{"id":120367,"date":"2018-10-15T12:00:01","date_gmt":"2018-10-15T11:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=120367"},"modified":"2018-10-15T10:52:42","modified_gmt":"2018-10-15T09:52:42","slug":"insightfulness-and-palestine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2018\/10\/insightfulness-and-palestine\/","title":{"rendered":"Insightfulness and Palestine"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

14 Oct 2018 –<\/em>\u00a0Insight refers to the sudden ability to see something in a way that profoundly clarifies our understanding. It allows us to revise our views from a totally new perspective. Insightfulness is an innovative mode. It offers an alternative, out of the box, vision of the world around us. Insightfulness is a key factor in any dynamic and vibrant discourse.<\/p>\n

While the so-called revolution is occasionally fueled by ideological or social \u2018insight,\u2019 the \u2018revolutionaries\u2019 are more often anti insightful by nature.\u00a0 They spend their energy reducing an \u2018insight\u2019 into a fixed regime: a doctrine, a dogma, a strategy, a pile of commandments, a kosher jargon or a list of \u2018deplorables.\u2019 While Marx, for instance, offered an insightful materialist vision of our past as well as our human future, Marxists are generally\u00a0an anti-insightful bunch. Their doctrine reduces Marx\u2019s insights into Torah and Mizvoth, restricting and suppressing creative thinking. So-called \u2018revolutionaries\u2019 are too often a collective of \u00a0\u2018counter-revolutionaries;\u2019 people who do little but kill insightfulness. They identify symbolically with the \u2018revolution,\u2019 while they sustain a reality of stagnation. This analysis may\u00a0assist us in understanding\u00a0the last 150 years of Left paralysis in the West. It may also explain why it is often fascists who take over precisely when conditions are ripe for a \u2018text book\u2019 Marxist revolution.<\/p>\n

Observing the evolution of the Palestinian solidarity movement and the growing influence of Jewish bodies within this movement has provided me with the opportunity to monitor a spectacular anti-insightful operation.<\/p>\n

For many years I have wondered why the Palestinian solidarity discourse is uniquely anti-intellectual. It basically jettisons critical thinking and acts instead from a rigid activism manual. Instead of advancing our understanding of the essence and the nature of what is responsible for the oppression of the Palestinian people, namely The Jewish State,\u00a0the movement clings to models that drive us as far as possible from the conflict or a working understanding\u00a0of its roots. Instead of asking how the Israelis interpret the meaning of their state as the \u2018Jewish state\u2019 or trying to understand how the Jewishness of that \u2018Jewish state\u2019 influences Israeli politics or its supportive lobby around the world, we cling to moldy 19th\u00a0century theoretical models (e.g., colonialism) that apply to super power conduct in an industrial era. Instead of comparing the Jewish State to other political models that adhered to expansionism, nationalism, race and ethnic cleansing (Nazi Germany, for instance), we equate Israel with apartheid South Africa.<\/p>\n

In truth, Israel is far more vile than apartheid South Africa. Apartheid is a racist system of exploitation, the Jewish state doesn\u2019t want to \u2018exploit\u2019 the Palestinians, it wants them gone. Israel is a racially driven, expansionist ethnic cleanser but we are not allowed to study the true nature of its philosophy.<\/p>\n

I should feel a bit sorry to point out that the Palestinian solidarity movement is not just ideologically and politically misleading, it is actually misleading by design.<\/p>\n

In 2010 I asked Olivia Zemor,\u00a0 an enthusiastic French Jewish pro Palestinian\u00a0BDS activist, why she disseminates populist slogans that work to stifle\u00a0her followers\u2019 ability to understand the roots of the conflict and its possible resolution. Zemor\u2019s answer was shockingly simple: \u201cwe have a lot of people who support Palestine, we better keep them busy with simple tasks.\u201d \u00a0Perhaps the Palestinian solidarity movement is an intense engagement, but, as we know, it has yet to facilitate the return of a single Palestinian refugee to Jaffa, Lod, Haifa or anywhere else in that unpromising land. \u00a0In fact, it is doing the opposite. It keeps people busy with \u2018simple tasks\u2019 that divert their attention from the root cause of the conflict. Instead of looking at the exceptionalist and racist orientation that is intrinsic to pretty much every Jewish political discourse, we equate a post modernist \u00a021st\u00a0century entity \u00a0with the modernist politics of the 19th\u00a0century British empire.\u00a0 Instead of unconditionally supporting the Right of Return, the movement is basically an endless internal Jewish debate about Jews\u2019 right to BDS.<\/p>\n

