rodinson, maxime - why palestine
Post on 07-Jul-2018
221 Views
Preview:
TRANSCRIPT
-
8/18/2019 Rodinson, Maxime - Why Palestine
1/11
Why
Palestine?
Maxime
Rodinson
I
haveoften een
asked-as
I
have beenhere-to explain he
origin f
my nterestnthecause of thePalestinians ndmyreasons ordefending
them.
People
seldom
fail
to draw attention
o the extent
o
which
my
attitudes
eem
contradictory:
ave
not several imes
mocked
nationalist
fervor, emonstrated
he
absurdities o
which
t
so often
eads
and
the
crimes t
nspires?
ave
I
not
frequentlyxpressed
mydeep revulsion or
nationalist
peeches?
And sn't
thePalestinian
ause as
nationalists that
which s
the
mainspring
f
the
Zionistmovement?sn't
t
nconsistento
grant
alestinian
ationalism
privileged osition
n
relation o
so many
others, nd particularlyn comparisonwith sraelinationalismnd the
form f
Jewish
ationalism mbodied
n
Zionism?1
I
make
no
claim
oescapetheweaknesses
ommon o human hinking.
I
merely
ry o
limit
theirhold.
Essentially,
do not
believe
that my
positions
re
so
absurd.To the
xtent
hat
my rguments
ave
beentaken
up by
others,
ave
converged
with heir
wn
positions
r are
ikely
o be
useful,
t s
perhaps
worth
my
xpanding
hem
omewhat ere.
First f ll-and Iwant o stress hispoint-I am nnoway xempting
Palestinian ationaism
rom he defects f
every
form f
nationalism.
These defects
re
very
lear
in the
speeches
and
actionsof
Palestinian
nationalists.
he
Palestinians
re
human
nd
t
would, ndeed,
e a
miracle
if they
had
escaped
the
universal
onsequences
of
humankind's
mobili-
zation
or
cause,
whether
good
or
a
bad one.
Now,
do not
believe n
-
8/18/2019 Rodinson, Maxime - Why Palestine
2/11
WHY
PALESTINE? 17
miracles.
t
would
be
surprising
ndeed
f
they
id
not dealize heir
wn
ethnic
r
national roup, attributeo the atter n essence
ternallynd
entirelyood, nd, ncontrast,demonize he nemy,who salways nd
in
every
way treacherous.Here, as elsewhere, n
irresistibleendency
emerges o
link
the
national
dramato
an
alleged
ternal
osmicstruggle
between
Good and
Evil.
Nationalism s a
particularxampleof
a
militant
deology.Militant
ideological movementshave
constantcharacteristics,
nd Palestinian
nationalism
o more scapes them han
does
its
enemy, ionist r Israeli
nationalism.
verymilitant
deologicalmovement lso idealizestscause,
and demonizes theenemy.Within ts rankstherereigns constant
outbidding
which
hrows
uspicionon
everynuance,
on
every
ffort o
understand
the
other,
or
move
away
from the
utmost
degree
of
demonization.
he
struggle
or
power,
which s still
universal
actor
n
the
politicaldynamic,
s
only
suspended-and partially
t
that-to the
extent o
which
hecombat
mposesdiscipline.However,
many
ndivid-
uals
and
groups
re
eager
o take
t
up again
nd are
on
the
watch or
very
occasion to
begin
o do so at
the
very
east.The
leadership
s
constantly
tempted ya tendencyo broaden nd universalizehevalidityf a tactic
which
may only
be
temporary,
o
present
histactic
o the massesand
elites
s essential nd
eternal,
o
presuppose
t
n
past vents,
nd
to admit
the ikelihood f ts
continuing
n
thefuture. he
leadership onstantly
tends
o
subject
ll
its activities
nd all its
thinking
o
transitory
actical
needs. The intellectuals f the movement
re
always
tempted,
n
quite
parallel
ways, y
facile
xplanation:
conspiratorial
ision f
history
nd
of
the
present.
n
the
hadows,
he
treacherous orces
f Evil
have
always
wovencunning lots againstGood, and they ontinue o do so. In any
case,
t s
blasphemous-and dangerous-to express
he
eastdoubtas to
the
ventual utcome
f the
triumph
f the
movement,
hich an
butbe
preparing glorious
uture.
mong
he
militants
f he
rank
nd file
here
are
many
who
surrender
o
the
everyday assions
of
humankind,
o
all
kinds
f
rrationalityggravated y
gnorance,
hich
ometimes
o
as
far
as the atisfactionf sadistic
mpulses.
