Recognizing Israel as uniquely Jewish is one of the key demands\u00a0 made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the latest\u00a0 talks with the Palestinians. However, Foreign Minister Lieberman took it one step further. He demands all Israelis swear an oath of loyalty to the Jewish state. Liebermann\u2019s campaign slogan is “no loyalty, no citizenship.”<\/p>\n
“We can’t continue to ignore issues like that of Hanin Zuabi, who identifies completely with the other side,” Said Lieberman on Sunday<\/a>. He was referring to an Israeli Arab member of Knesset who was stripped of her parliamentary privileges after sailing aboard the heroic Mavi Marmara, and being witness to the Israeli massacre in high seas.<\/p>\n So here we are : Israel is basically a Western liberal \u2018multi cultural\u2019 society where all different ethnicities and minorities are demanded to swear loyalty to the ultimate form of chauvinist\u00a0 Jewish tribal practice.<\/p>\n Issues to do with loyalty are of the essence within Jewish political discourse. It was the doubt regarding\u00a0 Dreyfus\u2019 loyalty that transformed Herzl into a Zionist<\/a>.\u00a0 It was loyalty to the Jews that made Jonathan Pollard<\/a> betray the USA.\u00a0 It was Mordechai Vanunu\u2019s ethical and universal commitment that pushed him away from Jewish loyalty. As we know, he still pays a heavy price for that commitment. As it seems, \u2018loyalty to the Jews\u2019 is a crucial demand within the Zionist discourse.<\/p>\n But here we face a clear difficulty. Though it is clear that political Jews demand loyalty, it is far from being clear what this loyalty is.\u00a0 Neither Liebermann nor anyone else has ever suggested what \u2018loyalty to the Jewish state\u2019 stands for. Clearly, no one, not even the Jewish left has ever managed to point to a Jewish universal, moral or ethical value system for there is no such a system.<\/p>\n I guess that Jewish loyalty is an empty signifier: it is a dynamic notion; it changes constantly; it is impossible to pinpoint.\u00a0 As it happens, Jewish loyalty is removed from any notion of universalism, ethics or integrity. All it means in practice is,\u00a0 \u2018Jews come first\u2019.<\/p>\n In his recent video Max Blumenthal<\/a> managed to collate a few Jewish morbid youngsters who were enthusiastic to swear loyalty to the Jewish state, its Jewish army and its commanders. Clearly the Goldstone report didn\u2019t make enough waves in Israel or young Zionist circles around the world. One of the American Jewesses was happy to send Palestinians away from her land if they fail to swear an oath to Jewish primacy. Another Jewess admitted that when it comes to loyalty, Israel comes first while her motherland, Canada, comes second.\u00a0 This obviously raises a question. Political Jews; who are they loyal to?<\/p>\n Since loyalty is crucial within the Zionist discourse we may want to extend our study and challenge those who identify and operate politically as Jews to tell us about their loyalty. I would love, for instance, to know about Lord Levy, the number one fundraiser for the Labour party at the time this party dragged us into a criminal war : who is he loyal to, Israel or Britain? And what about Jewish Chronicle writers David Aaronovitch and Nick Cohen: are they primarily loyal to this Kingdom or to the Jewish state? I wonder because they both rallied for the Iraq war in the British national press. And what about David Miliband, the leading candidate for the Labour premiership, who is also listed on an Israeli Propaganda site as an Israeli propaganda writer<\/a>, who is he loyal to? I guess that every member of the Labour\u2019s, Conservative\u2019s and Lib Dem\u2019s Friend of Israel had better\u00a0 be challenged and the sooner the better.<\/p>\n However, in case you think that Liebermann is alone in his demand for loyalty, you are pretty wrong. Here in Britain, Lord Goldsmith, (yes the same Goldsmith who kindly offered Tony\u00a0 Blair a \u2018legal\u2019\u00a0 green light to invade Iraq in 2003) is also enthusiastic about loyalty.<\/p>\n Back in 2008 Goldsmith recommended the introduction of ceremonies for all school-leavers to mark “the passage from being a student of citizenship to an active citizen”. He said he favoured an oath of allegiance to the Queen but the statement could alternatively be a pledge of loyalty to Britain.<\/p>\n