ZIONIST FEDERATION (ZF) IN BRITAIN = HARD RIGHT ZIONISTS WIN IN SHORT RUN = WITH FEAR + PROPAGANDA + REPRESSION OF ITS OWN JEWISH POPULATION = DEMANDS CONFORMANCE OR BE OSTRACIZED

BRITISH ZIONISM Sept 4, 2014 by ANTONY LERMAN

Click for Source Article by Antony Lerman

Antony Lerman = Author of The Making and Unmaking of a Zionist: A Personal and Political Journey (Pluto 2012). His most recent op-ed, ‘The End of Liberal Zionism’, was published in the New York Times on 24 August.

EXTREME RIGHT-WING ZIONISM = August 24, 2014 op-ed in the New York Times = There’s only one form of Zionism of any consequence today in Israel or the Jewish diaspora = RIGHT-WING + EXCLUSIONARY + DISCRIMINATORY + ETHNO-NATIONALIST + RELIGIOUS SUPERIORITY OF GOD’S “CHOSEN ONES.” = Very real project of continuous national self-realization, purification of the TRIBE and DISPOSSESSION OF OTHERS. = Fine with Israeli MASS MURDERS of Palestinians. = Zionist leaders appear strengthened in their ideological and political commitment to Israel as they battle the country’s critics. But they look terribly like a bunch of lost souls digging themselves ever deeper into a hole with NO WAY OUT.

Liberal Zionism = Only other recognizable brand. = Commitment to certain values e.g. democracy, human rights and equality = At odds with political realities in Israel.

1960s British Zionism allowed a very lively debate between very different kinds of Zionism, ranging from Marxist Zionism youth movement — CORPORATIST and FACSIST-INFLUENCED Zionism of Herut/Freedom — Party of Menachem Begin who in 1977, brought an end to 30 years of coalition governments in Israel led by the Labor party. NOW any differences are largely symbolic.

Socialist-Zionist youth may argue with mainstream RIGHT-WING Zionists about Israel’s political policies = But liberal arguments are meaningless to LIKUD OR WORSE POLITICAL REALITY in Israel.

Yachad (Together), newish ‘pro-Israel, pro-peace’ group = Flag-bearer for liberal Zionism is seen as left and mostly young. Yachad tried to affiliate with ZF but was turned down = Clear sign of right-wing’s dominance + required expressed ‘love of Israel’ to be a member.

Most Jews professing Zionism = Simply as an emotional connection to a country they visited or have relatives there. Some believe the ‘Land of Israel’ is the ancestral home of the Jewish people.

UK main Zionist organization = Zionist Federation (ZF) begun 1899.

New Israel Fund (NIF) = FUNDRAISING to secure Israel’s long term survival and prosperity

NIF = Liberal Zionism alternative to United Jewish Israel Appeal (UJIA) = Supports human rights projects involving Jewish and Palestinian Israelis, but only within the Green Line. NOT affiliated with ZF.

United Jewish Israel Appeal (UJIA) = Main fundraising body for Israel in UK = ‘to ensure British Jewry supports, engages and loves Israel’, and is affiliated with ZF.

2010 POLL of UK Jewish Population:

Continued Jewish closeness to Israel
Favored a more robust, critical, pro-peace stance.

20% said they were ‘non-Zionists’
50+% said Jews in Britain had the right to judge Israel
33+% said they should be free to criticize Israel in public
50+% agreed Israel should negotiate with Hamas

Sense of unease with Israel’s political trajectory was clearly discernible.

SLIDING INVOLVEMENT IN Organized Zionist/pro-Israel movements

Numbers of UK Jewish who turned out for pro-Israel demonstrations during crises:

2002 had 30,000 to 50,000 Pro-Jewish demonstrators during the second intifada
2009 Time of Operation Cast Lead 15,000 demonstrators attended
2014 July 60 Jewish organizations around 1,500 attended (some claim 5,000)

ODDLY the Zionist right has become stronger and entrenched, not numerically, but
rather in terms of the way it communicates and frames its propaganda.

Zionist organizations are fully aware of declining UK Jewish attachment to Israel = So Israel-Diaspora + Foreign Ministry = Plough vastly increased resources into hasbara-propaganda. = Sharper and simpler messages were devised to persuade Jews to show more uncompromising solidarity with Israel = ‘We believe in Israel’ campaign.

Israeli spokespersons were heavily criticized in the UK for speaking poor English and awful interviews on radio and television. So a new breed of more articulate, westernized, media savvy performers were groomed and, during BOMBING of Gaza, very few news anchors were able to lay a glove on their simple messages, continually repeated by all of their team, dominated most news outlets.