All
of
this
s
apparently
he
case,
and
naturally deplore
t.
But
one
must otforgethat ven henoblest ndmost dmirableauseshavebeen
sullied
y
imilar
efects,
nd
by
corruption
nd
criminal
ehavior n
the
part
of some of their
ollowers,
f not on the
part
of most
of
them.
A
retrospective
iew
of
thingsmay easily
convince that
they should,
nevertheless,
avebeen
upported.
o
wait efore
ommitting
neself
o
a
-
8/18/2019 Rodinson, Maxime - Why Palestine
3/11
18 JOURNAL OF PALESTINE STUDIES
cause
until
ll ts
representatives,lways
nd
everywhere,
rewithout ault
or error,s to takerefugenpassivitynd contribute o thevictoryfthe
enemycause whichmaybe corrupt,not only in the behaviorof its
followers,
ut in its
objectives.
This does
not, however,
mean thatone
should condone every
ction and idea of those one
supports
n their
overall
goal.
All
nationalismshave major defects nherent
n
their
nationalist
character,
n
addition o theviceswhich sually
dhere
o every ctionof
ideologicalmilitantism. ut it is imperative o establish istinctions
t
once.
A nationalism hich imsto
subject
thernations s
despicable
nd
must be fought.A static form of nationalismmaybe more or less
tolerated,
nd
fought nly
n
its more
extreme
manifestations.ut the
nationalism
f n
oppressednation,
which
wishes o obtain
espect or ts
collective ightss
a
nation,must
e
supported
n
ts
ssential im, ven f
certain f ts manifestations
re
open
to criticism.
It could be maintained,
nd
has
in
factbeen maintainedsee Albert
Memmi2), hat ionist ationalismsalsothenationalism f n
oppressed
people,
he
Jews.
t
s
true
hat,nitially,
ionism rew ts
trength
rom he
aspirations f theJewsof EasternEurope who werepersecuted nd
oppressed.However,
he
olution
f
Jewish
tate
s
proposed y
Zionism
to
remedy
his
ersecution
nd
oppression
was
not
he
nly
olution.
or
long
time t was
adopted only by
a small
minority.
owerful
Jewish
organizations,
he
Jewish eligious uthorities,
nd a
considerable umber
of ndividual
ews upported
ther olutions.
ewish
ationalism
tself,
s
the
concept
of
a
singleJewish
ation cattered ver the
planet,
did
not
necessarilympose
tself s
an
ideology f
combat.We
know,
n
fact, hat
this
collectivity,
he
gathering
f the
survivors
f a
very ong history
riddledwith liminations
nd
assimilations,
ould
only
e
classified ith
great
eal
of uncertainty:
s
a
fragmentedeligious ommunitybutmany
rejected
heir
ncestral eligion ithout easing o
be
considered s Jews
y
their
ntourage);
s a
grouping
f formationsloser o
the
thno-national
type,
which
could
have
ustified
everaldifferent
ewish
nations
an
ensemble
f
Yiddish
anguage
nd
culture
n
Eastern
urope-yet,
in
the
nineteenthentury, ncreasingly articipatingn the host cultures-
communities f
Ladino culture
nd
language
n
one
part
of the
Ottoman
empire,
etc..
.
?).
Few
things
drew
together
the
existing
groups
andthe
many
men nd
womenwho
escaped
ll
ofthese
lassifications
nto
a
centrifugal
ovement
which,
t
a
precise
moment
n
history,
eemed
irresistible.
-
8/18/2019 Rodinson, Maxime - Why Palestine
4/11
WHY PALESTINE? 19
Thus, options other than
the
ideological constitution
f a
Jewish
people united
nto
one
nation and
(a
not
absolutelynecessary onse-
quence)a Jewish tate,wereputforward nd made clear.But thisJewish
state
had
to
be
located
somewhere.
