By SAMUEL KILSZTAJN*
The violence of Zionists began with modern political Zionism, from the XNUMXth to the XNUMXth centuries.
Zionist violence towards Palestinians did not begin on October 7, 2023, it did not begin with the right and Benjamin Netanyahu in power, it did not begin in 1967, it did not begin in 1947-8, it did not begin in 1933 and it did not begin in 1920 The violence of Zionists began with modern political Zionism, from the XNUMXth to the XNUMXth centuries.
Em the jewish state, Theodor Herzl wrote that, for Europe, the Jews in Palestine would constitute a fortress against Asia, an outpost of civilization against barbarism. And the Zionists are fulfilling this role with bold efficiency. This is why Western countries are always supporting the terrorist State of Israel.
Modern political Zionism
At the end of the XNUMXth century, as a result of the wave of pogroms in Eastern Europe and the Dreyfus Affair in France, Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern political Zionism, committed himself to the creation of a Jewish State in Palestine, then under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. . Theodor Herzl considered that anti-Semitism, manifest or latent, was rooted in European Christian culture; and that the Jews were hated as much for their defects as for their qualities.
Despite the emancipation of the Jews, their performance as loyal patriots and their contribution to the development of science and the arts within each of the European nations, the Jews would always continue to be treated as foreigners, despised and persecuted. In the jewish state, Theodor Herzl wrote that, for Europe, the Jews in Palestine would constitute a fortress against Asia, an outpost of civilization against barbarism.
However, despite modern political Zionism, immigration to Palestine was very insignificant until the rise of the Nazis to power in Germany in 1933. A significant part of European Jews adhered to socialist ideas; and a significant part immigrated to Western Europe and, more specifically, to the United States. Jerusalem, for the vast majority of Jews, remained the heavenly, spiritual, messianic Jerusalem, the promised land, paradise.
The British Mandate and the rise of the Nazis to power
During World War I, England had promised Palestine to both Arabs and Jews. In 1917, through a declaration by its Foreign Secretary, Arthur Balfour, the United Kingdom pledged to support the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine, the outpost of civilization against barbarism. In 1920, the League of Nations established the British Mandate of Palestine, which comprised Palestine (27 thousand km2) and the Emirate of Transjordan (89 thousand km2). At the time, the population of Palestine proper was made up of 80% Muslims, 11% Christians and 9% Jews. Under the administration of England, the first conflicts between Arabs and Jews began. And so the “anti-Semite” of Muslims, who until then lived in harmony with the Jews, was inaugurated.
Jewish immigration to Palestine increased significantly with the rise of the Nazis to power in 1933 and especially in 1935, with the Nuremberg Laws (it must also be taken into account that the United States had restricted immigration in the mid-1920s) . Between 1933 and 1939, nearly 300 Jews immigrated to Palestine, tripling the number of Jews in the Promised Land.
The partition of Palestine
Modern political Zionism and efforts to create a Jewish state in Palestinian territory gained a new dimension after the Holocaust of World War II, as an alternative to the settlement of surviving Jews threatened with extermination in their lost homelands.
With the independence of Transjordan in 1946, the British Mandate began to be restricted to Palestine. Given the difficulty of managing Jewish immigration into Palestine, the United Kingdom announced, in early 1947, its intention to renounce the mandate and hand Palestine over to United Nations administration.
The member countries of the United Nations, not wanting to absorb Jewish survivors, approved the Palestine Partition Plan on November 29, 1947, despite protests from Palestinians and Arab countries. And thus, the outpost of civilization against barbarism was created.
At the time of the creation of the State of Israel in May 1948, 650 Jews and 1,3 million Muslim Arabs lived in Palestine. The territory that effectively constituted the State of Israel (21 thousand km2, 35% larger than that designated by the United Nations Partition Plan) was home to 900 thousand Palestinians; and the West Bank and Gaza (6 thousand km2) housed the remaining 400 thousand Palestinians.
While the Israelis signed the Declaration of Independence guaranteeing equal rights to Jews and non-Jews, around 700 Palestinians were expelled from the territory occupied by Israel or fled the combat zone for their protection. The Palestinians, who had inhabited the region for centuries, were unable to return to Israel, had their properties seized and expropriated and were housed in refugee camps in the West Bank (administered by Jordan), the Gaza Strip (administered by Egypt) and on the borders with Lebanon and Syria.
The expulsion and flight of these 700 Palestinians from Israel to refugee camps guaranteed a Jewish majority in Israel, which had 650 Jews when the State was created and now only has 200 Palestinians who were allowed to remain inside. of its borders. And so the Jews, who constituted a small minority at the beginning of the century, passed on the title of minority to the Palestinians.
The occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip
The 1967 war, the occupation and the first settlements of Jews in the West Bank and Gaza occurred during the “left” Labor governments, long before the right and Benjamin Netanyahu came to power. Until October 7, 2023, Israelis, like diaspora Jews, were divided between right-wing Zionists and left-wing Zionists. Today, the vast majority of Israelis and diaspora Jews are umbilically united.
Benjamin Netanyahu compares Hamas to the Nazis. In his narrative, Benjamin Netanyahu clarifies that, after defeating Nazism, the allies took over Germany to denazify it in the bud. Israel will do the same, it will occupy Gaza and will not hand it over to the PLO (which is also against the State of Israel); Gaza will be administered by some power that will deshamanize it at the root. You can even guess the next step in Benjamin Netanyahu's agenda, Israel will occupy the West Bank, which will also be administered by some power that will clear it from the roots.
The outpost of civilization against barbarism
Although there are associations of anti-Zionist Jews, both Israelis and diaspora Jews, in their vast majority, are right-wing or “left-wing” Zionists, defend the existence of the State of Israel and deny the right of Palestinians to return to their homes and cities. And, with the support of the “civilized” Western world, the Israelis, in their daily lives, rape and dehumanize the “barbarians” Palestinians, in order to justify their extermination.
Among the Palestinian demonstrations against the Palestinian genocide, one of the most powerful, for decades, has been the work of filmmaker Mai Masri, who praises the sensitivity and humanity of the Palestinian people, even though they have been forced to live in deplorable conditions for more than seven decades.
Protests against the Palestinian genocide are currently growing around the world, especially among young Jews and non-Jews. Although Zionists strive to classify anti-Zionites as anti-Semites, among the many anti-Zionist Jewish organizations are the Satmar Orthodox Jews and the Neturei Karta. The symbol of the Neturei Karta is the map of Palestine with the colors of the Palestinian flag from the river to the sea, on the left, and the Israeli flag crossed by an X on the right. Would it be possible to identify these anti-Zionist Orthodox Jews as anti-Semitic Jews?
*Samuel Kilsztajn is a full professor of political economy at PUC-SP. Author, among other books, of Returnees.
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