The Biggest, Most Successful and Most Dangerous Spin of All
Alan Hart | 21.04.2006 00:36 | Repression
The Biggest, Most Successful and Most Dangerous Spin of All
17 April, 2006
By author and former ITN and Panorama reporter Alan Hart who, with his latest book, ZIONISM: THE REAL ENEMY OF THE JEWS, is engaged in what he calls a “titanic struggle” to tell the whole and unexpurgated truth about how the Palestine problem became the cancer at the heart of international affairs, and who must do what and why if this cancer is to be cured before it consumes us all.
In my opinion there is one reason above all others why a just and durable peace has remained beyond the reach of politics and diplomacy. What is that reason?
Since the obscenity of the Nazi holocaust and Israel's unilateral declaration of existence in 1948 to the present, informed and honest debate about who must do what and why for justice and peace in the Middle East has not been possible throughout the mainly Gentile Judeo-Christian world. Why not?
Because its first and still existing draft of history as provided by the media is constructed on Zionist mythology or spin.
For anti-spin doctors of all faiths and none, Problem Number One (I’ll be addressing three problems in this posting) is that most Gentiles and, it seems, many Jews, either have no idea or a wrong idea about what Zionism actually is. The wrong idea exists because of Zionism’s breathtaking success in convincing pretty much all of the Judeo-Christian world that Judaism, the religion of Jews, and Zionism are somehow one and the same thing. And it’s because of this success that Zionist spin doctors, feeding off the obscenity of the Nazi holocaust (a Gentile not a Moslem crime), are able to play their blackmail card – the false and malicious charge of anti-Semitism – to silence critics of Israel right or wrong and suppress debate.
The truth, which Zionism does not want the world to know, is in two related parts. The first is that Zionism and Judaism are not one and the same thing. The second is that knowledge of the difference between Judaism and Zionism is the key to understanding why it is perfectly possible to be passionately anti-Zionist without being in any way, shape or form anti-Semitic.
QUESTION. Can Zionism be defined in a few words for understanding by all? I say yes, and I offer this definition:
Zionism is the nationalism of some Jews – actually a tiny minority of the world’s Jews at the time of Zionism’s first public and dishonest mission statement in 1897 – which colonised land, Palestine, to create a state for some Jews; a colonial enterprise which required the incoming, alien Zionist colonisers to ethnically cleanse the land of most of its indigenous Arab inhabitants, the majority population at the time of the colonisation. (Zionism’s first mission statement was dishonest because of its pretence that the objective was not the creation of a sovereign state for Jews in Palestine).
* I am aware that my use of the term alien as in “alien Zionist colonisers” will offend some and perhaps even very many Jews, but the facts of real history as opposed to Zionist mythology oblige me to stand by it. A truth is that many of the Jews who went to Palestine under Zionism’s banner to create the modern state of Israel were not biological descendants of the Hebrews of biblical Israel. They were foreign nationals from many lands who were descended from those who became Jewish by conversion to Judaism centuries after the fall of the ancient Jewish kingdom of Israel and the dispersal of its people. Though it is still not politically correct to say so, the 20th century notion that there were two peoples with an equal claim to the same land does not bear serious examination.
QUESTION. Is it possible to define in a few words for understanding by all what a Zionist is today? I say yes and I offer this definition:
A Zionist today is… One, not necessarily a Jew, who (to quote Balfour) supports the Zionist state of Israel “right or wrong”, and who cannot or will not admit that a wrong was done to the Palestinians by Zionism (a wrong that must be righted on terms acceptable to the Palestinians for justice and peace).
I find myself wondering how many diaspora Jews who think of themselves as being Zionists without actually thinking about it would respond to such a definition. I believe it’s not impossible that many of them, and perhaps even some Israeli Jews, would say – “By that definition I am not a Zionist.”
For the sake of informed and honest debate it should be said that Zionism has no roots in Palestine. Zionism’s roots are in Eastern Europe, in what for a thousand years was the Russian empire of the Tsars. And Zionism’s actual birthplace, the venue in 1897 for its first dishonest mission statement, was a gambling casino (how appropriate) in Switzerland.
