tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-640441812647446166.post2742502877870142738..comments2024-03-28T04:26:49.354+00:00Comments on Tony Greenstein's Blog: The Transition from Zionist to anti-ZionistTony Greensteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14300640929161205370noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-640441812647446166.post-49641620068448926522012-12-03T18:09:46.289+00:002012-12-03T18:09:46.289+00:00Hashomer Hatzair were an example of what happens w...Hashomer Hatzair were an example of what happens when theory and practice coincide!<br /><br />Outside Palestine (and all the left Zionists were to the left of Palestinian leftists) there was a continual balance between the fight at home, which was with other non-Jews against racism, and the call of Zionism for 'Jewish unity' which meant deferring to the Jewish bourgeoisie and rabbis.<br /><br />Many Zionists believed quite sincerely, as did communists in South Africa, whose slogan for the white miners strike which Smuts bombed in 1921 was 'white workers of the world unite' that they weren't racist and were socialist. But what they did said otherwise. Some even went to Spain where they died fighting for the Repoublikcan cause.<br /><br />I don't say that all Zionists are reactionary, but as Marx observed, theory and reality have a habit of catching up with each other and today, you will not find many Zionists who are not reactionary! Left Zionism has all but disappeared.Tony Greensteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14300640929161205370noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-640441812647446166.post-74672647106038080622012-12-03T11:41:22.936+00:002012-12-03T11:41:22.936+00:00of course hashomer hatzair was racist, and so was ...of course hashomer hatzair was racist, and so was Ehad Ha'am. Sure, they were not racist in the terms of their age. They were not racist the way right wing race theorists and Nazis were racist. But they were racist in exactly the same way almost every western social thinker up to the 60' was racist, including Voltaire, Kant, etc. Hanna Arendt was racist in that same way, and so was Buber. <br /><br /><br />This shouldn't be used to discard every Zionist as a reactionary. There were Zionists who were in theory not reactionaries, in the term of their historical moment. But it is impossible to really understand Zionism without understanding that it emerged in a world where racism was legitimate ACROSS THE BOARD. <br /><br /><br />Evildoerhttp://jewssansfrontieres.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-640441812647446166.post-71751910195485380722012-12-02T20:57:32.224+00:002012-12-02T20:57:32.224+00:00Yeah, funny you should say that. I also felt it w...Yeah, funny you should say that. I also felt it was claustrophobic, as well as contradicting any genuine universalism ('what's good for the Jews').<br /><br />It's amazing the no. of Zionists who say things like my parents would be ashamed of my views etc. Don't these people realise that one of the privileges of growing up is that one develops independent ideas?<br /><br />Zionism today is a cult minority within the Jewish community that relies on the passivity and easy stimulation of the cry 'anti-semitism' in order to continue to reign.Tony Greensteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14300640929161205370noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-640441812647446166.post-43352381299642851572012-12-02T18:52:09.682+00:002012-12-02T18:52:09.682+00:00I always feel badly for Jewish people who did not ...I always feel badly for Jewish people who did not reject or could not reject Zionism before they attained adulthood. It was easy for me, I quickly came to the conclusion that Zionism is like being trapped at my relatives for a lifetime, instead of just a holiday or two. Who needs that?Mooserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12294208692136002450noreply@blogger.com