RSSIs This Zionism or Anti-Semitism?
What would you call a politician who said that the “national homeland” of French or American or Argentinian Jews was not France or the U.S. or Argentina, implying that they were properly part of another nation with its own homeland (and therefore not really part of the French, U.S. or Argentinian nation)? I don’t know about you, but I’d call him or her an anti-Semite.
What then to make of Israel’s foreign minister Tzipi Livni’s concern that “Israel is being delegitimized as the national home of the Jews”? Livni instructed Israel’s diplomatic representatives abroad to emphasize this idea when dealing with foreign governments. I’d politely but firmly suggest that those governments would do better to ask their own Jewish citizens and those of other Diaspora countries what they consider their “national home,” and respect the answer.
And the same goes for Ehud Olmert telling French Jews that they should “come home.” I’m sorry, but if it’s not acceptable for a French leader to say that the home of the Jews is not in France, then why is it acceptable for an Israeli leader to say so? Not only does it promote the anti-Semitic belief that Jews are somehow alien and maintain a loyalty to a different state; it actually is an anti-Semitic belief itself. Call it Zionism, if you like, to maintain that Jews don’t belong any place outside of a Jewish ghetto. I call it anti-Semitism, and it deserves to be as harshly denounced when it comes from Olmert as when it comes from Le Pen.
It’s time the Israeli leadership grew up and got used to the that Israel is the national home of its citizens, and those who chose to become its citizens, not of the rest of us. Two thirds of Jews choose not to live there now, and I don’t imagine that changing in the foreseeable future. Israel is not my “national home” — Judaism is not a nationality. Nor does Israel have any right to speak on my behalf. For anyone, Jewish or otherwise, to tell me that Israel is my “national home” is to strip me of my citizenship. Which is what I expect from anti-Semites.
The Latest
Hear! Hear!
Bush's 'Peace' Effort Imperils Peace
Daniel Levy explains why the farcical negotiations between Olmert and Abbas actually undermine the prospects for Mideast peaceFeatured Analysis
About That 'New' Middle East...
Could there be a more perfect image of the catastrophic self-inflicted rout suffered by U.S. Middle East policy under President George W. Bush? This week, the President will party with Israel's leaders celebrating their country's 60th anniversary -- and champion a phony peace process whose explici...A Skeptical Read
Beheading Barack
First, he couldn't be President because he's Muslim. Now, we're told, he can't be President because he's not Muslim enough!Shameless Cronyism
Sound Advice for the Next President
To grasp the challenge facing U.S. foreign policy, read Helena Cobban's new book Engage!A Wondering Jew
Israel is 60, Zionism is Dead, What Now?
Israel at 60 is an intractable historical fact. It has one of the world's strongest armies, without peer in the Middle East, and its 200 or so nuclear warheads give it the last word in any military showdown with any of its neighbors. Palestinian militants may be able to make life in certain parts...99c Blogging
All Hat, No Cattle #7682
President Bush loves playing the Bad Cop, but anyone vaguely familiar with the routine knows not to take the Bad Cop seriously.The 51st State
A Teachable Moment in Basra
It should come as no surprise that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's disastrous offensive against the Mahdi Army of Moqtada Sadr in Basra has had the exact opposite effect of that intended -- strengthening rather than weakening Sadr, and making clear that he, and the Iranians, have far greater in...Futures Market
Will Russia Partition Kosovo?
Why my tea-leaf reading suggests that Moscow has a nasty surprise in store for Washington in the BalkansGuest Columns
Iraq and U.S. Faith in Violence
Guest Column: Alastair Crooke warns of a dangerous fantasy that persists in Western capitals in which the West faces an "onslaught" from "radical Islam." The problem is that this intersects all too tragically with a the persistent belief in Washington and elsewhere that by applying its overwhel...Cuisine
Yummy yummy Umami
Why a leftover lamb bone turned a bean stew into an ecstatic eventGlancing Headers
Spare Us More 'Globalization & Football'
The claim that Egypt's Cup of Nations win "proves" that stronger domestic leagues make stronger international sides is not born out by football's bigger picture. In fact, the teams that do best internationally are those with weaker domestic leaguesHousekeeping
'Lost' Entries on Rootless Cosmopolitan
Previous entries that now register as "not available" are ones that got left behind in a server migration. We're working on retrieving themUnholy War
U.S. Pours Gasoline on Gaza Fires
Once upon a time, Israelis and Palestinians looked to the U.S. to intervene at moments of heightened confrontation to mediate between the two sides and contain the damage. The Bush Administration, however, has proved entirely incapable of playing this role, because its own interventions are hidebou...The Whole World's Africa
South Africa's Racist Present
Guest Column: Sean Jacobs. What to make of the racist torture incident at a South African campusAnnals of Globalization
Honey, I Shrank the Superpower
In a snide reference to Bill Clinton's 1992 promise to "build a bridge into the 21st century," Barack Obama recently quipped that what Hillary Clinton really offers is a bridge back into the 20th century. Yet, a bridge back into the last century may be what all the major candidates are offering when...Could Die Laughing
Mearsheimer, Walt and the Erudite Hysteria of David RemnickNew York Moments
The Debka Made ‘Em Do ItFrom Tony's Archive
A Playground Lesson for Bush
How a spontaneous alliance of jocks, do-gooders and lesser bullies against the biggest bully at the school changed the balance of power at Milnerton PrimaryRebellion Into Money
The Rebel Grace of Patti Smith
4 Responses to “Is This Zionism or Anti-Semitism?”
Olmert’s son, Ariel, lives in Paris, where he studies French literature.
How does one say chutzpah in French?
It’s un culot (not to be confused with une culotte (knickers) - in the former the T is silent.
If you meet him, I suggest you say as follows: t’as un sacré culot! (you have a damned nerve! - or chutzpah).
Don’t know if you saw this article Zionism against Jews
There is a subtle distinction between citizenship and nation in the context of the post which is missed by our prevalent western use of the term nation.
When nation is used as a synonym for tribe or ethnicity, citizenship is clearly a completely separate and different concept.
Zionism resulted in the creation of the state of Israel whose Law of Return allows a Diaspora Jew, no matter where he was born or where he lives to “return” to Israel as a full Israeli national.
In that context, France is the national home of the French and Germany of the Germans. Until 1948, Jews didn’t have that kind of home of their own, but now they too have that kind of national home thanks to Israel’s Law of Return.
Leave a Reply