Introduction by Gilad Atzmon: As I explained in my latest book The Wandering Who, Jewish identity politics is driven by different tribal narratives. In many cases it is intolerant and even openly hostile towards open exchange and universal ideologies. This applies the Zionist and ‘anti’ Zionist alike.

The Jewish internet outlet Mondoweiss initially presented itself as a progressive pro-Palestine journal but it didn’t take long before it admitted to be a fig leaf dedicated to Judeo-centric gate-keeping. This week Mondoweiss changed its comment policy. No longer will it allow any criticism of Jewish politics, culture and identity politics.

But here’s the good news: Years ago, when some of us decided to write about the Jewish state in the context of Jewish culture, the AZZ (anti-Zionist Zionists) dismissed us as an ‘irrelevant marginal voice’. This week however, Mondoweiss admitted that we are actually “a lot of people” and “a significant part of the community.” A community Mondoweiss attempts to silence.  

In the following piece Aletho News added the names of those who oppose freedom of speech and open discourse. These people have publicly disavowed me because of my recognizing the clear connection between Jewish identity politics and Zionist ideology. I’ll admit that I am actually happy to be at the centre of this battle for truth and liberation.

In the list you will find many Jewish activists. Yet, one may wonder why Palestinians such as Ali Abunimah and Omar Barghouti have so compromised their credibility by joining such a list and it would be interesting to find out what they got in return. But it would be even more interesting to find out what principle they were willing to sacrifice. Apparently, giving up on the Palestinian Right of Return was something they were quite happy to give away.

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What shall we not talk about today?

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Mondoweiss:

“. . . a significant part of the community wants to talk about Israeli policy in the context of Jewish history and Jewish identity, and do so in a highly critical manner. Clearly a lot of people, including many in our community, want to have these conversations and regard them as necessary to resolving the Middle East conflict. We don’t. We are tired of serving as a platform for this discussion, including in the comment section, and don’t see the conversation as a productive one. From here on out, the Mondoweiss comment section will no longer serve as a forum to pillory Jewish culture and religion as the driving factors in Israeli and US policy.

We are making this change because this discussion makes for a toxic, often racist, discourse, and scares off others who would otherwise be drawn to the issues this site concerns itself with.”

Xymphora responds:

I look forward to the ‘Roots of Slavery in the Old South’ forum, which consists entirely of a discussion of the sufferings of the slaveholders, and how their actions derived entirely from the racism experienced by their Scots-Irish forefathers.

Of course, the deeper issue is that Zionism is based, not in Jewish suffering or the mythology of a universal irrational hatred of Jews, but in Jewish violent group supremacism.  This is easy to see in that Zionism waxes in times of Jewish group dominance (like now), and wanes in the relatively rare times of Jewish group oppression. The lite Zionists are always more skittish about hiding Jewish supremacism than the hard-core Zionists.

~~~

Aletho News adds the following list containing the names of those who have publicly disavowed Gilad Atzmon due to his recognizing a connection between Jewish cultural identity and Zionist ideology:

As’ad AbuKhalil, The Angry Arab News Service, Turlock, CA
Suha Afyouni, solidarity activist, Beirut, LEBANON
Max Ajl, essayist, rabble-rouser, proprietor of Jewbonics blog site, Ithaca, NY
Haifaa Al-Moammar, activist, stay-at-home mom, and marathon walker, Los Angeles, CA
Electa Arenal, professor emerita, CUNY Graduate Center/Hispanic & Luso-Brazilian Literatures and Women’s Studies, New York, NY
Gabriel Ash, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Geneva, SWITZERLAND
Joel Beinin, Donald J. McLachlan Professor of History, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA
Dan Berger, Wild Poppies Collective, Philadelphia, PA
Chip Berlet, Boston, MA
Nazila Bettache, activist, Montréal, CANADA
Sam Bick, Tadamon!, Immigrant Workers Center, Montréal, Québec
Max Blumenthal, author; writing fellow, The Nation, New York, NY
Lenni Brenner, author, Zionism in the Age of the Dictators, New York, NY
Café Intifada