A.B. Yehoshua: Is Zionism an ideology?

The Angry Arab

"According to this quite clear definition, Zionism cannot and should not be considered an ideology. As Zionism is a common platform for various and even contradictory social and political ideologies, it therefore cannot in itself be considered an independent ideology."  

I will not quibble with Yehoshua on this: Zionism may indeed not be an ideology per se: but it is for sure an ideology of hostility against Arabs.  In that regard, people of different ideological backgrounds may all adhere to the Zionist national thought.  So yes, there are leftists and rightists within the Zionist racist movement, but they all share those ideas:

1) that Jews are superior to all else in the holy land:

2) that the Jewish claims over the land supersedes the claims of all others--be they Muslim or Christian;

3) that all means should be used to impose by force the Zionist rule in the Holy Land and that Arab lives should be treated as cheaper than Jewish lives--always:

4) the use of force against Arabs is preferable to any kind of method;

5) that the Jewish national movement represents a higher end of civilizational development than the Arab national movement;

6) that Arabs are inferior human beings and that they should be treated accordingly:

7) that the hollow democratic claims of Israel should only apply to Jews.  

So A B Yehoshua, Zionism may not be an ideology, but the ideology of hate that all Zionists share is...an ideology of hate.  End of story.  (thanks "Ibn Rushd")

Posted by As'ad at 8:01 AM

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