As a
result f
circumstances,
f the
ideological weight f the past, of the ignorance f many, nd of the
imperialistnterests ith
which
hemovement
as
to
ink
tself
n
order o
become effective,
he and chosen
was Arab
Palestine.
his
fact
ed
the
Zionistform f nationalismn the direction f oppressivenationalism.
Logically,herewereonlytwowaysoftransforming
land
nhabited y
Arabs intoa Jewish erritory:he subjectionor expulsionof the indi-
genouspopulation.t snot surprisinghat fter hemany icissitudes,n
the
course
of
which
the
responsibilities
or
this
or
that
negative
consequencemaybe shared, hefinal esultwas practices f subjection
andexpulsion.
It seemsclear, herefore-and think hat his hould be obvious to
every
mind
free of
ideological camouflage-that
Zionist
nationalism,
whatever pinion one mayhave
of the
egitimacy
f a
plan for Jewish
statepurely
s
a
plan,
ook concrete
nd
practical
orm
n
the
oppression
of nother eople.Consequently,tmust eadmitted hat hePalestinians'
resistance o thisprocess
falls
nto
the
ategory f nationalistmovements
of
oppressed eoples
who
deserve
upport. y
hiswe mean
he
upport
f
all
whoare
committed o
fighting
ational
ppression,
nd
who
can
allow
no
exception
o this
eneral
rientation ithout
eing
ccusedof
ntellec-
tual
nconsistency
nd moraldeviation.
This, believe,
s what hould
ustifyupport
f
Palestinian
ationalism
in its present undamental
im
by everyone
who
proclaims n ethical
commitment.nce again, his nno waynecessarilymplies pproval f
the
programs,trategies,actics, ctions,
nd ideas which
merge
n
the
organizationshrough
hich he
Palestinian
laim s
expressed,
nd
which
evendominate hem.
As
in all
similar
movements,
here s
a
constant
nd
very trong ressure,
ot
only
on
the
part
f
these
rganizations,
ut
also
by
the
very
ature
f
things,
o
link
understanding,pproval
n
principle
and
global pproval
f
themovement
ith
ractical upport
f ts
ctions
and
trends,
nd evendirect
articipation
n t.
Sometimes hisbecomes
sortofblackmail. ach one is free o judgewhether moral mperative
propels
him
n
thisdirection.
ike
several
million
thers,
had
translated
my
onviction
f the
ustifiable
ature f the
protest gainst
he
njustice
organized y capitalism
nto
participation
nd
enrollment
n
the
Com-
munist
movement.
his
ong
nd hard
xperience aught
me
the
dangers
f
-
8/18/2019 Rodinson, Maxime - Why Palestine
5/11
20
JOURNALOF
PALESTINE
STUDIES
such
mixtures.t
may
presenttself s a
duty
or
Palestinian ho
has no
means
of
struggling
gainst heoppression
f his
people
other
han otal
commitment.ora non-Palestinianabove all,for non-Arab), t s more
debatable.
For a
Jew, there
re
moreprecise nd
morallymore
constricting
reasons o add to
thosewhich
mustpush
everyone o at
leastan
under-
standing
f,
and
overall
sympathyor,
the
protest
xpressed-well
or
badly-by the
Palestinianmovement.
Every
ew,
hat
s,
n
this
ase,every
manor
woman
who s
considered
a
Jew,
s
implicated,
ike it
or not.3 t is well
known
that
the
Zionist
movement,rom hevery utset,ntendedospeak nthename f llJews.
The
development
iscussed
bove has
given hisclaim
ncreasing redi-
bility.But,
n
spite of
a
too extensive
omplaisance
n
the
part of
the
Jewishmasses for
reasons
which
re
sociologically
nd
psychologically
comprehensible-however uch heoutcome
may
e
deplored-it is
not
true
hat
ll
Jews in
the
bove
sense)
have
approved
nd
do
approve he
decisions f
the
uthorities
f
srael,
his
tatewhich
s the
utcome f
the
endeavors f the
Zionistmovement.
n
the
past,
therewas
scarcely ny
needto point his ut.AllZionist iteratureearswitnesso thehostility,
or at east he ack of
enthusiasm,
fthe
Jewish
masses
for he
ause t
was
defending.
he
rallying
ook
place
ittle
y
ittle. or
a
very
ong
ime,
he
principal
nemies
which he
Zionists
had
to
overcomewere
Jews.
