The Truth about Israel and Zionism

Richard Mellor
Afscme Local 444, retired

I was listening to a couple of short news clips of Madonna and Scarlet Johansson talking at the woman's march. Both of these women are supporters of the Zionist regime in Israel/Palestine. Johansson talked of her daughter and I'm sure a lot of them talked of their daughters and how the misogynist Trump and his gang threaten their future, the future for women and all of us no doubt.

I found it somewhat nauseating and hypocritical to say the least when it comes out of the mouths of supporters of Zionism. Palestinian children are imprisoned or murdered by Israeli forces almost daily. Check out the body count from the last Gaza invasion. Imagine if they had openly supported South African Apartheid before it fell. Hollywood and the liberals would have gone nuts.

This is a very good presentation detailing the history of the state of Israel, a colonial racist settler regime. The man is well qualified coming from an Israeli military family that played an important role in the founding of the Jewish state. It is not simply that the history is accurate, his presentation in general is very soberly put.

If you support this regime you are supporting the murder and torture of children. if you support Zionism you are supporting Apartheid. You must ask yourself why Islamic terrorism is "extreme" and "racist" or terrorism at all, when Zionism (Jewish extremism) is not. Christian Zionists are also hugely responsible for the crimes against Palestinians.

I want to urge workers to watch this. It lasts an hour and is easy on the eyes and ears. It is two thirds shorter than a boring football game without the mind numbing insulting ads. As a worker myself whose views are constantly evolving, I know working people think about this, we talk about it. But our media is biased, it reflects class interests under the cloak of news for "all Americans". Not so.

Lastly, he is not a socialist and that is clear. He doesn't link the creation of Israel to capitalist expansion. I do not agree with his conclusions. I do not believe that there is a solution to this problem within the framework of capitalism. This is what is missing.  Israel is a western imperialist venture that arose after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after the First World War. As I have pointed out before, the first British governor of Jerusalem referred to the creation of  a Jewish state as "Our loyal little Ulster in the Middle East". Only the international working class can solve these crises that are in actually, capitalist crises.

US imperialism has no special love for Jews. Israel is its most dependable ally in the Middle East as a means to defending its interests in the region, most importantly against the revolutionary potential of the Arab masses.  He says in the video that it is "Israel" that is the problem. Trump's son in law is an investor in the illegal settlements and Trump has pledged to move the Israeli capital to Jerusalem setting the stage for more violence and misery.

This is a very important presentation for working people to read and absorb. It will help us understand more about this important issue.