Ben Gurion University
Ben Gurion University - Uri Ram (Dept. of Sociology) has a
"glaring flaw of logic"
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3580743,00.html
Post-Zionism’s fatal flaw
If Israel is not Zionist, it won’t be Jewish; if it’s not Jewish it
won’t be democratic
Martin Sherman
11/8/2008
In
my understanding, the concept "Post Zionism" is - at the ideological
level - a demand for democratization of the state - i. e. a call for
a liberal democratic state in the Western mode.
Prof. Uri Ram -- from "The Anti Zionist Congress" Israel Radio (Reshet
Bet) 27-4-2008
This quote from one
of the leaders of the post-Zionist school in Israeli academia is
representative of the moral hypocrisy, intellectual shallowness and
pompousness, and grossly misplaced self-righteousness that
characterize the adherents of this self- contradictory philosophy.
For it takes only
the most elementary analytical skill to identify the glaring flaw in
the logic of post–Zionist positions which - allegedly in the name of
enlightened liberal values - call for the conversion of
Israel from a "Jewish State" to a "state of all its citizens."
It requires no extraordinary intellect to grasp the fact that should
such a change indeed take place, the resulting realities would in
fact be the exact antithesis of the values invoked for making it.
Indeed, it is not
difficult to foresee the inevitable chain of events that such a move
would trigger. First, the significance of a simple but far-reaching
truth must be recognized: If Israel is indeed defined as a "Jewish
state," there is a valid rationale and a viable justification for
the existence of an entire range of elements that characterize the
conduct of national and public life in the country, such as: the
Star of David on the Flag; the "Menora" candelabrum as the state
emblem; the words of the national anthem that refer to the "yearning
of the Jewish soul"; and the status of Hebrew as the dominant
vehicle of communication between the citizens of the state. The same
is true for a considerable body of "Judeo-centric" legislation such
as the Law of Return granting any Jew immediate citizenship on
immigrating to Israel.
However, should
Israel be re-defined as a "state of all its citizens,” there will be
no valid rationale or viable justification for any of these
features. As an inevitable consequence, there will neither be rhyme
nor reason why any Jew (apart from those ultra-devout few who regard
living in the Holy Land a religious command) would choose to live
their life in a "non-Jewish Israel" rather than in any other "state
of all its citizens" where the rigors of daily life are less
demanding and less stressful. No Jew (apart from the handful of
ultra-pious souls who believe in the divine sanctity of the Land of
Israel) would insist on living their life in a country, where
instead of the blue Star of David, the national flag displays
stripes – whether vertical or horizontal – of different colors even
if these include nostalgic tinges of blue and white.
Continual erosion of Jewish population
Accordingly, not
only would there be a dramatic increase in the number of Jews who
leave the country (and who of course no longer will be called "Yordim"
but merely "emigrants",) but also an almost total termination of the
number of Jews arriving here. After all, if Israel in not a Jewish
state, there will be absolutely no motivation for, nor reason, why
highly educated, highly skilled and highly trained Jews from across
the developed world should aspire to make their homes here - not
scientists, not doctors, not engineers not entrepreneurs, not
academics.
There would be no
mass "aliyah" from lands where Jews were oppressed and sought safe
haven in the Jewish state. Obviously the extraordinary phenomenon of
the huge inflow of Jewry from the former USSR, with is huge
contribution to every aspect of life in the country, would be
inconceivable if Israel became just another "state of all its
citizens" on the fringes of a desert at the gateway to the Levant.
Moreover, if Israel
became a state of all its citizens, there would be little grounds
for preventing the massive influx of migrants from neighboring lands
from pouring into the country – whether to fulfill the "right of
return" or merely to make a better living – since, initially, the
chances of finding a more lucrative livelihood would still be higher
here rather than there.
Inevitably, these
processes will bring about a continual erosion of the Jewish
population. As the composition of the population in the land becomes
similar to that in the other states of the region, there is no
reason to suppose that the realities that prevails in it will not
also become similar to those prevailing in those states – including
the level of economic development, standard of living and lifestyle,
status of women, nature of the regime, and the liberties it allows
those living under it. It is difficult to imagine that even the
post-Zionists, with their bias and selective view of the world, are
unaware of the fact that that in the entire Arab world - from
Casablanca to Kuwait - there is no semblance of any "liberal
democratic state in the Western mode" for which they allegedly yearn
with such passion.
Indeed, in view of
the stark contrast between their declared objectives and the nature
of the realities that the endeavor to achieve that objective is
likely to create; in light of manifest contradiction between their
purported aspirations and the consequences likely to result from the
pursuit of those aspirations, it is difficult to determine whether
the post-Zionists are motivated by nastiness or naiveté; whether
they are being mean-spirited or only feeble-minded.
However, whatever
the explanation may be, all those genuinely desirous of "liberal
democratic state in the Western mode" in this neck of the woods must
recognize a basic inescapable truth: If Israel is not Zionist, it
will not be Jewish; if it is not Jewish it will not be democratic.
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