Overcoming Zionism: Creating a Single Democratic State in Israel/Palestine

by Joel Kovel

A call to transform Israel into a secular democracy by a leading writer --

This book is absolutely fundamental for those who reject the unfortunate confusion between Jews, Judaism, Zionism and the State of Israel -- a confusion which is the basis for systematic manipulation by the imperialist power system. It convincingly argues in favour of a single secular state for Israelis and Palestinians as the only democratic solution for the region. Zionism creates a terrible contradiction that eats away at the soul and conscience of the Jewish people. The problem is that you can't have a democratic state for just one people while excluding the others. It is just a logical impossibility. The notion of democracy derives from universal ideals based on universal human rights; it cannot exist where there is a systematic inequality, and all the more so when these others are those who have been dispossessed by Zionism.

Genres: Nonfiction, Middle East, Politics

320 pages, Paperback

First published February 15, 2007

About the author

Joel Kovel is Distinguished Professor of Social Studies at Bard College. He has written ten books, including the first edition of The Enemy of Nature which appeared in 2002, and Overcoming Zionism (2007). He has edited the journal of radical ecology, Capitalism Nature Socialism, since 2003 and has been active in Green politics, running for the US Senate in 1998, and seeking the party's presidential nomination in 2000.

Reviews

[Brian Napoletano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kovel, who was formerly a psychiatrist and is now a professor of sociology, brings unique insight into the Zionist psyche and its role in contemporary Israel. According to Kovel, Zionism is a reactionary ideology that rejects universalism and attempts to legitimate Israel's exceptionalism by invoking primitive tribalism. Kovel demonstrates how the Zionist movement has exploited the horrors of the Shoah (Holocaust) to serve its own ends and how its adherents have identified themselves with the Nazi aggression that so many suffered by brutalizing the indigenous peoples who stand in the way of the Zionist vision of an ethnically pure "Jewish state." The consciences of many Jewish citizens of Israel and around the world have been seared by the violence and inhumanity employed in pursuit of the Zionist vision, argues Kovel, which has created in some a hypersensitivity to criticism that he calls a "bad conscience." The way that the sacred traditions have been blasphemed to serve the "Jewish State" has compounded this condition. The state of Israel, in relentless pursuit of the Zionist vision, has become a de facto apartheid state, similar in many (but not all) ways to South Africa before the rise of the African National Congress. Kovel includes accounts of instances where Zionist racism has extended beyond the indigenous Arabs, and has targeted other Jews in the European Ashkenazi Jews' treatment of Sephardi Jews from Africa and the Middle East. Kovel predicts that Zionism, as long as it dominates the actions of Israeli rulers, will continue to feed the cycle of violence and hatred, ultimately to the detriment of Israel and its countless victims. He suggests that the best way to prevent the further escalation of violence is for the international community and Israeli people to recognize the primitive tribalism and racial hatred inherent in Zionism and counter its propaganda with a universal ideology that recognizes the humanity of people from every race, religion, and tribe. For this to happen, Zionism's pervasive influence in both the US and Israeli governments must be recognized, as well as the ways in which its ideology has been prostituted to modern capitalism. The implementation of a humane ideology would extend beyond an end to the occupation and an agreement on a two-state settlement, and would require a restructuring of the Israeli state as a safe and truly democratic homeland for Jews, Muslims, Christians, and all other peoples. Kovel names this new theoretical state "Palesreal" for now, but suggests that a more appropriate name may arise in the transition. Unequivocally, Kovel contends that Israel does not have any "right to exist" in its present form, but that it should be reconstituted as an egalitarian state that recognizes the common humanity of all its citizens.

[Anoush Dehkordi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kovel's book is the best survey of Zionism, its roots, its outcomes and why it is one of the most destructive ideologies today for Jews, Palestinians and the rest of the world. The primary conclusion that he draws is that the primary road to peace is the dismantling of Zionist ideology as a whole and putting in its place a construct based on Universal human rights and respect for the human dignity of all individuals.

What is unique about his analysis is that he looks at Zionism from all angles - including its psychological, sociological, religious, economic and geopolitical aspects. He then looks at the state of Israel and how the marriage of Zionism with all instutions of the state and society has created a haven for Jewish religious fanaticism, militancy, violence and racism. These aspects of the state and society are, because of the nature of Zionism, ever-increasing and becoming more and more dangerous, with no mechasims for self-correction.

For Zionists, hardcore believers or passive acceptors, reading this book will present them with a perspective that they have not likely heard before and a very important reality adjustment for their world view. For non-Zionists it will enable them to understand what exactly is so problematic with this Zionist ideology which has resulted in such strife for almost a century. Finally it presents a prescription for action to overcome Zionism both in Israel, the US and everywhere else.

I cannot recommend this book enough.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting point of view, but polemical in tone and once the point's been made, there's no need to go on for 200 pages.