In the 1990s the Palestinian solidarity movement\u00a0 engaged in a vibrant innovative discourse that was the basis of an evolutionary mechanism where the most profound thoughts prevailed.\u00a0 But this changed in the early 2000s when a crude and relentless effort\u00a0emerged aimed at eradicating any attempt at deep, essentialist, innovative thinking. Insightfulness was replaced by a rigid regime of correctness. The solidarity movement rapidly became an intellectual desert.<\/p>\n

Instead of caring for the refugees in Lebanon or Syria, the Palestinian solidarity movement\u00a0 primarily engaged in the \u00a0\u2018fight against antisemitsm.\u2019\u00a0 Bizarrely, it was the Palestinian solidarity movement that acted, well in advance of Hasbara pressure groups, to purge those \u2018problematic voices\u2019 who were brave enough to call a spade a spade. \u00a0This was predictable since it was in the early 2000s that\u00a0 the Palestinian solidarity movement morphed into a Jewish identitarian discourse. From that point on, the solidarity agenda was defined by Jewish sensitivities.\u00a0 The solidarity movement didn\u2019t liberate Palestine because it wasn\u2019t meant to. Its real goal was to vindicate the Jews as a collective from the crimes committed \u00a0on \u2018their behalf\u2019 by the Jewish State.<\/p>\n

Throughout this time the so-called \u2018Jews in the movement\u2019 (JIM) viciously and ferociously attacked the greatest \u00a0minds and most enthusiastic activists who expressed support for Palestine (People like Israel Shamir, Greta Berlin, Richard Falk, Norman Finkelstein, Paul Eisen and Alison Weir). \u00a0None of these attacks led to discussion or debate within solidarity institutions, for these institutions have been reduced into authoritarian\u00a0kangaroo courts.\u00a0 The attacks were often followed by Talmudic Herem <\/em>procedures – calls for disavowals and excommunication.<\/p>\n

Back in the day, Paul Eisen taught me the iron rule of Jewish politics. \u201cSelf identified political Jews,\u201d he said, \u201calways kick to the left.\u201d As long as they do so, they sustain their membership in the fold. Often we learn that a West Bank messianic settler has kicked to Netanyahu\u2019s left. Netanyahu, on his part, kicks the Israeli political centre. The Israel\u2019s Labour Party does the same to the Israeli Left that itself often harshly criticizes Jewish diaspora \u2018anti\u2019 Zionist groups. Unfortunately, this dynamic doesn\u2019t stop at the Israeli border. Diaspora self-identified progressive \u2018anti\u2019 Zionist Jews follow the same procedure. They smear, denounce and purge those whom they are desperate to silence.<\/p>\n

The pattern is clear, to be a (political) Jew is to define the boundaries of kosher conduct. Jews do not agree amongst themselves on what constitutes kosher political conduct, but they do\u00a0agree on the necessity of boundaries. To be a Jew is to insist that someone else is \u2018beyond the pale.\u2019<\/p>\n

This \u00a0dynamic\u00a0 manifests itself daily within the Jewish pro \u00a0Palestinian movement. The British Jewish group that calls itself\u00a0\u201cFree Speech on Israel\u201d<\/a>\u00a0doesn\u2019t actually support true freedom of speech. It just insists upon redefining the boundaries of such \u2018freedom.\u2019 JVP and Mondoweiss often tell us what and who we shouldn\u2019t listen to. When my book The Wandering Who was published in 2012 it rapidly gained popularity amongst Palestinian supporters. Mondoweiss<\/a> were very quick to react. They changed their comment policy . \u201cFrom 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.\u201d The Jewish \u2018anti\u2019 Zionist site practically banned its followers from talking about the Jewishness of a state that calls itself \u2018The Jewish State.\u2019<\/p>\n

The same applies to Richard Silverstein<\/a> and\u00a0others\u00a0who are often denounced by Zionists and even anti Zionists\u00a0 yet still insist upon defining what is right and who is wrong for Palestine.<\/p>\n

