Tuesday, 4/29/97 Zionist ideology equal to colonialist
expansionism Movement rooted in oppression of Palestinians,
racism
By Pejman Novin This is addressed to all those people who
attempt to smear individuals who disagree with the political
ideology of Zionism. What is the issue? The issue is that Zionism
is a European, political school of thought which came about in the
late 19th century. Therefore, one cannot say that Zionism equals
Judaism since Judaism has existed for over 3,000 years, whereas
Zionism has been around for less than a century. The fathers of
Zionism were two men named Theodore Hertzl and Chaim Weizmann, who
were both self-professing atheists, a significant fact considering
that Jews were promised the land by God. Labeling someone opposed
to Zionism as racist and anti-Jewish is akin to calling someone
opposed to apartheid as anti-white. The Zionist ideology can be
characterized by three qualities: settler colonialism, expansionism
and racism … the Muslim Students, along with the support of many
other student groups on campus, last week attempted to educate
students about the oppressive history of Zionism. Why does Zionism
equal colonialism? The history of Zionism has striking similarities
to the first European settlers in America and their attempt to
annihilate the Native Americans. The Jewish settlers arbitrarily
created a state based on the United Nations’ resolution of
partition. The result of the matter is that the indigenous people
of the land, the Palestinians, have been reduced to less than a
quarter of Occupied Palestine’s present population, living on less
than 15 percent of the land. According to George F. Kossaifi, chief
of Human Development in the United Nations, in 1948 approximately 1
million Palestinians fled. Since that year, close to half a million
have been killed. Israel has ignored every U.N. resolution
condemning its brutal nature. Israel has rejected General Assembly
Resolutions 194 (III), 3089 D (XXVIII), 242, 383, 237 and 681.
These resolutions, voted on by countries of the world except the
United States and Israel, have declared that the Palestinian people
should be compensated for property losses and should be entitled to
equal rights and self-determination, including withdrawal of
Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the six-day war.
Furthermore, the UN denounced the Zionist political ideology as
racist. Why does Zionism equal expansionism? There are at least two
methods by which an ideology is propagated: expansion by
colonization and expansion by ideology. Ben-Gurion, the first prime
minister of Israel, said to the World Council of Opal Zion in Tel
Aviv in 1938 (cited by Israel Shahak, Journal of Palestine Studies,
spring 1981): "The boundaries of Zionist aspiration include
southern Lebanon, southern Syria, today’s Jordan, all of CIS-Jordan
(the West Bank) and the Sinai." The Zionist ideology sought to
occupy much of the Middle East. Israeli armed forces have failed
miserably to defeat the Southern Lebanese people, although in 1982
they killed 20,000 civilians, wounded 30,000, and left over 600,000
people homeless (Christian Science Monitor, 1982). Ideologically,
however, Israelis, with the aid of the United States, have been
very successful in sedating the anger of the Arab people outside
Palestine by establishing a puppet government and leaders. This is
why the corrupt and non-democratic regimes in the Middle East
receive billions of U.S. tax dollars. Last year alone, Egypt
received $2.5 billion. An estimated $3 billion was given to Israel
as agreed by the Camp David Signing of 1978. Ever since the
inception of the state of Israel, based on the most conservative
figures, the U.S. government has given $68,531 billion of our tax
money to Israel (George W. Balls, former ambassador to the United
Nations, in "Passionate Attachment"). As a result, our taxes have
nurtured a racist ideology. Perhaps nothing is more evident about
Zionism than its racist attitude toward its own people and others
around the world. Internally, the Zionist regime has unofficially
classified its people into four groups, the Ashkenazic Jews (the
white European Jews who are now in control), the Sephardic Jews
(who are mainly Arab Jews), the Ethiopian Jews (who are treated as
third-class citizens) and the Palestinians (for more information,
see the New York Times, "Sephardic Jews see indictment as just more
bias," April 28). It would take a few issues of the Daily Bruin
with all of its 36 pages to name all of the atrocities that have
been committed in the name of Zionism. I will cite just a few
examples as a way of clarification. Between December 9, 1987 and
November 30, 1991 over 5,000 Palestinian children were treated for
gunshot wounds in Gaza, according to the United Nations Relief and
Works Agency. Another 12,000 children were treated for injuries
sustained from beatings by Israeli troops. One can trace Zionist
Israeli racism to its founding father, Weizmann, a close friend of
General Jan Smuts, South Africa’s future prime minister. Smuts
pushed the British government to adopt the Balfour Declaration in
order to construct a Zionist colony under British direction (N.
Kirschner, "Zionism and Union of South Africa: Fifty Years of
Friendship and Understanding," Jewish Affairs, South Africa, May
1960). It is perhaps for this reason that Israel supported South
Africa’s former Apartheid regime with lethal weapons. In
compensation, Israel continues to export diamonds, although Israel
itself does not produce them. The ramifications of this cordial
friendship between the Apartheid and the Zionist governments run
even deeper. The Ethiopian Jews are treated as lesser Jews; their
blood is unacceptable and has been "thrown away" (L.A. Times, March
1996). Even the Sephardic Jews who have lived among the
Palestinians for centuries have been treated as second-class
citizens (New York Times, "Sephardic Jews Rally for Accused
Politician," April 24). The crimes of Zionism have transcended
borders, however. The Israeli government is responsible for
training a death squad in Nicaragua, testing nuclear weapons in
Cameroon and bombing an American Naval ship, USS Liberty, thereby
killing 32 Americans and wounding 75 (Balls, "Passionate
Attachment"). It is time to hold the Zionist ideology responsible
for its action. For too long it has been hidden under the cloak of
anti-Semitism. Many practicing Jews are not Zionist. The world
would be hypocritical to denounce Apartheid and not Zionism.
Furthermore, the United States is hypocritical to call for human
rights in China and maintain Israel as its closest ally. The
anti-Zionism stance is an anti-Oppression stance. Why isn’t this
issue debated in the media? Why don’t we debate it on college
campuses? Muslim students at UCLA along with other conscientious
students want to lift the taboo on Zionism and allow the other
side’s viewpoint to be heard. Novin is a fourth-year philosophy
student.