Even
now,manyJews
keep
silent
through
ack
of
courage,
ack
of
information,
r
ndecision.
Manywaver, nly
partly onvinced
and when
they
re
convinced,
t s above all the
ndirect esult
f
Arab
propaganda).
Many,without
alling nto
question
he
Stateof srael
which
hey elieve
necessary or heir afety, ho fear heconsequences f tsdestruction,
strongly
isapprove
f
omeor
many
f
the
decisions
nd
directions
aken
by
srael.
Nevertheless,
ndeterred,
he sraeli
uthoritiesontinue
o
speak nd
act
n
thenameof all
Jews
n
all
occasions
exceptwhen,
ontradictorily,
they omplain
of the ack
of
Jewishmobilization
o as
to extract
more
money
nd
support
rom he
Jewish
masses).
One of the
most
hocking
examples-and,
if
I
mention
nly
this
one,
it is
simply
or
reasonsof
space-concernsthe ompensationbtained romGermanyor hemass
murder
f the
Jews
uring
he ast World War.
Among
the
millions f
Jews
massacred,
many
were nti-Zionist
r
at
leastnon-Zionist.
ut
that
has
not
prevented
he
Zionist tate rom
ollecting,
or tsown
profit
nd
for
hebenefit f ts
projects
nd
decisions,
he
price
of their
lood.
-
8/18/2019 Rodinson, Maxime - Why Palestine
6/11
WHY PALESTINE? 21
In
short, ll theJews f the
earth ind hemselvesaught p, without
having been
consulted,
n
the
consequences of decisions taken in
Jerusalemy smallgroup fpersonswhom hey idnot hoose, ndwho
are nno
waytheir epresentatives.
To
illustratehe hocking nddangerous ature f
this, etus take n
imaginary
xample-though imilar
ases must
have
arisenmany time,
hopefully ftenwithout uch seriousresults. et
us
not
forget
hat
he
custom f
thevendettatha'r
n
Arabic) s aswidespreadn
theArabworld
as it s
n
Corsica
nd
many ther ocieties
which ave
retained
omething
of
their
raditionaltructure.
magine
Jew
rom small
own
n
Norway
or Venezuelawhohasneverhad the eastcontactwith heStateof srael
and theZionist
movement.
here
re,
fter
ll,
millions ike
his.
magine
Palestinian,r even notherArab,
whosefamily as beenkilledby sraeli
bombs
or
weapons
in
Hebron,
Sidon or elsewhere.
magine that,
convinced y Zionist ropaganda f the
ndefectible
olidarity
f
all
Jews
with srael on
every oint,
thisArab
avenges
himself
n this
Jew.
am
pushing
hings
o
the limit
o
make
my example
more
vivid,
but
this
correspondso
an
importantspect
of
the
present
ituationwhich
no one
candenywithout eingdishonest.
This
entire nalysis eems o
me
to demonstrate
hat-although very
person
of
sound
rational
nd moral
udgment
will find
he
Palestinian
protest
egitimate,
t least
n
essence-the
Jews
ave a
particularuty o
mobilize
gainst
he buse done
in
their
ame,
nd
they
ave the
greatest
interest
n
so doing.
A
similar
ituation mong
n
increasing umber f
ethno-national
roups
s
today
reating
n abundance f similar
mpera-
tives.The
nationaldemandsof
minority roups
re
increasing,
nd
the
tendencies owards ssimilationwhichpredominatednan earlier hase
are
becomingconsiderably
ess
strong,
t least
as
explicit
deologies.
Everywhere,
ithin
hese
groups,organizations
or
struggle
re
being
formedwhich
put
forward
rograms, evelop strategies
nd
tactics,
nd
move
n
to actions
which re
ncreasingly ilitary
n
form.All claim
o be
translating
he will-at least the
mplicit
will-of
all
the
members
f
the
same thnic
roup.
