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Zionism: False Messiah
English, French (translation)
330 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 3, 2008
If you're uncertain about Israel's right to exist, this is a pretty damn important book. Very nuanced. Presents various layers and stages of Zionism.
It is a full frontal assault on Zionism and its myths:
Zionism as a competitor and adversary of socialism and revolution. (one example I find interesting. The Balfour declaration was signed within two weeks of the Russian revolution. The British were terrified that the Bolsheviks would withdraw Russia from WWI as promised. Part of the purpose of the Balfour declaration was to try to win support for the war among Jews who were thought to control key grain supplies)
Zionism as conciliator with anti-Semitism
Zionism as agent of European imperialism: Before the founding of the Jewish state, Zionists became colonial police for the British. In 1936 there was a great Arab uprising that involved a six month general strike (six month!) in Palestine. The only country where Jews were targeted was Palestine, and the targets were specifically Zionist. Native Jews were not targeted. Of course. In other countries, Jews were just part of the population, in Palestine they were settler-police. The British liked them quite a lot because they took heat off of the British empire.
Zionism as a way for Jews to exploit Jews.
Leaders of Zionism were tired of Christian capitalists horning in on their market or driving them out of the competition altogether. A Jewish state would allow them an exclusively Jewish market with a Jewish labor force that they could exploit exclusively.
And of course, by subjugating Arab workers, Jewish capitalists could exploit Arab and Jewish labor all the more effectively.
Yeah, that's right. I said it. Israel does NOT have a right to exist. Especially not as a Jewish state.
It is a full frontal assault on Zionism and its myths:
Zionism as a competitor and adversary of socialism and revolution. (one example I find interesting. The Balfour declaration was signed within two weeks of the Russian revolution. The British were terrified that the Bolsheviks would withdraw Russia from WWI as promised. Part of the purpose of the Balfour declaration was to try to win support for the war among Jews who were thought to control key grain supplies)
Zionism as conciliator with anti-Semitism
Zionism as agent of European imperialism: Before the founding of the Jewish state, Zionists became colonial police for the British. In 1936 there was a great Arab uprising that involved a six month general strike (six month!) in Palestine. The only country where Jews were targeted was Palestine, and the targets were specifically Zionist. Native Jews were not targeted. Of course. In other countries, Jews were just part of the population, in Palestine they were settler-police. The British liked them quite a lot because they took heat off of the British empire.
Zionism as a way for Jews to exploit Jews.
Leaders of Zionism were tired of Christian capitalists horning in on their market or driving them out of the competition altogether. A Jewish state would allow them an exclusively Jewish market with a Jewish labor force that they could exploit exclusively.
And of course, by subjugating Arab workers, Jewish capitalists could exploit Arab and Jewish labor all the more effectively.
Yeah, that's right. I said it. Israel does NOT have a right to exist. Especially not as a Jewish state.
June 23, 2025
So glad I read this. Just finished it.
A excellent overview of Palestine from 1888 to 1948.
At every turn during that period, for a variety of objective and subjective reasons, there as no revolutionary worker-peasant leadership developing broadly to meet the three forces imposing their capitalist solutions on the region: Arab feudalism; British imperialism; and Zionism.
Each of these forces interacted with the others to intensify capitalist development, wage labor, national and communalist chauvinism, and attacks on any motion toward unity of action between Jewish and Arab workers.
Of its time, and since rejected by Weinstock himself.
A superior historical study: The Jewish Question by Abram Leon.
Available here: https://www.pathfinderpress.com/produ...
A excellent overview of Palestine from 1888 to 1948.
At every turn during that period, for a variety of objective and subjective reasons, there as no revolutionary worker-peasant leadership developing broadly to meet the three forces imposing their capitalist solutions on the region: Arab feudalism; British imperialism; and Zionism.
Each of these forces interacted with the others to intensify capitalist development, wage labor, national and communalist chauvinism, and attacks on any motion toward unity of action between Jewish and Arab workers.
Of its time, and since rejected by Weinstock himself.
A superior historical study: The Jewish Question by Abram Leon.
Available here: https://www.pathfinderpress.com/produ...
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews