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The new post-Zionists
By Moshe Arens
Tags: Post-zionism

We used to think that post-Zionists were out there on the fringe of Israeli society. They were Israelis who had concluded that so many injustices had been committed in the name of Herzl's dream, that the time had come to turn their backs on the State of Israel. Or, more extreme yet, they believed that Zionism had been one big mistake that now needed to be rectified, and the Palestinian population compensated for the wrongs that had been committed in the name of Zionism - by replacing the Jewish state with a Palestinian one. They insisted that they had seized the moral high ground, but in their sensitivity to the suffering of the Palestinians, they showed zero tolerance for any measures taken in Israel's defense.

To the strident voices of the post-Zionists have in the past years been added the voices of our prime minister, Ehud Olmert, and one of his newest sidekicks, Tzipi Livni, Israel's foreign minister. At Annapolis, Olmert expressed his sympathy for the suffering of the Palestinian people, without bothering to mention that this suffering had been the direct result of decades-long Arab attempts to destroy the Jewish state, and was their own fault. His minister of education, Yuli Tamir, has given instructions to include the "Palestinian narrative" of the War of Independence, which is nothing but a fabric of lies, in the curriculum of Israeli schools. In the Israeli-Palestinian declaration that was read out at the conference two weeks ago by President Bush, Olmert agreed on wording that equated "Israeli terror" with Palestinian terror. And then he went the limit, when he stated that unless a Palestinian state is set up, "Israel is finished." This is a fitting crescendo to an Olmert statement of some years ago to the effect that "we are tired of fighting, and tired of defeating our enemies."

"Dividing the land" and establishing a Palestinian state has become the prime minister's ultimate aim, just as in the past the establishment of a Jewish state had been the aim of the Zionist movement. If this is not post-Zionism, just what is it?
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To help stamp the idea of "dividing the Land" into the consciousness of the Israeli public, gala celebrations were held last week to commemorate the UN decision of November 29, 1947, which aimed to divide Palestine into a Jewish state and an "Arab" one. Perish the thought that if that decision had been implemented, the State of Israel would have been stillborn, and that only by "occupying" territories beyond the UN partition lines was Israel able to assure its survival. Thrown into the dustbin of history is the League of Nations mandate for Palestine of 1920, which gave international recognition to the rights of the Jewish people to Palestine and Jewish settlement on the land. These rights were not limited to the UN partition lines, nor to the 1949 armistice lines. As a matter of fact, they included what is today the Kingdom of Jordan.

Now, according to these new post-Zionists, the armistice lines of 1949 have been sanctified, and anything beyond these lines is "occupied territory" that must be turned over to the Palestinians as quickly as possible, before the State of Israel finds itself "finished."

Settlement in the Land of Israel has been the Zionist credo since the days of the Biluim, in the 1880s. The moral basis for the settlement activity was the belief that Jews had a right to settle in the Land of Israel, and that this right was not restricted to certain areas. Now along come Olmert and Livni and maintain that it is wrong for Jews to be living beyond the 1949 armistice lines, and that this wrong has to be corrected by the uprooting of settlements.

The trauma that followed the uprooting of the Gush Katif settlements, and the conclusion by most of the Israeli public that this was a tragic mistake, has, for at least the time being, stayed the Olmert government's hand from pursuing further uprooting of settlements by force. The new tactic that Ehud Barak, the defense minister, wants to try is to have the government offer the settlers money to leave their homes. This is another departure from the Zionism of Herzl, Jabotinsky and Ben-Gurion. Olmert has already announced his in-principle agreement with this move, though he feels that the time is not ripe for passing the necessary legislation.

