BOOK REVIEW: Alan Hart 3-volume epic on the Israel/Palestine conflict:
ZIONISM, THE REAL ENEMY OF THE JEWS
excerpt from review by Oren Ben-Dor
Oren Ben-Dor is a professor of law and philosophy in the School of Law at the University
of Southampton in the United Kingdom. He is the author of Constitutional Limits and the
Public Sphere: A Critical Study of Bentham's Constitutionalism and Thinking About Law: In
Silence with Heidegger, and editor of Law andArt: Justice, Ethics and Aesthetics.
JPS4201_
of Southampton in the United Kingdom. He is the author of Constitutional Limits and the
Public Sphere: A Critical Study of Bentham's Constitutionalism and Thinking About Law: In
Silence with Heidegger, and editor of Law andArt: Justice, Ethics and Aesthetics.
JPS4201_
Journal of Palestine Studies (JPS 165), 2012
"These three wide-ranging, highly readable, and extremely well-informed volumes are a real gem that should be read by every politically- and historically minded seeker of truth, justice, and enduring peace in historical Palestine.
Alan Hart, a former ITN and BBC Panorama correspondent and a biographer of Yasir Arafat, gives us a seminal work whose great sophistication is matched by its moral courage and conviction. The scale and ambition of the work is all-embracing,unlike many books on Palestine which focus on one aspect of the conflict at the expense of the panoramic insights and grasping of larger trends. Hart's own personal encounters with key players in the conflict make for highly engaging reading that gives a sense of firsthand involvement with history as it happened. He also shows us the unknown and intimate sides of the politicians—the main actors in Hart's books—while providing the reader many insightful anecdotes.Personal accounts are very well-informed by contemporary research and complimented by scholarly narration of early Zionist involvement.Broadly, Hart sets out to achieve three interlinked objectives. First, he attempts to give a multi-perspective historical and political account of political Zionism and its transformation into a militarist state that maintains its unity by constantly provoking violence against itself despite many opportunities for peace and compromise with its neighbors. He shows that what began as a movement to solve Europe's "Jewish problem"—through the establishment ofa Jewish national home in Palestine—became a complex mission to gain great power-recognition of Jewish statehood.He exposes the exploitation of the Holocaust which has ensured both Israel's survival and the continuous rationalization of its militarist righteousness and expansionist behavior.
Second, Hart maintains an unambiguous moral criticism of political Zionism by exposing the oppressive core of the settler-colonial project that continues to take place in Palestine. Hart shows how the partition of Palestine,the seeds of which were sown into the thinking and words behind the Balfour Declaration, played into the hands of political Zionists for the last century. Perhaps Hart could more greatly emphasize the fact that international resolutions only address Israeli actions and not Israel's nature, although the two are linked. The only way of complying with all these resolutions (i.e., ending the occupation and allowing for the return of the refugees) would require the replacement of the partition logic, and the resultant Jewish state, with an egalitarian,non-sectarian polity.
Third, and crucially, as the title conveys,Hart hammers home the message that there is no connection between Jewish being and thinking on the one hand and political Zionism on the other.Additionally, he contends that political Zionism is, arguably, the worst enemy of the Jews. Hart investigates Jewish opposition to political Zionism, arguing that anti-Zionist thought does not threaten Jewish thought. He argues, if political Zionism entails the exploitation of the Holocaust and sheer tribal pride in Israel's military 'successes' it should not enjoy Jewish support. Hart accounts for how Jewish nationalism was opposed by both orthodox and modern Jews in Europe, Britain, and the United States for reasons ranging from pragmatic petitions to deep historical and philosophical convictions.
The tragedy is that through their political maneuvers and monopoly over Holocaust memory, political Zionists have managed to disempower opposition to political Zionism from within Judaism.Hart only condones Zionism that is spiritual in nature—one that espouses a focal point from which Jews around the world may adopt values and practices (Ahad Ha'am)—or simply advocates living in Palestine in full equality with indigenous Palestinians (Arendt, Magnes, Buber). Those who historically advocated for these strands of Zionism prophetically saw the kind of state Israel would become, alongside the rise of Palestinian nationalism. Volumes two and three provide detailed political commentary on how Israel's internal politics have become increasingly hawkish and suppressive of any moderate voices calling for peace and reconciliation, essentially arguing that, indeed, David has become a Goliath. Hart's masterful account points to the uncanny unity of 'no choice'—the anxious righteousness that caused this oblivious drop in compassion effectively unites the seemingly more moderate Zionists with revisionist, right-wing Zionists.
The first volume accounts for the tactics to obtain political support for a Jewish state by Russian politicians, as well as allies in complicity with the imperial sentiment which led to the gaining of the Balfour Declaration. He shows how British and Zionist leaders deceive Hashemite Hussein through insincere promises of Arab independence and managing to keep President Wilson's opposition to Zionism at bay. The declaration of a totally illegal mandate on Palestine was followed by an increased Zionist influence on the British Mandate. This followed the outbreak of the Arab Revolt and the British White Papers of the 1930s which sought to limit Jewish immigration to Palestine. Following the Holocaust, Zionism tragically achieved a prominent place in world politics and within Jewish hearts despite its incompatibility with Jewish values.
