ZIONISM IS RACISM! ANTI-ZIONISM IS ANTI-RACISM!

Judea Pearl gained notoriety in Zionist circles several years ago when he wrote a brief and poorly argued article entitled, “Anti-Zionism is Racism.” In it, he argued that it was racist to attack what he called the “national liberation movement” of the Jewish people, and noted that many of the same people that attack this so-called national liberation movement support the national liberation of other people. This specious argument overlooks the difference between the Zionist drive to establish the state of Israel and all other national liberation movements. That is, those movements attempted to liberate themselves from colonialism and white supremacy! Zionism, on the other hand, relied on colonialism and white supremacy for legitimacy as it stole land from the indigenous people of Palestine. His claim is ludicrous, and yet many people take it at face value.

But the argument itself is totally ridiculous, even apart from its dubious equivalence of Zionism with national liberation movements. ARA asks, how can anti-Zionism be racism given two basic facts. First, not all Zionists are Jewish! Irvin Reid, outgoing president of WSU, is an African American Christian who supports Israel. Second, not all Jewish people are Zionists! There is a long and proud tradition of anti-Zionist Jews stretching from the Bundists in Poland at the turn of the nineteenth century all the way to the current day, with people like Anna Baltzer and Selma James, both of whom will be speaking in the Detroit area this week. Given these basic facts, ARA would like to know who anti-Zionism is racist against? Certainly not Jews, because anti-Zionism attacks all people who support the state of Israel, whether they are Christian or Muslim, white, black or anything in between, and anyone else who supports Israel. It is a political perspective and has nothing to do with race or ethnicity.

Finally, ARA must ask why Zionists devote so much energy to attempting to silence Palestine solidarity activists while doing nothing when white supremacists who seek to begin a second Holocaust come to town? Why does the state of Israel honor vicious anti-Semites like Jerry Falwell with Lear jets and state awards like the Jabotinsky Award (named after a former terrorist/national hero of Israel)? The answer is simple: attacks on Jews are less a priority for Zionists than attacks on the state of Israel. As long as the sacred right of Israel to colonize Palestine, murder Palestinians, and crush the Palestinian “will to resist” is honored, Zionists are willing to overlook even the most egregious anti-Semitism.

Join ARA to hear the side of the debate Zionists don’t want you to hear. Anna Baltzer will speak Tuesday, November 13^th in this same room, Purdy-Kresge auditorium, at noon. Selma James will discuss the Jewish Internationalist Tradition vs. Zionism on Saturday, November 17^th at 5:30 p.m. in the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center, 15801 Michigan Ave, Dearborn, MI.