A Review of Alan Hart's Zionism: The Dead End of the Oppressor
Kim Petersen
Zionism is the ideology that dispossessed the Palestinians of their
traditional territory. It is the ideology that nuclearized the Middle East. It
is the ideology whose lobby gained inordinate sway over the world superpower
through manipulating the US electoral process (former BBC and ITN correspondent
Alan Hart says Jewish Americans account for three percent or less of the US
population but nearly 50 percent of campaign funds; result: Americans have a
choice between two pro-Zionist parties). It is the ideology that foments
instability and wars in the Middle East. Perhaps, most importantly, Zionism is
an ideology that attacks the heart and soul of justice and humanity. It is an
attack that, on some level, affects all people. That is why Zionism must be met
head on: to institute genuine justice and restore the humanity of all
peoples.
Hart has the credentials to tackle the subject of Zionism (specifically,
political Zionism: that a certain collection of non-native people has a,
purportedly, God-given right to a particular piece of real estate that overrides
the rights of Indigenous Palestinians) having worked for over three decades
covering history unfolding in the Middle East. Much of his experience is first
hand. The False Messiah is volume one of, what is planned to be, a three or four
volume series Zionism: The Real Enemy of the Jews.
Zionism: The Real Enemy of the Jews
Volume One: The False Messiah
By
Alan Hart
Paperback: 645 pages
Publisher: Clarity Press (2009)
ISBN-10:
0932863647
ISBN-13: 9780932863645
Disseminating information that challenges the immensely influential Zionist
bloc is difficult. Hart wrote, “… all in the UK were too frightened to publish
this book out of fear of offending Zionism too much and being falsely accused of
promoting anti-Semitism.” Here Hart exposes the absurd inversion of morality:
Zionists accuse defenders of Palestinian human rights as being racist against
the abuser of Palestinian human rights!
Hart identifies it as a smear tactic and a phony one since Arabs are
Semites.
That the morality of Zionism is challengeable was keenly illustrated by an
exchange between Hart and erstwhile Israeli prime minister Golda Meir. Hart
queried Meir on-air: “You are saying that if ever Israel was in danger of being
defeated on the battlefield, it would be prepared to take the region and even
the whole world down with it?”
Meir’s prompt response: “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying.”
How do Zionists get away with crimes against humanity? Hart points to the
suffering Zionists experienced in the WWII Holocaust. To this an obvious
question arises: does victimization give the victims the right to victimize
another people?
Paulo Freire in his opus Pedagogy of the Oppressed warned that oppression
creates a recycling dynamic that dehumanizes not only the oppressed people but
also the oppressor. Hart touches on this dynamic.
Zionism and Judaism
Hart has to cover a lot of ground.
He points out that Zionism is not Judaism. Hart describes Zionism as
“brutal and cruel [behaviors], driven by self-righteousness of an extraordinary
kind, without regard for international law and human rights conventions” which
“makes a mockery of the moral values and ethical values of Judaism.”
Hart does not delve deeply into these moral and ethical values of Judaism,
but he leaves this reader with the impression that Judaism is an principled
faith. However, the laws and morality underlying many religions are often
interpreted variously. The late Israel Shahak, a chemistry professor and social
justice activist, in his book Jewish History, Jewish Religion: The Weight of
Three Thousand Years rued that classical Judaism had been subverted toward
profit and Jewish supremacism. I submit that much as no people should be seen as
a monolith neither should a religion be regarded as a monolith.
The Legitimacy of a Jewish Claim to the Holy Land
Hart reasons that there is no legitimacy to Israel’s claim to a “right to
exist.” Moreover, the Jewish claim to the Holy Land does not hold up under
scrutiny.
The bloodlines of the majority of Israeli Jews do not tie them with the
Holy Land. Ashkenazim stem from eastern and central Europe and are converts to
Judaism. Hart cites the work of Joseph Reinach, Alfred Lilienthal, Arthur
Koestler, and Shlomo Sand in outlining this case. The refutation of Jewishness
as an ethnicity is important because, quoting Sand, “…it encourages a
segregation that separates Jews from non-Jews” that allows Zionists to claim
Israel as a Jewish state.
Furthermore, writes Hart, the Mizrahim (Semitic Jews indigenous to the
Middle East) were strongly opposed to Zionism.
Hart focuses on two different sets of Jews: Haskala Jews who sought to make
the place they lived their home and Zionist Jews who strive to separate Jews and
Gentiles. Haskala Jews see themselves threatened by a backlash to crimes
committed by Zionist Jews.