Judaism does, of course, have its roots in Palestine. But let’s pause for a moment to take account of what the rabbis who speak for those described as “true” and sometimes “ultra” Orthodox religious Jews say about this on the basis of what is set down in Judaism’s holy book, the Torah, and a vast code of Oral Teaching handed down through the generations… Yes, these rabbis say, God did promise Abraham land, but under certain conditions. These conditions were basically that the Hebrews had to maintain the highest moral, ethical and religious standards, which included treating those already on the land promised with justice and equality. And it was because the Hebrews did not do so that God punished them with exile.
Although most Jews today appear to be unaware of it, the fact is that the return of Jews to the land of biblical Israel by the efforts of man was PROSCRIBED by Judaism. Because the exile was decreed by Almighty God as a punishment, the return had to await the coming of the Messiah. Return by the efforts of men would constitute “a rebellion against the wishes of the Almighty.” [1]
In other words, and as “true” and/or “ultra” Orthodox religious Jews put it: “The Jewish religion absolutely forbids Zionism both on grounds of religious belief and grounds of Jewish religious values of humanitarianism.” [1]
In other words, and again as “true” and/or “ultra” Orthodox religious Jews put it: “Judaism and Zionism are total opposites, incompatible and diametrically opposed.” [1]
I think it can be said without fear of contradiction that but for the obscenity of the Nazi holocaust, Zionism would not have generated enough support and momentum to create a state. It is a fact that prior to the holocaust, most of the best Jewish minds of the time were opposed to Zionism’s colonial enterprise. Why? They believed it to be morally wrong and, given the opposition of the entire Arab and Moslem world, they feared that it would lead to unending conflict. They also feared that the creation in the Arab heartland of a Zionist state for some Jews (a minority) would not be in the best interests of those (the majority) who preferred to live, as they still do, as integrated citizens in the many lands of the mainly Gentile world.
A more recent expression of the latter fear can be found in Israel’s Fateful Hour by Yehoshafat Harkabi, Israel’s longest serving and most enlightened Director of Military Intelligence. In this seminal book, published in English in 1988, Harkabi wrote the following (my emphasis added):
“Israel is the criterion according to which all Jews will tend to be judged. Israel as a Jewish state is an example of the Jewish character, which finds free and concentrated expression within it. Anti-Semitism has deep and historical roots. Nevertheless, any flaw in Israeli conduct, which initially is cited as anti-Israelism, is likely to be transformed into empirical proof of the validity of anti-Semitism. It would be a tragic irony if the Jewish state, which was intended to solve the problem of anti-Semitism, was to become a factor in the rise of anti-Semitism. Israelis must be aware that the price of their misconduct is paid not only by them but also Jews throughout the world.” [2]
It is my view, which I know is endorsed by some of the best Jewish minds of our time, that the “misconduct” of Zionism’s child, self-righteous and arrogant Israel, is a prime cause of the re-awakening of the sleeping giant of classical anti-Semitism. And that’s why I insisted on ZIONISM: THE REAL ENEMY OF THE JEWS as the title of my book.
The core assertion of Zionism’s version of history is that poor little Israel has lived every day of its life in danger of annihilation – the “driving into the sea” of its Jews. The truth of history, which flows fully documented through both volumes of my book, is that Israel’s existence has never, ever, been in danger from any combination of Arab force. Zionism’s brilliantly effective propaganda or spin to the contrary was the cover which allowed Israel to get away where it mattered most – in America and Western Europe – with having is aggression perceived as self-defence.
Take, for example, the Six Day war of June 1967. (For ITN I was the first Western correspondent to the banks of the Suez Canal with the advancing Israelis; and because of the quality of my contacts, I was privy to some of the plotting on the Israeli side in the countdown to war).