The
atter re
currently
eld
responsible
or
he
ctions
and
plans
of
these
minority
odies. As
in
the case of
the
Jews, hey
frequentlyxperience
ome version o
disassociating
hemselves
ublicly
from heir
brothers,
ven f
hey eplore
heir
nitiatives.
n
most ases
(the
Armenians,tc.),
there
xist
representativerganizations
hich an
issuedifferent
tatements,
nd
distance hemselves
rom hese
nitiatives.
Up
to the
present ime,
for
all
sorts
of
sociologicalreasons,
he
major
-
8/18/2019 Rodinson, Maxime - Why Palestine
7/11
22 JOURNAL OF
PALESTINE STUDIES
Jewish
rganizations
ave
nothad
this
ourage nd,
n a
suicidal
way,
have
allowed heir dherence t
east o the
policies
decided n
srael
o go very
far.Let us hasten o add that,nthePalestinianase, thePLO's claimto
speak
n
thename f ll
Palestinians
s,
to
a
greatxtent,orne ut
by
facts.
* *
*
I
have,therefore,poken
of the
attitude esirable or ll
Jews.But
have been asked for
personal
estimony.My personal
motives an,
n
fact, e added to these eneral actorsnddoubtless ive hem particular
character.
shall
not
inger
oo
long
n these
or
have
lready
ouched n
this
ubject
n
earlier
ublications,
nd I
do
notwish o
leave
myself pen
to
the
reproach
f excessive
omplacency.
In
the main,this acute
consciousness
of theZionist
option as
not
constituting
n
mperativeor very
ew,
f ts
dangers,
f
he
dangers ven
of
everyJewish
ationalist
rend,
temsfrom he
milieu
n which
was
broughtup.
It was
a milieu
composed
of
Jews
who were free
of the
ancestral eligion nd oftenhostile to it,according o theanti-clerical
model
in
European
Christianmilieux.
They
were at
the
same time
internationalists,
enerally-but
not
exclusively-ideologically
riented
towards he ocialist
deal n
thewidest ense
nd,
with
egard
o
everyday
life, owards
ssimilation
ith he
urrounding
eople.
t
s
importanto
stress
hat,
before
1939,
thiswas
a
verywidespread
ttitude n the
so-
called
Ashkenazi
milieu,
hat
s,
among
the
Jews
f Eastern nd
Central
Europeanorigin.
According
o this
ttitude, ewish
dentity
n
twentieth
century uropewas but a residual henomenon.t was a question f the
descendants
f membersof
an
ancient
people
and/or of an
ancient
religious
community
whose
assimilation
was
underway,
ut
not
yet
completed
n
the ollective
onsciousness.
hus,public
pinion,
o
a
great
extent,
till lassified
hem s
possessing specificdentity,
hat
f
Jew.
I
will
not
go
so
far s
to
say
hat his
oncept
was
universal
mong hose
who claimed heir
ewish
ncestryin
the
ense
of
ancestry
n
the
Jewish
religious
ommunity
with ts
strong
thnic
onnotations),
or
among
those forwhom this ancestrywas known. But it was much more
widespread
han is
thought
o
today.
Other trends
ndicated their
attachment
o one of the
options
described
ery
riefly
bove. t
s
useful
to
stress
hat
hosewho
subscribed o
the
Jewish
aith
were
generally
ot
attracted
y
nationalist
ptions.
-
8/18/2019 Rodinson, Maxime - Why Palestine
8/11
WHY
PALESTINE? 23
This ttitude,n thehalf enturyfter 920, became he
fficial ption
adoptedby theCommunist arties ndby their ewish
members. utone
mustbewary fthinkinghat heCommunists adsole rights o it. Only
the Communist nternational
xpanded
it
into
pedantic theoretical
versions
equipped-as
was the
rest
of
Communist
dogma-with the
prestige f science, f that urious science,
set
apartfrom ll
theusual
characteristicsf theordinary ciences,
which
was called Marxism. his
had
the
effect f
reinforcing,hrough omplexreasoning, ttachmento
the
rientation
n
question.
n
fact,
his
n
no
way ltered he
fundamental
arguments f good sense
and
fact
which
were tsbasis. But thebeliever's
faithn themwasthereby trengthened.
