Time was when it was enough to resort to historical data to defend the legitimacy of Israel as a State. To defend this legitimacy today, however, historical details are no longer sufficient; it is defended through “blackmail”. In this context, the mere mention of the Israeli lobby on any platform brings on accusations of antisemitism. This is today’s reality in the West; it governs the making and formulation of the stances and policies that justify Israel’s arrogance and unchecked belligerence that defy all international conventions, and that plague our region.
In a recent interview on the British leftist show Downstream, Aaron Bastani hosted Israeli historian, political scientist and author Ilan Pappé who talked about his new book “Lobbying for Zionism on Both Sides of the Atlantic”. Mr Pappé’s book details the origins of Zionism and the struggles against it throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. At 69, Mr Pappé is Professor of History at the University of Exeter; his bibliography includes books on Israel, Palestine and the history of their crisis. His many books include “The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine and Gaza in Crisis”. Today I present excerpts from his talk with Mr Bastani.
Mr Pappé said that while researching his books he realised that “Israel is probably the only country that still advocates for its legitimacy.. Why does a State that is supposed to be a high-tech State with the strongest army in the Middle East, part of the western world, part of the OECD—this very prestigious club of very developed economies, why is it still arguing itself, not people against it but itself, arguing that people should give it legitimacy? The other side of the coin was trying to understand after 100 years why the Palestinian cause, for so many of us simple and just and understandable, is still denied by so many people, especially people with power, and especially in places where governments and administrations have for so many years been involved with the question, and yet they seem to still deny the Palestinians—even 100 years later?
Mr Pappé said that he thought that the best way to understand was to go back to the origin of Zionism, and lobbying for Zionism and not Israel, prior to the formation of the State of Israel, then slowly build up the story until today. Mr Bastani pointed to his audience that Mr Pappé is an academic on this subject and was born in Israel, he asked his host whether as an academic he has faced censure for chronicling such things as a historian. To which Mr Pappé replied: “Yes, it started probably at the beginning of this century when I began to write more critically about Zionism and Israel. First of all, I was still teaching at the beginning of the century in Haifa University and my writing led to strong pressure from the university on me to censor myself, and since I refused I eventually was expelled from the University of Haifa in 2007. and I’m also barred from entering Israeli high schools and to talk about these issues.”
“Twenty per cent of the Israelis are Palestinian citizens,” Mr Pappé explained. “They have never had a proper defence from anyone on their right of self-expression especially after the 7th of October. They really are being arrested left and right and the students suspended because of just human solidarity with the suffering of Gaza.” Mr Pappé went on to explain that freedom of expression in Israel is “very conditional”, especially if it “undermines Israel’s international standing”.
Mr Pappé said that “peace camp in Israel is not thinking in equal terms; it thinks about ideas that would allow Israel to be more indirectly involved in the life of Palestine… that would mean that you’re not occupying them directly… the best way of describing it is to talk to people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and they will tell you that life after the Oslo process in 1993 was far worse than life before, that is life after the peace agreement between Israel and the PLO became far worse for the vast majority of the Palestinians. Peace process usually should mean improvement in your life, the way you live and in every aspect of life. Life became much worse for Palestinians after the Oslo peace process, and this is a reflection of what the peace camp in Israel is.” Mr Pappé explained that labour unions and organisations were forced and coerced into supporting Israel and overlooking the expansion of its invasion of more Palestinian sectors. Meanwhile, those who dare expose these policies have been branded “antisemite”.
Mr Pappé thus gave us an understanding of the origin of the term “antisemitism”: how it was coined in Israel to silence any criticism or attack directed against that country. The term was quickly exported to the UK and US, working as a deadly weapon to terrorise any person, organisation or entity that attempts to sympathise with Palestinian rights. And then to usurp the right to freedom of expression and make it conditional on not attacking Israel. The result is what we are dealing with today: the Israeli lobby and its twin Zionist lobby in the West. By the West I mean the US and its allies in both American and European circles. Perhaps one of the most powerful weapons that this world possesses is that of financial hegemony, which it uses not only to stifle freedom of expression but also to create a narrow tunnel that controls the passage of any person seeking political representation. If this person shuts his or her mouth regarding Israel, they are allowed to pass, but if they are stubborn, they are stopped.
Watani International
27 September 2024
