meemsaf

One original premise of Zionism, which it unfortunately shared with many antisemites, is that the the effective cause of antisemitism is the mere presence of Jewish people as a minority among non-Jewish majorities. Consider the implications for contemporary support for Zionism. Consider what is involved in Western governments professing their commitment to combatting antisemitism BY supporting the State of Israel: For one, they distance themselves from the problem by posing as part of the solution. But as for instance Sai Englert has argued, the state plays a significant role in the (re)production of antisemitism. By presenting Israel as a response to Western antisemitism, Western governments also implicitly support that Zionist/antisemitic idea that the cause of antisemitism is the presence of Jewish people as a minority within a non-Jewish society. The solution: their removal! Of course, actively supporting the removal, relocation, or assisted emigration of Jews is – gladly! – entirely beyond the pale in the post-1945 world. Scarcely a respectable Western dare think it. But the 19th-century Zionist/antisemitic idea of why antisemitism happens persists. In this light, the Western dread at the possibility of losing the Israeli “solution” – that is, not having a place for all the Jews to go away to, even having some of them return – is actually an expression of antisemitism. Jewish support for it is internalized antisemitism. And there's a reason this is a primarily Western phenomenon: Any serious engagement with the place of Jewish minorities in non-Christian societies before the 1930s would put paid to the idea that the presence of a Jewish minority naturally generates murderous antisemitism. The specific ways antisemitism towards Jewish minorities in the Middle East and North Africa became a dangerous force after 1948 makes even clearer how thoroughly historical and political antisemitism is, how it is formed by living forces and interests – not by difference itself.