JEWISH PROPAGANDA = Groomed new breed of TV Personalities = articulate, westernized, media savvy performers = Very few news anchors were able to lay a glove on their simple messages + Continually repeated Talking Points by all on their team + Dominated most news outlets. + Plough vast resources into propaganda + Sharper and simpler messages + Market uncompromising solidarity with Israel = ‘We believe in Israel’ campaign = Many Jews found the propaganda very comforting. = Same messaging repeated consistently and frequently. + Letter writing + Other means of complaints + SUPPRESS ANY AND ALL CRITICISMS

MERGER of The Board of Deputies of British Jews (BoD) with Jewish Leadership Council (JLC) = Share same messaging repeated consistently and frequently.

Zionist Surprised = Scale of protests against Israel’s Gaza bombardment = More Widespread than during previous conflicts = Cries of disgust and anguish became ever more vocal and visible = Jews defending Israel felt increasingly embattled.

TOWN HALL for the Jewish community arranged by BoD, JLC, BICOM (Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre), UJIA, Community Security Trust (CST), ZF = Sat on a platform explaining how they defended Israel. The audience voiced powerful and angry criticism of the leadership’s NOT DOING FAR MORE TO DEFEND ISRAELI BOMBINGS OF PALESTINIANS CLAIMING MEDIA BIAS against Israel + WANTING MORE COMPLAINTS AND POINTED LETTERS TO PEOPLE IN POWER ABOUT CLAIMED ANTI-SEMITISM IN MEDIA.

UK Jewish AUDIENCE BOOED Liberal Jewish Yachad Youth group = Strong Sign of domination by hard-line, right-wing Zionists = HATE TOWARDS utterly loyal, young Israel-loving, but cautiously critical group. = Deemed too ‘radical’ for advocating humanitarian aid for Gaza.

BICOM = Conflating UK Jews and Israel: A Purposeful Goal

Jewish dependence on propaganda is made clear by those who attended the 13 August 13, 2014 town hall meeting = The main outcome of the meeting was the need to do more—write more letters, make more complaints of bias in the media + There are huge resources to help with this at BICOM

BICOM = ‘basically the PR arm of the Board of Deputies.’
BICOM = Main lobby group working on behalf of Israel in the UK
BICOM = Very well funded and works with Israel Foreign Ministry + Israel Embassy
BICOM = Produces slick briefings
BICOM = Nods to mild criticism of Israeli GOV to add credibility to their messages
BICOM = ODDLY denies vehemently that they are the PR arm of the BoD
BoD = Board of Deputies of British Jews
BICOM = Spinwatch’s report on BICOM, “Giving Peace a Chance?” = Documents the connections and collaborations between BICOM and the BoD.
BICOM = Powerfully and purposefully conflate the UK Jewish community and Israel
CONFLATION = Not just institutional phenomenon, but approved at the grass roots
CONFLATION = Link between what happens in Israel and UK Jewish position = Indisputable.

FACT: There are Mixed UK Jewish views about Israel’s policies and actions = Protest against the bombardment of Gaza by Zionist Jews

UK Jewish Leadership’s longstanding approach = Marginalizes left dissenting groups = Ignores/demonizes them + Accusations of disloyalty + Jewish self-hatred

UK Jewish Leadership = Getting Harder to handle groups that clearly support Zionism while voicing constructive and balanced criticism of Israeli GOV policies. = Yachad + NIF in this category.

NIF = Fundraising body steers clear of overt political statement or affiliation = Mainstream leaders avoid attacking NIF openly and some are donors to the charity

Yachad Political Youth (2011) = Tries to wrap criticism of Israel in warm blanket of love = Sometimes a lobby = Main focus is Jewish community itself, not UK or Israel

Yachad = Builds a larger constituency that critiques Israel within unwavering solidarity with the country + Builds knowledge about reality on the West Bank by organizing tours to the area.

Yachad = Established with funding of Chairman of the JLC, Mick Davis = Huge mining MONEY + other more dovish mainstream leaders = Create a safe space for young people who feel estranged from Israel and are critical of Israeli policies + strongly advocate the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Yachad = KNEW RIGHT-WING Zionist camp would not be happy = BUT they did not expect to be booed at the 13 August meeting or being rejected by ZF for inclusion.

Yachad = During BOMBING tried hard to find a way of expressing strong reservations about Israel’s MASS MURDERS by emphasizing rockets into Israel by Hamas.

Yachad = Organized three campaigns = A joint Muslim-Jewish fast for peace + a letter to Britain’s UN representative imploring him to broker a cease-fire + A statement of support for peace signed by more than 1,000 people = Result was ‘a massive surge of support…much bolder’ than 2012 — Director, Hannah Weisfeld

FACT: Dissenting Jewish Left = Finds its voice

Dissenting left-wing Jewish groups = Draw attention to Israel’s MURDER/MAYHEM

Jews for Justice for Palestinians (JfJfP) = Established 2002 say their social media ‘total page reach is now close to a million’ = Haaretz report said their ‘facebook page 27,500 visitors and 56,000 views in July alone + racked up 38,000+ “engagements”—likes, comments and shares VERSUS the Jewish Chronicle’s 167.

