A boycott is not anti-Semitic di Zeev Sternhell
Europe has been experiencing increasing anti-Semitic
incidents because anti-Semitism has never disappeared, just as other
examples of radical nationalism, racism and xenophobia were not buried
in 1945. These phenomena were silenced only by the memory of the war and
the economic prosperity of the 30 years that followed it. Although
there is in fact is a reciprocal relationship between anti-Semitism and
anti-Israeli behavior, and Jews in Europe have long since been aware of
this: It is becoming increasingly difficult to separate rejection of the
occupation from anti-Israeli or anti-Jewish feelings. Those who reject
the occupation find it hard to embrace the occupier.
At
the same time, a clear-eyed look at the situation indicates that it is
not anti-Semitism that lies at the basis of the boycott of settlements
that is developing in Europe. The boycott is first of all a kind of
uprising against the colonialism and apartheid that dominate the
territories. The Europeans are more familiar with the situation than are
the Americans, because they really want to learn about, and are trying
to understand, the extreme right-wing ultranationalist viewpoint that
shapes Israeli politics. The Europeans have also learned lessons from
their colonialist past and the left is ashamed of it, just as it is
ashamed of anti-Semitism.
Today
it is the left in France that is fighting anti-Semitism and racism to
the point of seriously undermining freedom of speech, in order to
silence the anti-Semitic entertainer Dieudonne. But that very same left
is also unwilling to accept holding an entire nation under conditions of
occupation. That is why support for Palestinian independence is
growing, because silence on the subject is interpreted as consenting to
the occupation and ignoring human rights.
But
that opinion is not limited to the European left: Neo-liberal German
Chancellor Angela Merkel also believes that all human beings have a
right to freedom. U.S. President Barack Obama also seems to be of that
opinion, but here in Israel the former social activist is perceived as a
political utopian, far inferior to his predecessor, the great conqueror
of Iraq and Afghanistan.
To
judge by the outburst of Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, U.S. Secretary
of State John Kerry shares a similar view, otherwise he would not have
been accused of messianism. On the other hand, we consider the Canadian
prime minister, an evangelical Christian who believes in the
resurrection of the dead, a rational and practical person.
Refusal
to cooperate with the occupation is reflected in the economic and
cultural boycott against the Israeli settlers’ colony. Among the vast
majority of European public opinion the boycott is seen as a justified
instrument of pressure to liberate the Palestinians. This opinion is
shared by people from the entire political spectrum, including those who
despise anti-Semitism and support Israeli wholeheartedly.
Among
the educated public in Europe, Israeli culture and science enjoy a
unique status that is not shared by any other small or medium-sized
country. Israeli scientists, writers and artists have thus far been able
to counterbalance the religious-nationalist fanaticism that is
spreading here, and they are the ones who are preventing the attempts at
an overall boycott. But for the most part they despise Israeli
colonialism, which is symbolized today more than anything else by Ariel
“University.”
Israeli
intellectuals are Zionism’s best ambassadors, but they represent
Israeli society, not the colonialist reality. They believe that
trampling the rights of the Palestinians in the name of our exclusive
right to the country and by dint of a divine decree is an ineradicable
stain on Jewish history. Anyone who becomes entrenched in these views
will end up bringing about the international ostracism of all of Israel,
and if that happens, it won’t be anti-Semitism.
sintesi in italiano
sintesi in italiano
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