Why, really, was the USS Liberty attacked by Israel?
JUDAISM is the religion of Jews, not “the” Jews because not all Jews are religious. Like Christianity and Islam, Judaism has at its core a set of moral values and ethical principles.
ZIONISM as Jewish nationalism is a sectarian, colonial ideology-and-enterprise which, in the process of creating in the Arab heartland a state for some Jews – mainly by terrorism and ethnic cleansing – made a mockery of, and demonstrated contempt for, Judaism’s moral values and ethical principles.
Supporters of Israel right or wrong conflate Judaism and Zionism because the assertion that they are one and the same enables them to claim that criticism of Israel is a manifestation of anti-Semitism.Often, almost always these days, the accusation that criticism of Israel IS anti-Semitic is a form of blackmail, intended to silence criticism of, and suppress informed and honest debate about, the Zionist (not Jewish) state and its policies. The reality is that Judaism and Zionism as Jewish nationalism are total opposites, and knowledge of the difference is the key to understanding two things:
1. Why it is perfectly possible, with good reason on the basis of all the facts, to be passionately anti-Zionist (opposed to Zionism’s on-going colonial enterprise) without being, in any way, shape or form anti-Semitic.
2. Why it is wrong to blame ALL Jews everywhere for the crimes of the hardest core Zionist few in Palestine that became little Israel, and then Greater Israel.
Though it is not well known, even by many Jews today, the fact is that prior to the obscenity of the Nazi holocaust, Zionism’s colonial enterprise was of no interest to more than a tiny minority of the Jews of the world and was OPPOSED by many of them. For example: On 5 March 1919, the New York Times revealed that 30 of the most prominent and outstanding Jewish Americans had signed a petition to President Wilson, warning him against any U.S. commitment “now or in the future to Jewish territorial sovereignty in Palestine.” One of the 30 signatures was that of Adolph S. Ochs, the Jewish-American of German origin who was then the owner and publisher of the paper. In 1943, when the anti-Zionist American Council for Judaism was formed, the then owner and publisher of the New York Times, Arthur Hays Sulzberger, was a member of it.
The many Jews who opposed Zionism’s colonial enterprise, including the early owners and publishers of the New York Times, knew it was morally wrong. They also believed it would lead to unending conflict with the Arabs. Most of all they feared that if Zionism was allowed by the big powers to have its way, it would one day provoke anti-Semitism.
That fear was given a fresh airing in 1986 by Israel’s longest serving Director of Military Intelligence, Yehoshafat Harkabi. In a remarkable book, Israel’s Fateful Hour, he wrote this:
“Israel is the criterion according to which all Jews will tend to be judged. Israel as a Jewish state is an example of the Jewish character, which finds free and concentrated expression within it. Anti-Semitism has deep and historical roots. Nevertheless, any flaw in Israeli conduct, which initially is cited as anti-Israelism, is likely to be transformed into empirical proof of the validity of anti-Semitism. It would be a tragic irony if the Jewish state, which was intended to solve the problem of anti-Semitism, was to become a factor in the rise of anti-Semitism. Israelis must be aware that the price of their misconduct is paid not only by them but also Jews throughout the world.”
Today there is almost a case for saying that Israel’s “misconduct”- in my view it sometimes amounts to naked state terrorism – has become not only “a factor in the rise of anti-Semitism” but the prime factor. I said “almost” a case because what we are witnessing today as a consequence of Israel’s policies and actions is NOT the rise of anti-Semitism, not prejudice against and hatred of all Jews everywhere just because they are Jews.
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