Devoid of any moral basis is the Olmert government's aim of ethnic cleansing of all the areas they intend to cede to the Palestinians. If it can't be done by force it will be done by providing monetary incentives. The Palestinian state that Olmert and Livni dream of handing to Mahmoud Abbas must not have a single Jew in it. This is the immoral low ground to which the new post-Zionists have sunk.
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  1.   Question 09:43  |  Johnny Weintraub 11/12/07
  2.   POST-ZIONISTS 09:58  |  HM 11/12/07
  3.   Aren`s wholly ignores the principle of a two-state solution 10:27  |  Ivar 11/12/07
  4.   Martin Luther King`s letter on Zionism 10:37  |  Walter 11/12/07
  5.   Moshe Arense is RIGHT. This article is a correct one! 10:46  |  Vittorio 11/12/07
  6.   It`s nice to read that Zionists would have gone to war in 1948 10:48  |  Andreas 11/12/07
  7.   Free advice to Olmert and Barak: Don`t pay... 10:53  |  Dutch Dirk 11/12/07
  8.   the troika should be reminded that human rights apply to jews too 11:05  |  victor hardman 11/12/07
  9.   Im sorry Arens 11:07  |  Mike 11/12/07
  10.   Neighbors be damned, we will have OUR fences and property lines! 11:10  |  Ivar 11/12/07
  11.   Silly article. 11:14  |  Michael 11/12/07
  12.   Mr. Arens, really this is a staw in the wind 11:20  |  Yaakov Sullivan 11/12/07
  13.   #2 andreas and the fault : in history 11:24  |  victor hardman 11/12/07
  14.   #7 dutch and the realisation that human rights dont exist for jew 11:53  |  victor hardman 11/12/07
  15.   Remember the 2 spies 12:23  |  Oldtimer 11/12/07
  16.   Ivar 12:23  |  Alex 11/12/07
  17.   for a land without a people 12:33  |  Murray 11/12/07
  18.   the problem with hard liners 13:05  |  cool 11/12/07
  19.   RE : Remember the 2 spies 13:26  |  Andreas 11/12/07
  20.   inane article 13:28  |  zeev 11/12/07
  21.   21st century exclusive club thoughts.... 13:36  |  glitterous 11/12/07
  22.   Post-Zionists 13:47  |  Altmann Lyliane 11/12/07
  23.   Demagoguery 13:51  |  ascolmes 11/12/07
  24.   where`s the beef? 13:55  |  Disappointed 11/12/07
  25.   Brilliant and a Must Read 14:01  |  Brod 11/12/07
  26.   bribing the settlers to move 14:02  |  Michael Cohen 11/12/07
  27.   Moshe Arens dotted all the Is & crossed all the Ts 14:12  |  Akram Zekaria 11/12/07
  28.   Double standard 14:16  |  Joseph 11/12/07
  29.   Not Double Standard 16:15  |  ascolmes 11/12/07
  30.   Arens the Neanderthal 16:16  |  Tosefta 11/12/07
  31.   arens 16:18  |  geroge 11/12/07
  32.   Start with a lie and build a false argument 16:43  |  Omar 11/12/07
  33.   #30 toosofta and again the wrong argument 17:00  |  victor hardman 11/12/07
  34.   ..and on the British Mandate 17:06  |  Omar 11/12/07
  35.   Post--Israelis 17:21  |  alexanderZ 11/12/07
  36.   Tosefta in Tveria on Neanderthals 17:31  |  Omar 11/12/07
  37.   The new post -Zionist 17:41  |  Sam Popack 11/12/07
  38.   Akram Zekaria #27 Who lost his mind? 18:19  |  Roo 11/12/07
  39.   #4 Say Walter in SC re MLK 18:27  |  ballistic 11/12/07
  40.   Olmert and Livni - Is this the Best Israel Can Do ? 18:39  |  Tod Zuckerman 11/12/07
  41.   Peace 18:47  |  Mike 11/12/07
  42.   Roo-38# You got it all wrong..`Jordan is Palestine` 18:58  |  Akram Zekaria 11/12/07
  43.   Moshe Arens and "post-Zionism"... 19:43  |  sandra chitayat 11/12/07
  44.   Tanks and Planes For Hamas Soon 19:51  |  Dave Levy 11/12/07
  45.   new post post beginistic likud is dead dead 19:56  |  Haim Shmendrik 11/12/07
  46.   Herzl et al. 19:57  |  David 11/12/07
  47.   Moshe kills the myth of Israel attacked by its neighbours 20:46  |  Nick Ferriman 11/12/07
  48.   Scripture says: 21:04  |  Aaron 11/12/07
  49.   to Akram Zekaria #27 22:47  |  zeev 11/12/07
  50.   to Akram Zekaria #42 23:09  |  zeev 11/12/07
  51.   Talk to the Neanderthal (Victor Hardhead #33) 23:12  |  Tosefta 11/12/07
  52.   Progress of the generations (Omar #36) 23:12  |  Tosefta 11/12/07
  53.   post zionism,is just a fancy name for treason 23:23  |  chaim 11/12/07
  54.   Moshe Arens, A Member of Irgun Gang 23:41  |  Janet 11/12/07
  55.   Moshe Arens, you forget that............ 23:55  |  Deborah 11/12/07
  56.   Moshe Arens, a Neo-Zionist from the book 00:12  |  Eli 12/12/07
  57.   Olmert`s mistakes are not ideological, but personal. 00:14  |  Fortuna Benmayor 12/12/07
  58.   #39 ballistic you must read... 01:14  |  Walter 12/12/07
  59.   to Fortuna Benmayor #57 01:15  |  zeev 12/12/07
  60.   ballistic also read... 01:42  |  Walter 12/12/07
  61.   #3 Ivar - Estonia 02:22  |  * BEN JABO 12/12/07
  62.   Post Zionism is a very sick leftist death wish. 02:26  |  Chaim 12/12/07
  63.   #6 Andreas - Basel 02:29  |  * BEN JABO 12/12/07
  64.   MLK`s fake letter 03:03  |  Ariel Marie 12/12/07
  65.   to Chaim #62 03:37  |  zeev 12/12/07
  66.   to Ariel Marie #64 03:53  |  zeev 12/12/07
  67.   Ariel Marie see # 60 04:12  |  Walter 12/12/07
  68.   Janet (Post No. 54) 04:33  |  Johnny Weintraub 12/12/07
  69.   Deborah (Post No. 55) 04:40  |  Johnny Weintraub 12/12/07
  70.   #4!!!!!!! 05:21  |  Excello 12/12/07
  71.   Zionism did not start with Herzl, Jabotinsky & Ben Gurion... 05:43  |  Smadar 12/12/07
  72.   As if Zionism is as Moshe Arens visualizes it being his way or no 06:13  |  Smadar 12/12/07
  73.   Where to begin in correcting this article???? 07:52  |  Johnboy 12/12/07
  74.   #71/2/3 pocohontas leads to wig wam of chief idiot 08:18  |  victor hardman 12/12/07
  75.   Martin Luther King`s letter on Zionism 08:24  |  BBSNews 12/12/07
  76.   The new post-zionists 08:39  |  Martin List,M.D. 12/12/07
  77.   Zionism needs commitment to Judaism!! 09:22  |  Dr Eric 12/12/07
  78.   # 8 Victor Hardman. For once I agree with you. 09:42  |  Nick Ferriman 12/12/07
  79.   not just a fake letter, a whole fake book 11:42  |  Minister 12/12/07
  80.   #64 Ariel Marie 17:42  |  * BEN JABO 12/12/07
  81.   #58 Walter, Coretta said the letter was a fraud. 19:09  |  ballistic 12/12/07
  82.