November 19, 1975

Is Zionism A form Of Racism?

It is ironic that pressure to get the United States out of the United Nations - once the battle cry of the right wing - now is being applied most strenuously by the liberal left.

The UN has adopted a resolution declaring Zionism "a form of racism," and suddenly the political extremes of America are in rare agreement, albeit for different reasons.

Daniel Moynihan, our ambassador to the UN, lost his cool in denouncing the Arab-sponsored resolution.  American Jews reacted with equal fervor.  For the first time, placards urging "Get US out of the UN" were seen in the garment district of New York City.

For the majority of those Americans west of the Poconos Mountains the issue seemed to generate more heat than light.  Zionism and the political organization of Israel is little understood.

Here is the background.

Zion was the name of a hill-top fortress captured by King David from the Jebusites about 1100 B.C.  The town that sprang up around this strong point became Jerusalem and the capital of the ancient Jewish state of Judah.  Thus, Zion became synonymous with Promised Land.

Since destruction of this state by Rome in 70 AD many Jews have yearned to be restored to Palestine, the land of the ancient Jewish nation.

The growth of a liberal attitude toward Jews in the 18th and 19th centuries led to assimilation with national cultures.  This alarmed certain Jewish leaders who asserted that the Jews learning of western ways must be associated with a heightened awareness of Jewish values.

This movement was weak and largely theoretical until Theodor Herzl called the first World Zionist Congress at Basel, Switzerland, in 1897.  Since that time, the drive to establish a homeland for Jews has been known as Zionism - a return to the Promised Land.

For a few years the principal issue debated by the WZC was whether Palestine was essential for a homeland.  Great Britain, then a major colonial power, offered the Jews Uganda in East Africa as a site; but it was rejected by the 1906 congress.  Thereafter, the Zionist movement directed its efforts toward Palestine.

Privately, Jews began the return, moving into Palestine by family groups, buying homes and putting down roots.  However, they were unable to win any political concessions from the Turkish sultan who ruled the area as part of the Ottoman Empire.

The turning point of the Zionist movement came during World War I when Great Britain was at war with Turkey as one of the Central Powers.  As a weapon to weaken Turkey, the British foreign minister, Arthur Balfour, issued a "declaration" which promised to help establish a national home for Jews in Palestine.

With victory, Britain was given a mandate of Palestine - in part to implement the Balfour Declaration.

Immigration by Jews then began in earnest.  The flow became so great that it alarmed the resident Moslems and created much friction.  Britain attempted to limit immigration to lessen tensions, but the Zionists persisted as they were persecuted and displaced by the Nazis in World War II.

Following World War II, open hostilities broke out in Palestine between Jews and Arabs.  Both groups terrorized the nation, particularly the British in the middle.  In frustration Britain dumped the problem onto the UN and prepared to pull out.

The British mandate was due to expire on May 15, 1948, so the UN - with the U.S. and Russia agreeing - voted to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab states.

The Arabs walked out of the UN session, but the Jews declared themselves the state of Israel on May 14.  The Arab nations attacked the Jewish conclave around Tel Aviv on the next day.  In the short conflict following, Israel conquered all of Palestine and displaced 700,000 Arab refugees.

These refugees have been living in squalid camps ever since on United Nations dole and constitute the principal obstacle to a successful conclusion to Zionism.  The Arabs want their original homes returned to them.  The Israelis contend the refugees are victims of an Arab invasion and therefore the latter's responsibility.

Whether Zionism is a form of racism depends upon your definition of that emotional word.

It is impossible for a person of the Jewish faith in Israel to be married to a person who is Christian or Moslem.  Civil marriages are not recognized.  Separate schools are provided for Israeli Arabs, but these have lagged behind the national average.  The minority of Arab people now living in Israel complain that they are unable to obtain good jobs and suffer from defacto segregation.

Certainly the Jews of Europe who suffered so much at the hands of Hitler can not be accused of the type of racism associated with genocide.  However, it is significant that the anti-Zionism resolution was an amendment to an anti-South Africa denunciation.

The Zionist situation is as complex as the apartheid situation.  Both Israel and South Africa have too much cultural heritage at stake to surrender to simplistic judgments by outsiders such as the UN Third Worlders.  The two beleaguered nations occupy their present territories by right of occupation, still a fundamental fact of power.

The problems of Israel began with conquest and will be settled by conquest.  We can only hope that the present difficulties are the first step toward peace rather than the last step toward further conquest.

Author: Lindsey Williams