A Changed Zionism and the Decay of the Jewish Spirit

Zionism, to say the least, is a touchy subject. Discussion of it usually warrants yelling matches where one hand can be seen clutched tight to the heart, while the other is graciously flicking someone off. Such passionate diatribes are all good and well, but after having been involved in one too many of them I've resigned to the idea that writing my feelings may be a better mode of expression than the alternative. So here we go and you can yell all you want, but I'd like to remind you that in cyberspace no one can hear you scream...

I say the "downfall of Zionism" because I believe that there is nothing wrong with idea of Zionism itself. It in fact started as a movement popular amongst the most radical of us; communists, anarchists - people looking to escape European totalitarianism in favor of small communities in the Biblical Jewish homeland; at that time it seemed to all be in good faith. The establishment of the State was what it was. The main thing to realize here is that the United Nations allowed for it to exist in this certain area given particular restrictions. Any arguments that advocate for the complete disbandment of the state need to realize that such a request is absurd because of former reason and also due to issues of practicality. Fine, that closes off that avenue of discourse pretty easily.

The next things to look at in the State's brief history in order to map out the downfall of Zionism, are the wars that followed Israel's establishment. Again, I believe some of the typical arguments here are quickly dismissed. People exclaim, "Israel was attacked!" I say, yes this is true, but the acquisition of land, even in the case of a provoked war, is illegal under international law. To this they usually say, "What do you mean?! Countries gain new territory through war all the time!" Again true if we are talking about prior to the UN Charter (Hell though, international law even existed in medieval times. The concept should not be so shocking...) Sometimes law is law and in this case Israel was legally in the wrong concerning its expansion into such "occupied territories."

The final stop on this tour through time is the contemporary. Israel is continually attacked from within, compulsory enlistment in the army, Israel builds a wall to keep terrorist rockets out, Israeli-Palestinian peace talks occur, the 1st and 2nd Intifadas also occur etc. etc. etc.

Let's break this down:

1) I do not deny that Israel and its citizens are subject to horrible attacks. I, however am of the opinion that they are preventable if Israel begins to take some steps which I will outline later.

2) I believe that the mandory enlistment of Israel's youngsters is changing the culture; I mean how couldn't it? Slightly unrelated I would also like to use this oppurtunity to express my disgust at the exploitation of young woman (only a year or two younger than myself) as the "face of the Israeli army." One word: Propoganda. It's hard to get upset at warmongers if they are young attractive women afterall. Don't believe me? Google Israeli Army, "Israeli Army Girls" will be the first suggestion and even if you don't choose it most of the images will still be of female soldiers. Go to youtube and watch any Zionist-esque video, they'll also be laden with such imagery.

3) The wall itself is not a horrible idea, but there is no doubt that the design of it was. Families are cut off from each other, check-points are miserable, and it makes general commerce in Palestinian regions a pain. This wall has only furthered the list of human rights infractions Israel has racked up and its existence as such should be seriously re-thought, despite the fact that it has curbed attacks. Such is the irony of Israel's two Walls (the wall of division and the western wall); both of which attract strong emotions for two very different, yet non-nonsensically related reasons.


4) The peace talks. We all know the image: the leaders of Israel, United States, and Palestine meet at Camp David with cheery expressions on their faces - "peace is in sight!" Except not really, never for long, and why did we ever think it would be? I'm going to take inspiration from Edward Said here and remark that the whole affair is laden with Orientalist problematics. Two Western nations one Eastern, meeting on Western soil, catering to the Western media and public, for what? So that the Palestinians can agree that they'll stomach oppression on the West's terms. The things a farse in my opinion and it's no wonder peace never stuck. Of course I am not saying that it wasn't a good gesture by Israel and that I didn't want negotiations, but realistically that's not how it should have been done. What I think should go on, I'll in include further down.

5) Despite Israel's efforts nothing really changes. Some people assume that this is because there is something inherently evil about the Palestinian that compels them to fight for what they believe is there's at all costs. I however, am of the opinion that all that means is that Israel was doing the wrong things. Again, I'll discuss what I think are the right things at the end of this blog.




I have now, I believe, mapped out what to me represents the progression of Zionism: from an idealistic movement to one that is simply misguided in its efforts to keep the state of Israel as is at all costs; even if that means pronouncing its superiority of such "lesser" nations. I believe that this "militant" Zionism to which I refer is also directly responsible for the decay of the Jewish spirit. To me Judaism has always warranted particular reverence traditionally for it's dedication to the pursuit of knowledge, its manifesto of questioning, and the fact that although we often find ourselves as victims of hatred we persevere while sticking to our faith. These things have sadly changed; one can find more and more Jews who are ignorant to the world, unwavering in their views, and militant in their reactions.


The Talmud teaches us that perhaps the most important commandment is "Thou shalt not kill" and close second is "love thy neighbor." One can argue about when murder is warranted, but as Jews should we have to play such a game of rationalization when we ourselves have been subject to sensless killings? Perhaps the "Jewish" thing to do would be to "give the bennefit of the doubt" kill unless absolutely necessary. Is the murder of Israeli's by Palestinians warranted, absolutely not. Yet, that does not mean that our killing of their civilians is either. We are Jews and we should act like the bigger person; like we are better than that because the Torah tells us to do so.


There is a Kabbalistic idea, which argues that whenever Jews are the victims of hatred it is only because we are not doing what we should be. (This is more of a metaphysical argument). I agree with this. As Jews we cannot blame others, but only ourselves. When we are attacked we have to look at what we have done to provoke such an attack, because at least one nation in the world must have this sort of outlook. We have to be a beacon to the rest of the peoples about what righteousness is and we have failed. Israel as a Jewish state has failed. We have failed our neighbor, our Biblical brother, through horrendous violations of human rights, disregards for international law, and greediness. We are killing the Jewish spirit through our refusal to act as a light unto others; we're murdering it because we are not doing the "Jewish thing."


My prescription? This isn't the point of the blog, but I'll include my opinion on the measures Israel should take in order to secure peace as well as fulfill its obligation to Jewish faith.


1) Disengage. Peace talk have not shown to work so stop trying to have them. Get out of the occupied territories, take the military presence out, and let the Palestinians be. They wanted the land they can have it. Just give it to them with no fuss attached.
2) Rearrange the boundaries for the wall to reflect a more logical and humane placement.
3) Turn Jerusalem into an international territory.
4) End compulsory enlistment into the army.
5) Help stimulate the Palestinian economy, encourage trade etc.