You've heard of hope and change, but you probably haven't heard its new Israeli messenger (“Real Zionism means dividing the budget equally among all the citizens of the country. Real Zionism is taking care of the weak. Real Zionism is solidarity — not only on the battlefield, but in everyday life.”)

Emma Goldman has an essay where she talks about zionism. She had a lot of respect for the sort of communities Jewish settlers had created, despite the deep rifts they were creating in the region.

I know an Israeli guy who's very insistent that the original vision of zionism was something more along the lines of a sort of libertarian socialism and the intention was not to displace people or otherwise "conquer" anything. Of course, it doesn't take a genius to realize that's not what panned out. Even if that was true of early zionism, modern zionism is far less benevolent in it's aims. It's ethno-religious nationalism, nothing else. The same sort of force that drives conflicts in Africa or Asia. It's steeped in the ideology of colonialism, though it will never admit it, preferring to think of foreign Jews as "returning" to Israel.

It's worth noting that a lot of Palestinian Jews fucking hated the Europeans who started flooding into the place in the 20th century. Because having grown up in this place and living under colonialism they knew damn well what kind of bullshit that was driving zionism.

So yeah, maybe this politician is right. Maybe at a certain point in time and to a lot of people "zionism" does equal a fair society. But Israel is not that society. And until Israel finds some sort of way to live with Palestinians rather then against them, then that sort of thing is always going to be a pipe dream.

Nationalism in all it's forms is a dividing force. It creates conflicts where otherwise there were none. It's built on myths that drive people to horrors they scarcely imagined themselves capable of. From Treblinka Eastern Ukraine and the bombed out ruins that are now Gaza, it's the same shit all over the world. It ends in either genocide or the subordination of one culture to another. There is no rosy ending possible in that line of thinking.

If Israelis want a better country they can start by dropping the myth that worshiping at the feet of zionism will somehow bring them stability and peace. It's brought them war and made them hated by the whole world.

/r/Anarchism Thread Link - pri.org