In the second volume, Hart exposes,in detail, the horrors Zionism has inflicted on the indigenous Palestinians—from their massive expulsion (carried out in order to enable the establishment of the Jewish state) to the daily horrors of military occupation suffered by Palestinians since 1967. In this volume, Hart follows the aftermath of the establishment of the Jewish state. He portrays how the Zionist project grew into a militarist state that subverts, manipulates, and marginalizes the moderate voices within it.
In the third volume, Hart continues to highlight the pathology of Israel: Its flagrant violation of UN resolutions and its near absolute control of U.S. policy by the pro-Zionist lobby in the United States, in addition to providing an overview of the Palestinian nationalist movement.The main objective of the books is to encourage and strengthen opposition to Zionism by "good Jews." For Hart, to be a good Jew means opposing political Zionism and doing away with the very ethos of the colonial and entrenched, separatist ideology of the Israeli state. He calls for seeing theHolocaust for its universal humanist message, and for overcoming the victimbased mentality of anti-Semitism that is paradoxically nourished by the very Zionism that attempted to respond to it.
One of the book's central claims is that the tragedy of political Zionism ultimately encourages anti-Semitism, and/or anti-Jewish violence (namely violent opposition to Jewish support for what is being done to Palestinians in the name of the Jews on a daily basis). Hart shows that not only is Israel not a haven for Jews, it has, in actuality, become the instigator of violence against Jews worldwide...
available directly from Clarity Press
from distributors in US/UK/World
To view other Clarity Press titles on the Middle East
from distributors in US/UK/World
To view other Clarity Press titles on the Middle East
| Other Commentary/Reviews "In this extraordinary book, Alan Hart has succeeded in elucidating for us the immediate and long term dangers involved in the unconditional Western support for Zionism and its oppressive policies against the Palestinians. The author provides us with a chilling exposure of how this embrace developed and continues to endanger the Jewish existence and fuels the anti-Semitism that refuses to disappear. Motivated by a genuine concern for peace in Israel and Palestine and beyond in the world at large, Alan Hart has written not only a strong indictment of Zionism, based on both research and personal experience, but also provided us with a charter for a better future." ILAN PAPPE Leading Israeli revisionist historican, author of The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine "I hope that all who are concerned about the troubles of the Middle East will read this book. It is immensely readable and a magnificent piece of work which reflects Alan Hart's close relationship with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. We are in terrible trouble in the Middle East. The book explains how we got here and how we could move forward. The tragedy is hurting Palestinians, Israelis and the rest of the world. All who wish to engage in finding a way forward will be helped by reading this book." CLARE SHORT, MP-UK and International Development Secretary in Tony Blair's government until her resignation over Iraq "Alan Hart's new books about Zionism and about the Israeli-Palestinian, Israeli-Arab, and now the Israeli-Muslim conflicts are, taken together, remarkably important and timely. His unique experiences and personal relationships make it possible for him to connect, and maybe even more notably to correct, the historical dots in a uniquely comprehensive way. Doing so as a seasoned journalist as well as a passionate advocate of true peace and real justice makes Hart's trilogy of books covering 1948 to the present nothing less than extraordinary. Taken together they represent a monumental accomplishment of epic proportions. If only responsible government officials around the world, especially in Washington, would read and ponder these books, take profound note of Hart's conclusions, and even at this very late date act before it is completely too late.." - Mark Bruzonsky MiddleEast.org, founder World Jewish Congress, first Washington Representative Hart's readable account of history, his obviously erudite analysis and his ability in bringing the factual conflict to life on the page ensures the reader's interest is unwavering throughout. His passion and empathy with both sides is apparent. For the Jews, the 'unspeakable fear' of another Holocaust due to Zionist manipulation and tyranny; and for the Arabs and Muslims, the anger and humiliation they are feeling every day that Palestine is being torn apart. Samira Quraishy, researcher, Islamic Human Rights Commission "Alan Hart in his chillingly revealing and very readable account of the intrigues of the Zionist political development has made a tremendously valuable contribution ." RABBI AHRON COHEN "These two volumes are a vital exposition of Zionist history and its interface with diplomacy and the Israel-Arab conflict, up until the assassination of President Kennedy. Alan Hart promises another volume, perhaps two, and one looks forward to their publication.... an essential understanding of what happened in the struggle for Israel-Palestine and of the role of Zionism in this sad story." REUEL AMDUR, The Canadian Charger, January 27, 2010 | |
| AUTHOR | |
|
|
You are listed as a subscriber to the list of Clarity Press, Inc. If this is incorrect and you wish to be removed, please click here
__._,_.___