FRANCE’S President Macron says anti-Zionism is a form of anti-Semitism and both are now legally defined as “hate crimes”. Will this be a global precursor? Will the world uphold such a sweeping, broad legal definition that has the potential to embrace the inhumanity and egregious acts of such nations as Israel?
And, why is it the Jewish state of Israel, discriminatory towards the Palestinians in its very essence, cannot be criticised for its inhumanity against a brethren race?
Yes, the inhumane treatment of the Palestinians is anti-Semitism. Why is it that only the rhetorical and physical manifestations of irrational hatred towards the Jewish community, institutions and religious facilities – as defined by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) and used officially – is singled out? Palestinians are Semites, too. The British gave away their land to people from Europe, not Semitic, enabling the expulsion of the Palestinians from their homeland. There was genocide and ethnic cleansing, which is ongoing. Are not these crimes against a Semitic people anti-Semitism?
The West goes out of its way to define any and all criticism of Israel – and in France also of Zionism – as anti-Semitism and has been conveniently criminalised. Why? In whose interest is it to prevent the exorcism of evil from Israeli policies?
Zionism claims legitimacy as “a national liberation movement of the Jews, by the Jews, and for the Jews”, which, in short, is Jewish nationalism. Israel then would be the basis for Jewish nationalism and ipso facto containing Zionism to within the Israeli borders. Not so! As Laurent Guyenot argues, Zionism is nationalism, which transcends itself, a feat achievable only within a religious context.
Jewish nationalism is sourced from the Bible, which refers to Jews as the people of Israel, hence Israelites.
A complicated history of commercial and financial success enriching the minority Jews at the expense of the natives ultimately saw violence perpetrated against them. Of course, there was the Holocaust. The search for a safe haven became the imperative and the struggle took the form of Zionism.
Jewish nationalism, aka Zionism, drove not just modern-day Israelis with such birthright notions of the promised land and the chosen people. It is, too, the ideology of the diaspora, a convenience hijacked by the neoconservatives – not all Jews – for their New World Order. Israel under this ideology then becomes more a project to drive a larger world-view.
Only under this circumstance can anyone hope to understand why against the emerging populism in the West the sanctity of freedom of speech is being openly sacrificed. Being pro-Palestine is not being anti-Semitic.
This explains why the French philosopher Roger Garaudy was imprisoned on charges of Holocaust denial. Why Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has been attacked for questioning the dual loyalty of many in Congress to the extent where laws are passed that do not serve American interest but to protect Israel. Why many US legislators have lost their positions for questioning Israeli improprieties. Why anti-Boycott Divest and Sanction legislation has been adopted in almost half the states of the US and parts of Europe.
But Macron’s criminalising of anti-Zionism is probably a first. Why make public the connection between Zionism and anti-Semitism? Zionism, after all, is perceived as ideology. Criminalising anti-Zionism is not unlike attempts at criminalising Marxist theory by banning Marx’s writings.
It is my guess that the French move to criminalise these particular “hate crimes” now could be a desperate attempt at oppression; to quell the popular discontent as epitomised by the Gilet Jaunes street protests, now in its 15th consecutive Saturday. Accuse the peaceful protesters of “hate crimes” and then ban what has been proven to be peaceful protests made violent by state aggression.
Askiah Adam is executive director of the International Movement for a Just World.
