The Deir Yassin Remembered Blog

Treat the Illness, Not the Symptoms

Posted on January 1st, 2010 at 5:20 pm by

This view comes from Deir Yassin Remembered Advisory Board member Henry Herskovitz and the December 19, 2009, edition of his weekly Beth Israel vigil report.

Code Pink, Jewish Voice for Peace and other groups protective of “Jewish sensibilities” are promoting a march on Gaza, planned for later this month. Notwithstanding that the real fight is here (and in other Zionist-controlled countries that support Apartheid Israel), these groups happily traipse off to make a big show of flailing at the symptoms of Jewish supremacism in Palestine rather than focus their attentions on the underlying cancer (Zionism, if you prefer).

Think about it. Israel creates checkpoints to protect Jewish thieves in the Occupied West Bank, and peace groups say, “Stop the checkpoints.” Israel builds an illegal wall to protect and expand the land-base of Jewish ethnocentrism on stolen property, and peace groups say, “Stop the Wall.” Israel blockades and bombs Gaza to silence and punishes Palestinians because too many of them chose to support HAMAS, a party that resists, rather than collaborates with, the Jewish supremacist state, and Medea Benjamin (one of 33 Jews who will not hold her own community accountable for their support of Apartheid) and Code Pink cry, “Free Gaza.” It is as if we are to believe that all these Jewish-instigated war crimes and crimes against humanity just happened out of the blue, unrelated to each other and the overarching ideology of Jewish supremacism.

Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends have been shining the spotlight of truth on Jewish supremacism here in Ann Arbor for over six years. And almost every time we ask Jewish leaders in the peace movement to help us in our task we are abandoned or criticized. It’s time that the real peace community start asking tough questions of Jewish leaders in the peace movement. WHY are you focusing only on symptoms of the underlying disease? WHY aren’t you examining and eradicating the cancer of Zionism? WHY won’t you take your own community to task? And WHY do you marginalize or attack those who have the courage and integrity to expose and confront Jewish supremacism?

2 Responses to “Treat the Illness, Not the Symptoms”

  1. Argaman

    And why, Henry, have you, a Jew, come to resort to the vilest of anti-semitic language – “Jewish supremacism”? Is David Duke, KKK leader and author of a book on “Jewish Supremacism,” now your moral guide? Isn’t it possible to be an advocate for the Palestinian cause without turning into a Jew-hater?

  2. Henry Herskovitz

    Dear Argaman,

    When we think of “White Supremacist South Africa”, we get clarity on the phrase “Jewish Supremacist Israel”. Same thing, different wording. Israel defines itself as a Jewish state, not only in Herzl’s Der Judenstaat, but also in numerous documents including Israel’s own Declaration of Statehood. Jews enjoy privileges based on their ethnic heritage, and non-Jews are treated as second class citizens: clearly an Apartheid structure.

    No, David Duke is not my moral guide, and darn him, he didn’t clear it with me before he titled his book. But if he claimed the sky is blue, that certainly doesn’t obligate me to find another term to describe a nice day; likewise he doesn’t own “Jewish supremacism” and neither do I.

    And yes, it’s possible to be an advocate for Palestinian self determination without becoming a Jew-hater. No one, yourself included, has shown I hate Jews in the slightest, but I do recognize the Zero Sum game that’s being played here. Jews invaded and stole Palestinian land via violent methods such as the Deir Yassin Massacre, and it’s our job as peace activists to secure Palestine back. Personally, I am committed to non-violent means to achieve that end.

    Thanks for asking.

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