JfJfP states = ‘We oppose Israeli policies that undermine the livelihoods, human, civil and political rights of the Palestinian people. We support the right of Israelis to live in freedom and security within Israel’s 1967 borders.’

JfJfP + Young Jewish Left = Has highlighted the plight of Palestinian victims

Jewish Socialists (1970s) Group (JSG) = Jews in Gaza demonstrations
Independent Jewish (2007) Voices (IJV) = Jews in Gaza demostrations

JSG = ‘fights for freedom and equality’ + opposes Zionism
IJV = Speaks out on Repression of Palestinians human rights = Organized letter protests to major newspapers.

Jewdas group = London-based since 2006 = Young, radical, anarchistic = Fond of ironic performative protest. = Chose solemnity in demonstration at ZF British conference July 27,2014 = Recited Jewish mourner’s prayer for Gaza dead

ZF RIGHT-WING ZIONIST = Bereft of ideas = Simply deny Palestinian Reality = Floundering

FACT: Most British Jews remain pro-Zionist and pro-Israel

Leaders of Zionist and Israel-advocacy groups = Feel severely embattled and struggling to cope with all the UK Jewish opposition to Israel’s actions

Leaders of Zionist and Israel-advocacy groups = Also stand accused of being weak and ineffectual by RIGHT-WING Jewish activists demanding more outspoken, unashamed, centrally-organized campaign to defend Israel. = Who pose fear of antisemitism among Jews + Increasing anti-Jewish hostility and incidents

CST = Community Security Trust = UK’s Jewish community protects from external threats = Collects anti-Jewish Incidents = Without any new ideas + Sees any opposition to Israel’s actions as hypocritical and antisemitic. = Ask: “Why do people focus so exclusively on Israel, when there are so many far worse conflicts throughout the world, such as in Syria?”

CST Leadership = Cannot believe the reality of Israeli slaughter of Palestinians is playing itself out on the streets of UK. = No understanding of the implications.

UK Demonstrations = Not like violent French demonstrations = Just marches in UK

UK Demonstrations = Peaceful but for months the Israel-Gaza war PLAYS OUT

Jewish Leadership = Fails to grasp the DESIRE FOR PEACE = Joint Muslim-Jewish (BoD) statement by the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) and the BoD calling on their faiths to ‘export peace’ to the Middle East = Statement simply brushed the difficult issue of Palestine under the carpet.

Haaretz article by Fiyaz Mughal, persuasively argued that this issue had to be squarely faced if dialogue between Muslims and Jews was to mean anything.

ODDLY = Vivian Weinman, President of the BoD, + Shuja Shafi, Secretary General of the MCB, awkwardly on BBC Radio, could not agree on whether daubing the slogan ‘Free Gaza’ on a synagogue wall was antisemitic or not.

Jewish dissenting left = Sees NO wholesale shift of Jewish opinion in their direction = Deep sense of despair at the sheer brutality of Israeli violence and of doing anything that can make a difference.

Jewish dissenting left = Yet something about the awfulness of this round of Israel’s periodic battering of Gaza show its sheer futility and has galvanized Jewish anti-war activists to make their voices heard and capitalize on growing doubt about Israel. = Daniella Peled’s in Haaretz, “Left-wing UK Jewish groups thrive during Israel’s Gaza war”

Haaretz Peled wrote = ZF reports idea that the ‘ultra-orthodox’ are turning Zionist in any significant numbers — beggars belief. FACT: Notion that Israel is a Jewish state that conforms to their unbending theology is quite alien to them. + If some Reform Jews are turning to the ZF it is a sign that they are turning FAR right — NOT that the ZF is becoming in any way centrist.

FACT: Zionism LOST ITS APPEAL to doubting Jews

ZIONISM = With Gaza crisis shows Zionism, already irrelevant as an ideological choice for Jews, no longer serves as a glue holding the Jewish community together.

ZONISM = A source of division and growing polarization between right and left

FACT: ZIONIST RIGHT IS WINNING WITH FAR BETTER FUNDING AND WITH SEASONED SLICK PROPAGANDA (Losing value with each MURDER).

FACT: Jewish Left astutely probing the cracks in the Zionist wall.

FACT: Jewish middle has significant numbers BUT remains mostly silent = But those in the middle are deeply unsure about what Israel is doing and prefer not to know the truth about Israel’s trajectory = But the MIDDLE must show support or be called anti-semitic or self-hating jews. = They want to voice their doubts, but because of fear and partly because of personal relations between friends and family = REMAIN SILENT and refuse to identify with the dissenting Jewish left.

ZF IN HARD RIGHT ZIONISTS WIN IN BRITAIN = WITH FEAR, PROPAGANDA, AND REPRESSION OF ITS OWN JEWISH POPULATION. = DEMANDS CONFORMANCE OR BY OSTRACIZED.