Ruminations on the Zionist Connection

Volumes have been written about Zionism, libraries and book stores are filled with an inordinate amount of material, mostly spurious and insidious scholarship, seldom critical and, for the most part, written to confuse readers as to the real nature of Zionism and by extension the Zionist state of israel. One only has to visit Strand book store in NYC which boasts of 18 miles of books to realize that at least half of those miles are books on Zionism and israel. It boggles the mind.

So do we need a Zionism 101 or Zionism for Dummies? Not really, those of us in the Palestine Solidarity Community know that Zionism, like all nationalist movements, is the most fertile field for fascism. We also know that the establishment of the Zionist state of israel took place upon the ruins of the Palestinian people. The history of the people of Palestine during the past century is one of occupation of the land of Palestine, ethnic cleansing of the indigenous population by Zionist gangs, Zionism expansionism into adjoining sovereign States in pursuit of Palestinian refugees who fled in absolute terror in 1948.

How far back into history must we keep going to start untangling the basic and relevant roots of Zionism? It is not without reason that no sooner a relevant discussion starts on internet solidarity groups and various social media groups regarding the nature of Zionism that focus and discussion, all too soon, turns to biblical mythology and incoherent arguments regarding Jews as a chosen people set apart from the rest of humankind by having a special relationship with a transcendent God who is in the real estate business. Do we really need, at this point in time, to be tied up rehashing and arguing something we know to be a lie?

There exist several reasons for ignorance about the true nature and dimensions of the Palestinian struggle. The primary reason is the relentless, expertly organized and financed World Zionist Organization’s propaganda or Hasbara campaigns spread through misinformation, deception and manipulation of the media, and unrelenting pressure and coercion of governments and their representatives.

Perhaps at this point in the struggle for the restitution of the rights of the Palestinian people, we need to be asking how we can organize ourselves to combat Hasbara campaigns that aim to silence the growing awareness that something is gravely rotten in the Zionist state of israel.  How do we expose the violence these campaigns pose to individuals in the solidarity movement, social media groups, governments and the very fabric of human society?