Israel is the last colonialist settler project launched by Europeans
during the 20th century. It was promoted by various imperial powers(including even Nazi Germany until the Second World War) as a strategic
bridgehead east of the Mediterranean. It was expressed in particular in
1917 by the Declaration of A.J. Balfour, British Foreign Secretary, with
which the United Kingdom, which was the main colonialist power in the
region, stated that it looked favorably on the creation of "a national
home for the Jewish people". The ambiguity of the declaration, which did
not allude to a true independent state, did not prevent the birth of
strong currents of Jewish immigration to Palestine.The Jewish Zionist
project then contributed, with its active military support, to the
British suppression of the Palestinian revolt of 1936-39, and later
developed on other occasions such as the Suez Canal War of 1956; the
1967 war which led to the permanent occupation of the West Bank and the
Golan Heights, as well as the Sinai until the peace treaty with Egypt in
1979; the protection of the Jordanian regime in 1970...
The main Zionist ideology promoted by the left adopted the anti-Semitic
claim (in a kind of Stockholm syndrome) that Jews in the diaspora were
mainly employed in parasitic, non-productive professions. The only
remedy was to transfer them to a territory of their own where they could
do all the productive work. The settler colonial project began with the
19th-century settlements promoted by Baron Rothschild, a charity that
aimed to divert the flow of Jewish emigrants arriving in Europe from the
Tsarist Russian Empire to Palestine, so that they would not join
existing European Jewish communities. The project was not very
successful because it was expensive and relied on the labor of
indigenous Palestinians (and was not welcomed by the Ottoman Empire that
ruled the region.)
After the end of World War I, the Ottoman Empire was dismantled and the
League of Nations gave Britain a mandate over Palestine. The overthrow
of Tsarist Russia and the Soviet Revolution increased the flow of Jewish
emigrants and the support of elite European Jews to divert them. Zionist
movements promoting socialist projects in Palestine proved successful
and cheaper than Baron Rothschild's settlements.
Thus, Zionist Marxists and socialists dominated the Jewish settler
project (Jewish and Palestinian communists opposed the Zionist project
until the Stalinist USSR joined forces with US imperialism to end the
British Mandate of Palestine. The USSR and Palestinian communists,
especially the Jews, played a significant role in the UN decision on the
partition of Palestine and in the 1948* war that created Israel. Only
later did Israel, despite a 75% cooperative economy, openly side with
Western imperialism in the Korean War.) Despite many false historical
reconstructions, the '48 war was not a real war between the small
peaceful Jewish community against the Palestinians and the huge bloc of
Arab states. First, Britain, after losing the mandate over Palestine,
joined the Zionist establishment of the future Israeli state to prevent
the creation of the Palestinian state and promoted an agreement between
eastern Jordan (then still a protectorate of the United Kingdom) and the
establishment of the future Israel, on the division of the Palestinian
area with 50% of the territory to each. This led to the inclusion of 75%
of Palestine in Israel.
The "war" was used primarily to transfer Palestinians from the areas
that would become Israel and to cover up the agreement. In the armistice
agreements, at the end of the war of independence, Israel was given the
areas assigned to it in the pre-war agreement that it had failed to
conquer during the sham "war". This act was conditioned on not
transferring Palestinians from those areas, as was done in the areas
assigned to Israel and conquered by it.
Israel is one of the most developed countries, but the origin of about
90% (or more) of Israelis is from less developed Arab Muslim countries
and Eastern Europe (and a 20% minority of Palestinians whom Israel has
not been able to expel as it has done with other indigenous Palestinians).
Israelis are aware that Palestinian refugees in other countries (now
about 5 million) will never agree to give up their return. 5% of the
area and resources of Palestine, and it is also the result of 75 years
of Western imperialist outpost in the region (even most Palestinian
citizens of Israel, who are second-class citizens and victims of the
1948 robbery, prefer to remain Israeli citizens and not be annexed with
their regions to a potential Palestinian state).