Early Zionism
Hart paints a picture of early Zionist history and the roles of early
Zionist figures such as Zionism’s “founding father,” Theodr Herzl, key lobbyist,
Chaim Weizmann, and the financier of Zionism, Lionel de Rothschild.
Hart details the collaboration of Britain with the Zionists from Arthur
Balfour whose letter provided a pretext to dispossess Arabs. The chicanery was
such that Britain reneged on its promise to recognize the sovereignty of its WWI
Arab allies. Britain, writes Hart, laid the foundations for a Zionist takeover:
“Without the British presence Zionism could not have entrenched itself in
Palestine. On their own the Palestinians could have pushed the Zionists
out.”
Britain went so far as to declare war on the Palestinians and assassinate
Palestinian leaders.
All along the way, Zionist Jews were opposed by Haskala Jews who, as
history shows, always lost out. After WWII, the Holocaust card was effective at
backing down Haskala Jews.
Yet, Zionism has also flourished among Jews living abroad. Citing humanist
Lilienthal: the migrating Jews carried a “nation complex” within them. According
to Hart, this “made many of them susceptible to Zionism’s nationalist
propaganda.”
Later, Zionists such as Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Shamir, and Vladimir
Jabotinsky would terrorize the British out of Mandate Palestine. Hart sources
Ralph Schoenman on the Koening Memorandum that made transparent the Zionists’s
plans for terrorism against Palestinians: “We must use terror, assassination,
intimidation, land confiscation and the cutting of all social services to rid
the Galilee of its Arab population.”
Israel today, Hart notes, defines legitimate Palestinian resistance as
terrorism. The author holds, “… all peoples have the right to use all means
including violence to resist occupation.”
The US and Zionism
As Imperial Britain headed into decline, Imperial USA was ascending. The US
would have a greater role in the Middle East.
Hart lauds US president Woodrow Wilson, “a real, towering statesman, a true
giant among men.” Woodrow was apparently hamstrung on Palestine by his lobbying
for the League of Nations. Hart blames “Imperial Britain-and- Zionism and their
allies in [the US] Congress and the media; with … France” for screwing Wilson on
Palestine.
Hart presents many “what if” scenarios. For example, he quotes British
official John Hope Simpson: “Had the Jewish authorities been content with the
original object of settlement in Palestine – a Jewish life without oppression
and persecution in accordance with Jewish customs – the national home would have
presented no difficulty.”
Or what if president Franklin Roosevelt had not died when he did? Hart
speculates that Roosevelt would have rejected a Jewish state in Palestine.
Hart identifies influential Zionist agents in the White House, among
others, David K. Niles. Although Truman is depicted as a president who grappled
with the Zionist lobby, he had a vulnerability exploitable by Zionists.
Biting the Hand that Feeds
Ends would justify the means for Zionists. Even though Britain had set the
stage for Jewish immigration to Palestine, even though Britain was at war with
Nazi Germany — Zionists sought out a possible collaboration with Britain’s
wartime enemy and an enemy to Jews. Hart sources Marxist writer Lenni Brenner
who disclosed the Zionist negotiations with Nazi Germany. Zionists were
dedicated to thwarting Jewish immigration to elsewhere than Palestine and were
even willing to sacrifice Jewish lives to realize the goal of a Jewish state in
Palestine.
And it was Jewish terrorism that forced Britain out of Palestine.
Zionism and Terrorism
The Zionist plan was to drive the British out, then drive the Palestinians
out. Hart relates the strategy of the man who would become Israel’s first prime
minister, David Ben-Gurion, for keeping all the land: creating
facts-on-the- ground. The problem with this strategy is that if old
facts-on-the- ground can be erased to establish new ones, what is to stop new
facts-on-the- ground from being created again?
The methods for creating these facts-on-the- ground were incredibly
gruesome. The massacre at Deir Yassin is a historical testament to Zionist war
crimes – “in its own tiny way it was another holocaust.” The village was a “soft
and easy target”; “the butchers of Deir Yassin” killed 254 victims, mainly the
elderly, women, and children. One-hundred- and-forty- five women were killed, 35
of them pregnant. Many were raped before being killed.
Hart quotes Mordechai Nisan of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem: “Without
terror it is unlikely that Jewish independence would have been achieved when it
was.” [emphasis added by Hart]
Abdul Khader, portrayed as a respected Palestinian resistance leader, died
the day after the Deir Yassin Massacre. Gloom set in on the Palestinian side.
Deir Yassin had its intended effect, sowing fear in the hearts of Palestinians,
and the expulsion was underway.
