to equate Jewish identity with support for Israel. Doing so calls into question and in fact completely undermines the Zionist project. To challenge Zionism as the only Jewish identity is to strike at the very foundations of Zionism.
But not only is the book a challenge to Zionism. Because Zionists seek to ban it, it is a challenge to those of us fighting for Palestine in the United States. Are we going to continue to let Zionists ban our books, discredit our scholars, disrupt our events, spy on us at work, at school, and at home, and intimidate us into silence? We cannot, for our fight for freedom for Palestine is just as much a fight for our own freedom. Our freedom to worship, our freedom to live, our freedom to challenge colonialism, imperialism, and apartheid!
Why do Zionists have a problem with that? The answer is obvious. They are racists. They are against democracy. They want to maintain Israel's colonial domination over the Palestinian people. They want Palestinian land, Palestinian resources, Palestinian villages. They want Palestinian people under their control, without control over their lives, their fates, or even when they can cook, eat, turn on a light or flush the toilet. It is this vision Zionists defend and Joel Kovel attacks. For this reason, Anti-Racist Action stands in solidarity with Joel Kovel and the fight for the distribution of his book.
Overcoming Zionism is an important book with an explosive message. Anti-Racist Action proposes an equally explosive plan of action: Let us read this important book. Let us then discuss how we can begin to achieve freedom for ourselves and freedom for Palestine.
JOIN ARA EVERY THURSDAY THROUGHOUT THE SEMESTER AT 3 P.M. IN THE STUDENT CENTER BUILDING IN FRONT OF McDONALDS TO BEGIN THIS IMPORTANT PROJECT!
(Thanks to an anonymous Palestine solidarity advocate who saw an earlier draft of this post for pointing out that Starbucks is owned by a major Zionist businessperson who donates tons of money to Israel, otherwise we'd be meeting there!)
Monday, September 10, 2007
Read a Banned Book with ARA!
Labels:
"anti-racist action",
anti-racism,
Banned Books,
democracy,
Joel Kovel,
Palestine,
Zionism
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6 comments:
That book is not banned.
http://www.nysun.com/article/62432
So I guess ARA won't be reading a "banned book" as you claim.
The previous post leads to an article from the NY Sun about Kovel's book and challenges ARA's claim that Kovel's book is banned.
Briefly, the University of Michigan's executive board has decided to continue distributing Kovel's book temporarily while they reconsider whether or not they will end their relationship with Pluto Press altogether. That is, rather than banning a single book, they are considering banning Pluto Press' ENTIRE CATALOGUE! Simple math would tell us that banning hundreds of books is hundreds of times worse than banning one.
As much as the executive board would like to convince us that it is, "dedicated to academic freedom and open debate among differing views," or that it, "stands firmly for freedom of expression, and against even the appearance of censorship," the reality is that if the University of Michigan Press ends its relationship with Pluto Press, a tremendous blow will be struck against basic democratic freedoms in this country. Does the University of Michigan executive board want to be at the forefront of the assault on these freedoms? It clearly does not want to be in the forefront of anti-imperialism or resistance to colonialism, as it has chosen NOT to divest from Israel time and again.
This case shows that the battle for Palestine is just as fundamentally a battle for our own freedom in the United States as it is for freedom in Palestine.
Israel is a country whether you like it or not. So I suggest you get over it and stop wasting our time by picking these tiny, futile fights.
ARA=Hippocracy
The best anti-Zionist coverage of the Kovel and Pluto Press controversy is at vfpdissident.blogspot.com where this story first broke.
Hey fun fact - does the Hamas charter state that the rocks will call out 'O muslim there is an Israeli behind me' or does it state 'O muslim there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him'?
As usual the losers at the ARA prove how utterly useless they are at being able to identify (much less fight) real racism. Instead they simply take the easy route by actually siding with the racists and harasssing the victims. Well done.
"This case shows that the battle for Palestine is just as fundamentally a battle for our own freedom in the United States as it is for freedom in Palestine."
Don't worry - you're completely free to be the racist idiot you've always been. That's your American right and you obviously have no problem abusing the hell out of it.
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