I reviewed an important book by the Israeli historian Ilan Pappé, in which he refutes the myths that Israel has armed itself to justify its occupation of Palestine, deceive international public opinion, and rally Jews around the Zionist movement. The title of the book: “Ten Myths About Israel.” “,
These myths are: Was Palestine an empty land? Were the Jews a people without a land? Is Zionism Judaism? What is the connection between Zionism and colonialism? Did the Palestinians leave their land voluntarily in 1948? Why did Israel launch the war in 1967? Is Israel the only democratic country in the region? The writer also refutes the myths created by Israel about Oslo and Gaza.
Today, in my article, I will present one myth mentioned by the author, but he did not give it enough study and analysis, which is Israel’s claim that Zionism and Judaism are two sides of the same coin, and that any Jew must necessarily be a Zionist.
In fact, Judaism is a divine religion – like other religions – whose supporters have spread throughout the region and among the peoples of the world. Therefore, we can find among the Jews those with white, blonde, brown and even black skin, such as the Falash Jews. Then there are Jewish movements opposed to Zionism. And Israel, such as the Haredi movement, the Agudath Israel Party, the Neturei Karta group, the “Satamer” movement, and other Jewish movements, some of which even oppose the existence of Israel! Therefore, the Zionists’ claim that every Jew is a Zionist is devoid of reality and truth. The book of the Israeli historian Ilan Pappe, which we referred to, is clear proof of this.
As for Zionism, it is a political movement that arose under the shadow and support of European colonialism in its ancient and modern forms, and the same colonial methods, including occupation, killing, and plundering of wealth, were adopted as its official approach. But Zionism added its own touches to traditional colonial methods. This was evident in the merging of false historical facts with fabricated religious myths, with a focus on the practice of violence, settlement, and the displacement of the local population. This merging has produced a dangerous ideological mixture based on the concept of God’s chosen people, “struggling” to restore their historical and religious rights and spread Western civilization in a backward and barbaric region.
This deception has befallen a large number of non-Jewish groups in Western society, who have now blindly supported Zionism and Israel. The best evidence of this is the Christian Zionist movement in America, which includes within its ranks tens of millions of followers of fundamentalist Protestant churches. The followers of this movement believe that the establishment of Israel was an inevitable necessity and an embodiment of the prophecies of the Bible in its Old and New Testaments regarding the coming of the second Messiah, the Savior, who will spread light in the world. Therefore, this movement sympathizes with Zionism, absolutely supports Israel, and condemns all criticism or opposition to its policies. By the way, this movement has supported Trump’s policy of favoring Israel. It has announced its support for the urgent military and financial aid provided by Biden for the Israeli aggression on Gaza.
Thus, Zionism is no longer just an extension of colonialism, but has become the highest stage of imperialism embodied today by the United States and some other Western countries. This explains the mobilization of these countries to provide aid to Israel, and their lies about the aggression against Gaza and the Palestinian people.
The reasons for this Western “terror” towards Israel do not lie only in the colonial ideological identification between the West and Israel, and in the Western Crusader hatred against Arabs and Muslims, but also came as a result of the intense deception and forgery operations that the Zionists practiced extensively over many decades. Let us admit that this Zionist political and media effort has been able to deceive many influential groups in Western society and drag them into adopting the Israeli religious and political narrative and myths about what is happening in the region.
Then, the attempts to make peace with the Israeli enemy – to normalize relations with it and accept its myths – have added credibility to some of those Zionist myths, and have encouraged the West to continue its approach of being loyal to Israel and Zionism, and to support the aggression against the Palestinian people.
Netanyahu has admitted that the battle with Gaza is a matter of life or death for Israel, and he is honest about that. Israel’s loss in this battle will completely undermine all the myths of deception and deception that Israel has woven over the past seven decades, and will put to the test the entire aggressive Zionist settlement project.
Author: Mr. Muhammad Khair Al-Wadi , Ex-Ambassador of Syria to China, a politicians, Scholar, and Expert of International Relations.