Arab and International Complicity with Zionism
The Palestinians did not just have to deal with British treachery, they
“were at the mercy of the Arab League” who at British insistence kept the
Palestinians unarmed, much as the illegal sealing of Gaza’s borders today and
control of the West Bank borders keeps Palestinians unarmed under brutal
occupation and creeping dispossession.
Hart wonders: what if the Arab regimes of the time had sought an alliance
with Stalin to defeat Zionism? He speculates that Truman might have had to stand
up to Zionism.
Hart points out that the United Nations General Assembly, in defiance of
its own charter which calls for respect for the principle of self-determination,
would, aided by Zionist manipulation (disinformation, bribery, threats), decree
an illegal partition of Mandate Palestine. Not only was the partition illegal,
he argues, it was also unfair. Jews would receive 56.4 percent of the land while
being 33 percent of the population and owning only 5.67 percent of the land. The
valuable coastal and fertile areas were in Jewish hands while mountainous,
infertile areas were left to the Palestinians. Hart calls it “a proposal for
injustice on a massive scale.”
In the end, Truman capitulated to Zionism and recognized the partition.
Truman had been subjected to “a political hit-squad of 26 pro-Zionist U.S.
Senators” beholden to Jewish votes and money.
Truman’s secretary of state George Marshall resisted Zionism, putting
“America’s national interests first and, to the limit of the possible within
that context, doing what was legally and morally right.” Joining Marshall in
opposition was US secretary of defense James Vincent Forrestal who might have
been the most steadfast opponent of the corrupting influence of Jewish money on
the Democratic Party had he not, according to Hart, died under suspicious
circumstances. Nonetheless, the Zionists had access to a more influential actor
on Truman.
Hart takes a sympathetic slant toward Truman, noting he had kept the
Zionist lobby at bay until it discovered his Achilles heel: his good friend
Eddie Jacobson, a non-Zionist Jew. Through Jacobson, Zionists could reach
Truman.
It appears that Truman, although much irked by the selfishness of the
Zionist lobby, bore much of the responsibility for opening the door to the
influence of money from lobbyists. Grant F. Smith in his book America’s Defense
Line supports this view: “The historical record reveals how Truman’s policy on
the Palestine question became heavily influenced by his need for campaign
contributions…” Smith credits Truman with starting a “competition to see who was
more ‘pro-Israel’” among US presidential candidates. Smith presents evidence
that Truman was swayed by “massive funds” for his 1948 presidential campaign
raised with the help of arch-Zionist Abraham J. Feinberg.
The Brazilian pedagogue Freire theoretically described — without referring
to it –what underlies the Zionist-Palestinian dynamic: that of the oppressor and
the oppressed. Freire argued that oppression and the struggle of liberation from
oppression are both oppressing. Oppression, he contends, is necrophilic.
“Indeed, the interests of the oppressors lie in ‘changing the consciousness of
the oppressed, not the situation that oppresses them.’”
To overcome the oppressor-oppressed dynamic, the oppressed must see
themselves as agents of change. Revolution requires solidarity, and this, said
Freire, is achieved through love — affirmation of one’s humanity. The act of
rebellion by the oppressed is a gesture of love. The desire to be human saves
oppressors from their own dehumanization caused by oppressing other humans.
“It is only the oppressed who, by freeing themselves, can free their
oppressors,” wrote Freire.
Many Haskala Jews believe that liberation for all Jews will come from
Palestinians achieving their liberation.
This looks like the direction Hart is heading with his Zionism: The Real
Enemy of the Jews series. Volume One: The False Messiah is an important
reference on what has transpired in the lead up to and formation of the Jewish
State by Zionists. He brings valuable first-hand perspective, such as what lay
behind Meir’s statement that there were no Palestinian people.
Hart gives a human face to some of the historical protagonists, portraying
them not merely as actors but delving into the character of the persons. It is
as if Hart seeks to humanize some of the persons who capitulated to Zionism.
However, there is no reason that evil should always appear in the guise of
a demon. Humans come in all shades. Evil acts are evil despite the appearance of
the evil-doer. Yes, it is probably much easier to perpetrate evil acts in
cherubic rather that demonic guise, but why play to such stereotypes?
Hart’s book is a good act, a brave act for someone from British state
media. He says he has to live with himself, and it is obvious this book comes
from a place of integrity. Volume One: The False Messiah augurs well for the
rest of the series.
Kim Petersen is co-editor of Dissident Voice. He can be reached at: kim@dissidentvoice. org. Read other
articles by Kim, or visit Kim's website.