Such was
my case throughoutmy ong ourney hrough his ecular
religion. owever, he
French ommunist
arty
o which
belonged lso
obeyed
he
ogic
of the
political pparatus.
t was
very
losely ollowing
strategy
o
winmembers nd
supporters
n
France,
nd votes
n
the
French
elections.
This
committedt
not
to
advance ts
theoreticaldeas
on the
Zionist ption s a general ule.After
he
dvent f theState
of srael nd
the
universaldemonstrations
f
sympathy
t received n the
West,
particularlynFrance,which pread qually n eft-wingewishircles,t
was not appropriate, olitically peaking,
o
bring p
this
ssue
on which
the
Party
octrine ould
give
rise o
opposition, ncluding
withints
own
ranks.
The issue
was
avoided as
far
s
possible.
A
decision
on
it
was
only
taken
when
as
in
1953)
theSovietUnion was called nto
question
n
that
respect.
n order o defend he
USSR,
the
bastion f
ocialism,
he
Party
had
risked
widespread npopularity
nd
condemnation
t the
ime
f
the
German-Soviet
act,
rom 939
to
1941.
It
could
wellface
esser
waves
n
the ubject ftheStateof srael.
My originality
as
that
was
already
nformed n
the
ubject.
had
spent
even
years
n
Lebanon
where
had
been
n
direct
ontactwith
he
problem.
Assisted
y my pecialization
n
Arab
and
Islamic
tudies,
had
understood
the bases of the
Arab
attitude
oward srael.
This was
extremely
are
t
the
time. t has become
only
little ess
so
today.
Temperamentally,
find t
difficult o tolerate
laring
rrors, nd
I
quickly
eel desire
o
fight hem,
o
engage
n
polemics.
n
theface
fthe
errors,
he
untruths,
ndtheobtuseness f which he
press
ndthemedia
were
veryday uilty,my xasperation
as
permanent.
he fact
hat
uch
obtuseness
eigned
lmostto
the same
degree in spite
of
the
doctrine)
within
he
ranks f
the
Party
f
which was a
member
nly
ncreased
my
exasperation.
-
8/18/2019 Rodinson, Maxime - Why Palestine
9/11
24 JOURNAL OF PALESTINE STUDIES
This is how
I
came to write rticles
nd give ectures n order to
contribute
o
correcting
alse
pinions
with
egard o themotivations f
thePalestinianmovement.ssentially,attemptedo make t understood
that hismovement
ad no
connectionwithHitlerian
nti-Semitism.
n
opposition, articular
acts
were
ited
whichwere
eal,
but no
more
han
details levated o the
rank f
explanatoryymptoms:
he
ollaboration
f
theMuftiHajj
Amin l-Husseiniwith
Hitler,
heuse n theArab
ranks f
reasoning
nd
themes
f
the
type
which re
clearly
nti-Semiticn
the
traditional
ense of the word in the
West,
that s to
say,
attacksnot
directed
gainst articular
ctions
n the
part
f
particular roups
f
Jews,
butagainst hevery ssence fJewssa whole hroughhe ges, udged o
be by nature
vil and
depraved.
attempted
o
explain
hat he
protest
movement,
whatever
he
form
nd
subjects
of its
propaganda,
id
not
derive ts
origin
nd
essential
nature rom uch
phantasms,
ut from
concrete act
whichconstituted serious
grievance:
he
occupation
of
Arab Palestine
y
a
Jewish opulation.
It must
be
recordedthatmyefforts
nd
those of the
groups and
individualswho have come to this
position
have metwith
nlyrelative
success. The majority f the Westernpublic continues to link the
Palestinian evolution, nd
Arab
protest
n
general,
with
Hitlerian nti-
Semitism.
his
misleading omparison
s
encouraged y
a
considerable
number
f
speeches
and
publications
rom
he Arab
side.
Lastly,
he
publicity iven
o the
revisionist
heses f
Faurisson4
nd
others an
be
mentioned, espite
hedemonstrationsf their alsehood.How
can
t
fail
to be
apparent
hat he
Zionist
heses re
trengthened
n this
way,
ot
only
through
reaction frevulsion n
the
part
f he
Western
ublic, ut lso
on a purely ogicalplane?Doesn't thismply peakingndwritings if he
great
number
f
Jewish
ictims f
genocide ustified
he Zionist
under-
taking? therwise,
what
benefitwould t be to
the
Arabs to
support
he
allegation
hat
ewer
ews erished
han s
currently
aintained?5
Nevertheless, rogresshas
been made. When
I
was
beginning o
publishmy writings,
herewas
practically
o othervoice to
shake the
consensus
f Western
pinion.
