Israelis shout, "Assad, Mubarak, Netanyahu."

[CynicalIdealist]

http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/639318/israel_erupts_in_protest,_tens_of_thousands_chant_ %22revolution%22/

Very little in this article is about Palestine, but this still appears to be good news. How much of the Israeli "left" is anti-Zionist given their roots?

[agnixie]

http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/639318/israel_erupts_in_protest,_tens_of_thousands_chant_ %22revolution%22/

Very little in this article is about Palestine, but this still appears to be good news. How much of the Israeli "left" is anti-Zionist given their roots?

There is such a thing as left wing zionist, it tends to be anti-nationalist and is linked to the kibbutz movement. There is more to zionism than what the likudnik would like to pretend there is. Einstein was a zionist, too, but was against the idea of a jewish nation-state (ditto for Chomsky, btw, for the Chomsky fans).

So yeah, if we're going to go for single-minded obsession over a word every time something good comes out of Israel, some people are going to be disappointed a lot.

Not to mention that "given their roots" is brushing the limits between anti-zionism and another anti that should be avoided. It's not because they're israeli that they're for the occupation and settlement.

[Libertador]

"I was deeply interested in... Zionist affairs and activities — or what was then called 'Zionist,' though the same ideas and concerns are now called 'anti-Zionist.' I was interested in socialist, binationalist options for Palestine, and in the kibbutzim and the whole cooperative labor system that had developed in the Jewish settlement there (the Yishuv)...The vague ideas I had at the time [1947] were to go to Palestine, perhaps to a kibbutz, to try to become involved in efforts at Arab-Jewish cooperation within a socialist framework, opposed to the deeply antidemocratic concept of a Jewish state (a position that was considered well within the mainstream of Zionism)." (Chomsky, Peck, p. 7)

Thought I'd throw in the quote on the issue of Labor Zionism.

[OhYesIdid]

Assad, Mubarak, Netanyahu, Murdoch, Berlusconni, Putin!

[pax et aequalitas]

Assad, Mubarak, Netanyahu, Murdoch, Berlusconni, Putin!

Might add Wilders as well while we're at it.

edit: I know he officially isn't leading the Netherlands yet, but in practice... pretty much.

[CynicalIdealist]

Not to mention that "given their roots" is brushing the limits between anti-zionism and another anti that should be avoided. It's not because they're israeli that they're for the occupation and settlement.

...sorry what?

Israel is basically a nation of first and second generation immigrants. The reason why I doubt that most Israelis identify with anti-Zionism is precisely for this fact. How is pointing out that fact in any way anti-Semitic? I know that there's support in the Israeli left for a Palestinian state, but what about right of return? What about ending the "Jewish" nature of the state of Israel, which entails apartheid for the Palestinians within Israel and in the occupied territories?

How does Chomsky pointing out that the Zionist ideology has seen better days prove anything about the modern Israeli left? I also happen to be half-Jewish, if it means anything to you.

Also, I find it worrisome that these protests are solely against Netanyahu. The Israeli Labor Party--a "labor Zionist" political party--has historically been just as bad as the right on the question of Palestine.