In light of this Jewish kick boxing apparatus, Goyim are easy to describe. Goyim do not kick to the left nor do they kick to the right.\u00a0 The most dedicated American journalist on Palestine, \u00a0Alison Weir, has never told us what the boundaries of the political discussion are. The Washington Report on \u00a0Middle East Affairs<\/a> has not told us whom we should ignore or disavow. Stephen Mearsheimer also failed to tell us who to delete. And these Goyim are not alone.\u00a0I have never seen Richard Falk\u2019s repudiation list. Norman Finkelstein is not a fan of my work, but he does not interfere with my or anyone else\u2019s work. The same applies to Chomsky. \u00a0Paul Eisen and Israel Shamir who suffered more than most the vile and brutal smear campaigns, have never participated in the Jewish left kicking.<\/p>\n

Shamir, Eisen, Finkelstein, Chomsky and Falk may disagree on many things but they share a crucial quality. \u00a0Like Uri Avnery R.I.P. and Gideon Levy they do not present a template of kosher boundaries. It is not surprising that these people are amongst the most insightful. They operate as intellectuals. They do not operate politically as Jews. They offer their take on reality and refrain from defining what issues we shouldn\u2019t tackle. They let others be.<\/p>\n

In my latest book, Being in Time<\/a>, I reinstate the discussion about \u2018Athens and Jerusalem.\u2019 Athens, as I define it,\u00a0is the birth place of philosophy, science and beauty. Athens is where \u2018we think things through.\u2019 Jerusalem, on the other hand, is the city of revelation, the realm of obedience governed by a strict regime \u00a0of correctness. Unfortunately, the Palestinian solidarity movement has been reduced into a ghettoized Jerusalemite sect. But despite this, solidarity with the Palestinians hasn\u2019t died out. It has grown into a universal global awareness. By now, we are all Palestinians, Like the Palestinians we can\u2019t even utter the name of our oppressor.<\/p>\n

It was not the so called \u2018solidarity movement’ that made us Palestinians. It is the IHRA definition of antisemitsm that makes us Palestinians. It is the global campaign against Corbyn and the Labour party that has made us feel like refugees in our own country. It is Trump making Israel great again that made us Gazans. It is the realization that Zionist abuse is a multi layered\u00a0 global\u00a0 disaster. It is the understanding that if we won\u2019t wake up and soon, we may be next to bear the consequences.<\/p>\n

_____________________________________________<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/em>Gilad Atzmon is a public opponent of Israel. Born into a pro-Zionist family and serving in the first Lebanon War, he had a dramatic turnaround. He quit the army, picked up his sax and exiled himself to London.<\/em> He is the author of <\/em>The Wandering Who<\/a> and one of the most accomplished jazz saxophonists in Europe.<\/em> \u00a0Atzmon writes\u00a0on political matters, social issues,\u00a0Jewish identity and culture. His\u00a0pieces are published around the world: <\/em>TRANSCEND Media Service<\/a>,<\/a> World News,<\/a> The Guardian<\/a>, Rebelion, <\/a>The Daily Telegraph<\/a>, Uprooted Palestinians<\/a>, Veterans Today<\/a>, Palestine Telegraph<\/a>, Counterpunch,<\/a> Dissident Voice, <\/a>Aljazeera Magazine, \u00a0 Information Clearing House, <\/a>\u00a0 <\/a>Middle-East-Online<\/a>, \u00a0 Palestine Chronicle, The People Voice<\/a>, Redress<\/a>,\u00a0Shoa (The Palestinian Holocaust)\u00a0<\/a> and many more.<\/em> He can be reached at atz@onetel.net.uk<\/a>.\u00a0 visit Gilad’s website<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 gilad.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

14 Oct 2018 – Observing the evolution of the Palestinian solidarity movement and the growing influence of Jewish bodies within this movement has provided me with the opportunity to monitor a spectacular anti-insightful operation. For many years I have wondered why the Palestinian solidarity discourse is uniquely anti-intellectual. It basically jettisons critical thinking and acts instead from a rigid activism manual.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":120368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-palestine-israel-gaza-genocide"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120367"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120367\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}