The Israeli heseswere lmost
universally
recognized
s
expressing
he real
truth,
the
objective reality.
No
publisher
ared o
publish
bookwhich
isputed hem;
o
paperprinted
an article
ontradicting
his ersion f he acts
except
or he
Communist
press,
nd
only
when nti-Soviet
ropaganda
n the
ubject bliged
hem
to
do
so);
no
film
was
hown
which ook ccount
f
heArab
point
f
view.
Events
fter
967
have somewhat
haken his
universal
omplacency
nd
-
8/18/2019 Rodinson, Maxime - Why Palestine
10/11
WHY
PALESTINE?
25
allowed at least some publicity
o
be
given
o the critics
f
the Zionist
project nd Israelipropaganda.
This
breakthrough
s
still imited.
t is
sometimesccompanied y rrors r deviations. ut tdoes exist, nd am
proud
to
have
contributed
o it.
Translated yMargaret
hiari
*410
1.
I am well aware that the designation
nationalist
for the
Zionist movement
often
gives
rise to
protest n the partof
Arab ntellectuals.havealready ome up
against t. This is because in the Arab
world, orreasons
which
re
evident, he
termnationalism
as acquired positive
connotation, sacred aureole. For the
Arabs,
nationalism s by definition
feeling, passion,
duty, praiseworthy,
even
dmirable,
movement. ionism, eing
in
their iew
omething
hich
s
n
ts
very
essence bad, a perverse undertaking,
cannot be
nationalistic.
t
is a projectof
pure banditry,n operationplanned by
Satanicmanipulators hich weeps long
the
deceived
masses or
individuals ssen-
tially ust
s evil. Some
ideologists acking
both
scruples
nd
rigor,
but who
have,
nevertheless,oisted hemselves p onto
more onceptual
lane,
have
had recourse
to
a
verbal stratagem o extricate
hem-
selvesfrom hedilemma et
nto
relief
y
the revulsion f
progressive pinion
for
certain uropeannationalisms,nd these
nationalisms'
upport
of colonial
expan-
sion:
setting
nationalitarism
orthy
f
praise
in the
Third World
against
a
pernicious
ationalism or
which,
atural-
ly, Europe provided
the model. This
represents erely
he ntrusion f passion
into the
rational
nalysisor
self-serving
calculation f
ideologists
who are
careful
only of their
own
reputation.
deologies
and
ideological
movements which
put
forward s an ideal,rightlyr in a manner
open to criticism
r
even
detrimental,o
promote,
efend, xtend, r even
create
nation,may
egitimatelye classifiedn
the
vast
category f nationalisms.
hey
are
different,
utcommon
raits an
be
picked
out. This n no
wayprejudges
he
moral
r
rational
alue of thedemandswhich ach
of them
uts
forward.
2. French ovelistndessayist lbertMemmi
was born n Tunis n 1920. He haswritten
interesting
ovels
n the
utobiographical
vein
llustrating
he ife
of Tunisian
Jews,
followedby
a
noteworthy sychological
essay
on the
relations etween olonizers
and colonized
n a
colonial
society.
He has
also
produced
ome books on the
Jewish
problem.Although ecognizing
rrors
n
the sraeli
eadership
nd
weaknesses
n
the
Zionistmovement,
e
strugglesgainst he
idea that srael s tobe seen as a colonial
phenomenon.He maintains hatZionism
is essentially
liberationmovement
f the
Jewish eople.
3.
There has been strong ppositionto the
arguments
erived rom he
Jewish
itua-
tion whichconvinced
Jean-Paul
artre-
-
8/18/2019 Rodinson, Maxime - Why Palestine
11/11
26
JOURNAL OF
PALESTINE
STUDIES
more
through ntuition-
that the
only
definition
f
a
Jewwas the
perception f a
non-Jew
hoclassified im
or her s
such.
