A Brief History of Israel
Before getting into the details of the confrontation between the left or communists and Israel, it is important to have a basic understanding of the history of that country. In 1947, after World War II and the Holocaust, the United Nations proposed a plan to divide the territory to create a Jewish and Palestinian state in the region. However, the Arab countries rejected this plan and launched a war against Israel in 1948, with the goal of obliterating it. Despite being heavily outnumbered and lacking proper military resources, Israel managed to survive and even expand its territory.
The war ended with an Israeli victory, but with heavy casualties. 1% of Israel’s population died in the war, including survivors of the concentration camps. Since then, Israel has been in constant danger, but still managed to maintain its identity as a country that respects basic individual rights.
Throughout the following decades, the Arab countries continued to wage war against Israel, with the support of communist countries like the Soviet Union. Israel faced multiple military aggressions, but managed to defend itself and even make peace with some neighboring countries, such as Egypt. Today, the main conflict lies with the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with Israel maintaining control over these territories to ensure its security.
After 1967, when Israel tripled its territory and became stronger, leftist movements began to express their dislike of Israel. They began to see Israel as “Goliath” and Arabs and Palestinians as “David”. During this period, Marxist-Leninist organizations began to support the Palestinians and use terrorist methods to destroy Israel’s morale. Leftist movements in the West also began to support the Palestinians, seeing them as a small village fighting against a powerful enemy, just as the Viet Cong fought against the US empire in Vietnam.
“Peace for us means the destruction of Israel.” – Yasser Arafat
Communists
Communism has a dark history, unambiguously full of crimes committed in the name of its ideology. While many are aware of the horrors of communism in countries such as the Soviet Union, DPRK or China, there is one aspect of the evils of communism that is often overlooked – its war with Israel. We will explore the long and often unknown story of communism’s hatred for Israel, and how it reveals the true nature of the left.
Why do Communists, or former Communists, or imaginary Communists, treat Israel with hostility? The main reason is the legacy of the Soviet Union. Israel was created after the Second World War. Stalin made a big bet on the development of communist ideology in Israel, because at the beginning of the last century it was the socialists who came from Europe (mainly from the East) who built this country. On the other hand, Stalin hoped that the creation of Israel would lead to chaos in the region and lead to the fall of the British Empire; and that Israel, under strong socialist leadership, could become a quasi-satellite of the Soviet Union. However, Israel chose to support America and its path of development. Stalin, who had previously favored Israel and considered himself its friend (he even voted in the UN for the creation of Israel with 3 mandates), felt betrayed. Since then, for a long time in the USSR, only the words “Zionists” and “Israeli military” were used to refer to Israel.
Leftists
In fact, there is no clear answer to this question. It really makes you wonder why the left is supporting the right, why they are supporting hardcore fundamentalists? Why does the “Me Too” movement support rapists? Why does Black Lives Matter stand against a country made up of people of absolutely all colors, for people who express absolute rejection of dissent? Why LGBT or “Queers for Palestine”- this question is a complete mystery. You can look for an explanation, but I’m sure no one will give you an exact answer, especially not them.
“Queers for Palestine” was the slogan used by sexual minority representatives at an anti-Israel rally in San Francisco. The not-so-educated and romantically inclined apparently saw kindred spirits in jihadists fighting discrimination, forgetting that in Palestine, people like them are beheaded. Identity politics is at its height when it doesn’t matter whose interests you are shouting about at a rally.
There is an answer to the question “why students” – since 2004, at least 24 billion(!) dollars have been invested by Arab countries in pro-Palestinian organizations of US higher education institutions. Harvard alone has 12 such open organizations. Students are easier to understand than the rest of the left.
David and Goliath
There are several explanations for the leftist movements’ dislike of Israel. One is their desire to support the weak and oppressed. Because of this, they see the Palestinians as a “David” fighting against the mighty “Goliath.” They misinterpret the conflict as a struggle between oppressors and oppressed, when in fact Israel is a free country with rules of law and protection of individual rights.
One way to combat misconceptions about conflict is through education. It is important to educate people about the complexity of the history of the conflict, providing facts and explanations. It is also important to have an open dialog and discuss different points of view in order to form a more objective opinion.
Achieving peace in the region is a complex task that requires serious negotiations and compromise. It is important to continue the dialog and search for the causes of the conflict in order to find a solution that is fair and sustainable for all parties.