The leadership and the few hundred thousand settlers who
conquered/created the state of Israel were mainly Zionist Socialists and
Marxist-Zionists. On May 15, 1948 only 25% of the economy was privately
owned. However, contradicting the hope of the Stalinist Soviet Union
that had participated in the creation of Israel and supported its '48
war (including the local "communist" party), they decided to join the
Western imperial side and did so openly during the Korean War of 1950.
The decision to adopt the capitalist road had the slogan "from class to
nation" and the construction of the capitalist economy (including
privatization) was successful.
In 1977 the original socialist elite (turned social democrat) lost its
power to the pro-capitalist liberal center and right and the upheaval of
the last two years is the result of the Zionist right taking the
residual power from the liberal capitalist center.
The more radical Marxist-Zionists who followed the socialists in moving
to the right gradually lost their influence on the political scene. The
Socialists and Marxist-Zionists, from being over 50% and around 25%
respectively, are now less than 10% in public polls.
Hamas, promoted by the Israeli state after its failure to build another
Palestinian leadership alternative to the PLO in the areas occupied in
the 1967 war, has been so successful that it has the capacity to
implement the catastrophic action of October 7, 2023 in the region along
the Gaza Strip, populated by Zionist settlers and other Jewish immigrants.
The attack and the ensuing military conflict show that the balance of
power between dominant Israel and the Palestinians (and their
supporters) is changing. We now have the acceleration of settler
colonial action, both in the West Bank and planned in the Gaza Strip,
and pressure on the Palestinians for a "voluntary transfer".
The "liberal" capitalist center seeks to recruit masses against the
right that dismantles Israel's liberal democracy, with a part of it
mobilized for concessions to Hamas in order to bring back Israeli
prisoners of war and hostages, even at the cost of limiting Israel's
expansion and attack on the Palestinians.
Despite the mass demonstrations, the Israeli political "map" is not one
of a real crisis. There are sectors of the right that push to also take
risks and accelerate the Zionist project, to take more land and expel
the Palestinians. The other half are moderate and less bold and do not
like to increase the risks and pay such a high price... but they are not
a real opposition.
Even centrists and the so-called left are opposed to a return to the
pre-1967 borders and are placing impossible conditions on the
Palestinians in a two-state solution (only the Communist Party is in
favor of a return to the pre-1967 borders, but it insists on a two-state
solution that will allow Israel to keep the fruits of the 1948 war,
namely the affirmation of the right to self-determination of the Jewish
people, a founding principle of Zionism). Only a minority of 1,000
Israeli Jews are in favor of a "homeland" for two nations; in contrast,
until the PLO sold out its support for the "two-state solution," the
position of this organization and probably of most Palestinians was -
and is now - in favor of a secular, non-theocratic state for all
Palestinians and Jews in the region.
The "best" way to demonstrate Israeli public opinion is the "large"
demonstration of less than a thousand Jewish participants against the
war in Gaza, in Tel Aviv's National Theater Square. Only a few hundred
demonstrated against the ongoing genocide of the Palestinians.
The 1962 prediction of the libertarian Marxist socialist movement, known
for its magazine Matzpen, was that only non-state revolution in the
region would resolve the conflict (i.e. the same position of various
anarchist groups in Israel over the years).
*On May 15, 1948, the Zionist leadership group led by Ben Gurion
rejected by a majority (with Golda Meir voting) the UN's request for a
truce and Ben Gurion officially proclaimed the birth of the state of
Israel with Chaim Weizmann as president and himself as prime minister.
Ilan Shalif : He was a member of the Israeli socialist organization
Matzepn. After the dissolution of Matzpen, Shalif continued his
activities, participating in other initiatives in Israel, such as the
now defunct anarchist federation Ahdut [Unity] and as Anarchists Against
the Wall.
http://alternativalibertaria.fdca.it/
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