Othershad longunderstood hiswithout
having
expressed t so
strongly.
have
returned
o it several
imes.One
must, f
course,
exclude
from hiscategory
those
Jewswho
ndicate,
y formal
dherence o
the dogma and
resolute
practice
of the
rites, heir
will
to belong to the
Jewish
religion. f other
people consider
hem s
Jews,
t
is
according o theirown
stated
wish.Butthis s
not themost
general ase,
and itwascertainly ot thecaseinFrance
until
recently.The
same
uncertainties
appear
wherever
ld ethnic
rconfessional
adherencesre
disintegrating,reno onger
clearly
pparent
to
all, or are no
longer
claimed
y
ll
those
whocould claim
hem.
What is a
Catholic
n
France
f
not one
who
declares
himself
uch,
or
who is
considered uch? What is
a Black n
the
countries f Americawhere
kin olor has
legal and social significance,ut where
racial
mixtures, hether
n
the
distant r
recent
ast,
dilute he
olor
sometimes o
the
extreme)
n
pursuance
of Mendel's
laws?
A
manor
woman
whohas white kin
but who had
a
black
ancestor
s
Whiteor
Black
(socially, and
sometimes
egally)
according
o
a
milieu
lassifying
im r her
as
such,
unlesshe
or she
claims o be black.
(See,
for
xample,
he
recent
egal
ase in
the United States referred o by Guy
Sitbon,
Le Nouvel
Observateur,
o.
981
(August
26, 1983), p. 42.)
4.
Robert Faurisson,
a
professor
at
the
University f
Lyons,
is
now the chief
figure
mong
French
ollowers f the
so-
called
revisionistchool
n
recent
istory.
His
books and
papers
have aimed to
demonstrate
hat the
number of
Jews
killed
n
Nazi
concentration
amps
was far
less
than what
is
commonly
said and
taught.nthe ameway, ccordingohim,
the Germans
must have killed
fewer
people
n
the
gas
chambers
han aid n the
currenthistories.
aurisson
has few
fol-
lowers
in France.
He is
associated
with
some
people in
Europe and the
United
States
whoprofess he ame
deas.Many f
them follow the same
path in
raising
doubts (e.g. Noam Chomsky) bout the
number of
Cambodians
killed by the
Khmers
rouges. Some
are right-wing,
others eftists. he
common premise s
that, ince
onservativesn
theWest have
an
interest
n
inflating
he numbers
of
victims
f
mass
killing y theReds,
and
since
anti-Nazis nd
Israelis lso use the
number
of Jews
massacred for
their
propaganda,
he
realnumber
must,
here-
fore, be very much lower. Faurisson
himselfhas been
accused of
pro-Nazi
tendencies.
5.
It is sad that
many Arabs
fall into the
Zionist rap y
taking p the
rguments
in
general false
-of the
so-called
revisionist writers
(the Frenchman
Faurisson s
the
mostwell-knownf
these)
in order o
minimizehe
persecution fthe
Jews
y
theNazis n
1939-1945. Whatever
the exact number fJews laughtered,t
certainly
mounts
o
several
million.
Hair-
splitting
n
this
figure
nd
on
the
method
of execution
n
no
way
diminishes he
horror f this
ystematic
laughter
imed
at
people only,
nd in a
clearly
tated
way,
because of their eal or
alleged ncestry.
hhere
has been no
example
of
this
magnitude
or
ong
enturies. ther
xam-
ples
of the same
type, ut
with
onsider-
ably fewer victims (the Tasmanians,
Gypsies, etc.),
mass
murder as a
by-
product
of
war,
the
transport
f
slaves,
etc., colonial
wars,
he
Blacks)
n
no
way
alter his rutal act.No
moredoes the act
of
the busive
xploitation
fthemassacre
by
Zionism
and
the State
of Israel. The
Arabs
who
use
this
type
of
argument,
repeat, fully
gratify
he
wishes
of
the
Zionist movement
n
another
way,
too.
They thus put themselvesforward
s
enemies f the
Jews
s a
whole,
ndnotas
enemies
f theZionist
lan.
This can
only
help
to cause
all
Jews
to
perceive
all
Arabs
as
their
nemies, gainst
whom
hey
mustmobilize.
top related