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The One-State â?? Deposition Before Imposition

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Dan Lieberman
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Jurisdictions, such as Ashkelon, have no Arab population and will not allow any Arabs to settle within their limits. Arab cities, such as Nazareth, which once contained a sizable Jewish population, have had the entire Jewish population relocated to a new city, Nazareth Illit, which has petitioned to have its name changed in order to free itself from identification with the home of Jesus Christ's family. East Jerusalem and Acre, two of several municipalities that Israel covets for its Jewish citizens, are steadily encroached, with forced evictions of Arabs and stealth purchases by Jews.

The central government, housed in the Knesset, has a minority of Arab members, which ordinarily would be a formidable power bloc in a multi-party system that has a fractured parliament. Its impotence and the fact that none of the Jewish parliamentarians have ever voiced any consideration to a one-state, makes it difficult to comprehend how the federal system will convert from a government for one ethnicity to a government for all citizens.

Deposing the Zionist Mission
Deposing the Zionist mission does not mean destroying Israel; it means deconstructing Israel, changing the guiding concepts that have made Israel into an oppressive, nationalist, and militant state.

What needs to be deconstructed in Israel's guiding concepts?

Zionism
Zionism, if it still exists, or ever existed in a pure form, is responsible for the calamities that have fallen on the Palestinian people. Zionists brought the foreigners to the Levant. Zionists stole the land. Zionists expelled the native people. Zionists continued the oppression. Zionism caused the problems from day one. Zionists are the problem.

Attempts to delude others by saying the Zionist mission was benevolent and has been compromised is contradicted by Labor Party actions, which (1) Established, in 1920, Histadrut, the General Organization of Jewish-only Workers that bankrupted Palestinian industries and pauperized Palestinians; (2) Seized Palestinian lands immediately after UN Resolution 181; (3) Forced Palestinians by threats, killings and intimidation to leave their ancestral lands; (4) Refused to allow displaced Palestinians to return to their homes; (5) Destroyed more than 400 Palestinian villages; (6) Placed Palestinian villages under martial law until 1967; (7) Regarded Palestinian as second-class citizens in benefits after allowing free movement; and (8) Initiated settlements in the West Bank immediately after the 1967 war.

Zionism has been an answer to persecution of the Jews
It is uncertain that relief from persecution was the principal driver behind the Zionist movement. Preventing assimilation of Jews into the liberated western world, their loss of identity as Jews, and lack of attachment to a Hebrew religion were more notable motivating forces. Although Jews were severely persecuted, together with other minorities, in the eastern European nations, they did not demonstrate a willingness to participate in the Zionist adventure. About 15,000 - 30,000 Russian Jews emigrated to the Holy Land; from 1881 to 1914, more than 2.5 million other Jews emigrated from Eastern Europe. Of these, about two million reached the United States, 300,000 went to other overseas countries, and approximately 350,000 chose Western Europe.

From http://www.balfourproject.org/the-jewish-question-in-19th-century-europe/

Unwaveringly secularist in its beliefs, the Bund also relinquished the idea of the Holy Land and the sacred tongue. Its language was Yiddish, spoken by millions of Jews throughout the Pale. This was also the source of the organization's four principles: socialism, secularism, Yiddish and doyikayt or localness. The latter concept was encapsulated in the Bund slogan: "There, where we live, that is our country." The Bund disapproved greatly of Zionism and considered the idea of emigrating to Palestine to be political escapism.

As all minorities, persecuted Jews needed assistance. Is replacing one persecution by causing another more severe persecution worthwhile assistance?

The Middle East and North African Jews who came to Israel were Arabs; the Ashkenazi were European; the Falasha were Ethiopians; and the Yemenites were from the Arabian Peninsula. Israel replaced the differing languages, dialects, music, cultures, and heritage of these ethnicities with unique and uniform characteristics, and created a new people, the Israeli Jews. Destruction of centuries-old Jewish history and life in Tunisia, Iraq, Libya, and Egypt. accompanied the creation of a new people. The Zionists, who complained about persecution of Jews, wiped out Jewish history, determined who was Jewish, and required all Jews to shed much of their ancestral characteristics before they could integrate into the Israel community. Zionist actions showed that the dominant authority rarely allows others to compromise its dominance.

People can give any definition they want, but Zionism is defined by its actions and not by personal prescriptions. A reformed Zionist recites the creed he rejected.

The Independent, November 28, 2012, Why I am no longer a Zionist, by Wayne Meyers.

"none of that criticism was ever allowed to cross the red line of rejecting the idea of the Jewish State itself. We did not go so far as to accept the idea that Zionism was racism or that Israel ought not exist à ?? indeed we had special sessions on Machon where we were explicitly taught strategies for arguing against these ideas. The concept of a democratic secular one-state solution for all inhabitants of the Holy Land, under which Jews and Palestinians would be equal citizens in the eyes of the law, was not at any point on the table."

Zionism has detractors who regard it as militarist, virulent nationalist, kleptomaniacal, racist, separatist, and downright deceitful, devoid of characteristics that allow granting equal rights in a common state. As long as there is Zionism and Zionists in power, there is no peaceful solution to the Middle East crisis and no path to establishing a single state where all citizens are equal.

The ideology cannot be erased, but, similar to other nationalist and racist ideologies, it can arouse sufficient public contempt so that its message becomes futile and its actions become powerless. By exposing the true nature of Zionism, the public will be amenable to distancing from the Zionist project. This process will not be propaganda or public relations; it will be a concerted effort that uses the media and communications in all forms and explains how Zionism has prevented Middle East peace and harmed the Jewish conscience.

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Dan Lieberman is the editor of Alternative Insight, a monthly web based newsletter. His website articles have been read in more than 150 nations, while articles written for other websites have appeared in online journals throughout the world(B 92, (more...)
 
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