Nearly four decades on almost all Jews everywhere, and very many Gentiles, still believe that Israel went to war either because the Arabs attacked first (that was Israel’s first claim), or because the Arabs were intending to attack (thus requiring Israel to launch a pre-emptive strike).
The truth about that war only begins with the statement that the Arabs did not attack and were not intending to attack. The complete truth includes the following facts:
* Israel’s prime minister of the time, the much maligned Levi Eshkol, did not want to take his country to war. And nor did his chief of staff, Yitzhak Rabin. They wanted only very limited military action, an operation far, far short of war, to put pressure on the international community to cause Eygpt’s President Nasser to re-open the Straits of Tiran.
* Israel went to war because the military and political hawks insisted that the Arabs were about to attack - they, the hawks, knew that was not so, and then undermined Eshkol by portraying him to the country as weak. (One of the jibes at the time had Eshkol being asked if he wanted tea or coffee and replying, “Half tea, half coffee.”) The climax to the campaign to rubbish Eshkol, who was wise not weak, was a demand by the hawks that he surrender the defence portfolio and give it to Moshe Dayan, Zionism’s one-eyed warlord and master of deception. Four days after Dayan got the portfolio he wanted, and the hawks had secured the green light from the Johnson administration to smash Eygpt’s air and ground forces, Israel went to war.
* What actually happened in Israel in the final countdown to that war was something very close to a military coup, executed quietly behind closed doors without a shot being fired. For Israel’s hawks the war of 1967 was the unfinished business of 1948/49 – to create Greater Israel. (In reality Israel’s hawks set a trap for Nasser and, for reasons of face, he was draft enough to walk into it).
To make possible the informed and honest debate needed if a catastrophe for all is to be averted, I have re-written the entire history of the conflict, replacing Zionist mythology with documented real history - events as they actually happened not as Zionism’s spin doctors assert they happened. And I've given the events their necessary global context, which is why what happened behind closed doors in London, Paris, Washington and Moscow has its place in the book as well as events in Palestine that became Israel and Arab capitals.
De-constructing Zionist mythology cannot be reactive, it has to tell the whole story. And that's why my book is epic in length (two volumes) as well as sweep and substance. It’s not a work that should be read ten minutes here and ten minutes there. It requires dedicated reading time but… To make the book accessible to all, so-called ordinary folk especially, and to empower them to participate in informed and honest debate, I’ve written it to read more like a novel than a conventional history, in plain, everyday, sometimes earthy, language. At a point, for example, I write: “In effect, Ben-Gurion was telling President Eisenhower to get stuffed.” And I dare to suggest that the reward for readers who give the time will be understanding, perhaps for the first time ever, of how all the pieces of the most complicated jig-saw puzzle fit together.
QUESTION: Why, really, is it so important for there to be informed and honest debate about who must do what for justice and peace in the Middle East?
ANSWER: Our governments are never going to use what leverage they have to insist on an acceptable amount of justice for the Palestinians unless… Unless they, our governments, are “prodded” to do so by informed citizens. (I like the term “prodded” in this context and I’ve borrowed it from a recent article by Jeff Halper, one of Israel’s most courageous campaigners for justice and a candidate for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize). [3]
Problem Number Two is that in all the nations of the mainly Gentile Judeo-Christian world, and America especially, there are simply not enough citizens who are informed enough to do the prodding.
I devoted more than five years of my life to researching and writing ZIONISM: THE REAL ENEMY OF THE JEWS in the hope that it would assist the lighting of a fire of informed and honest debate and empower all citizens, so-called ordinary folk especially, to participate in it – to make democracy work and the prodding happen.
* It’s my view that IF the mass of ordinary decent peoples of Western Europe and North America had been properly informed about the tyranny of Israeli occupation and the cause-and-effect relationship of Israeli occupation and Palestinian violence, there would by now have been, very probably, pressure on governments to end Israel’s occupation.
* I also believe that IF the mass or ordinary, decent peoples of Western Europe and North America could be made aware of the unexpurgated truth of the history of this conflict and what, really, has sustained it, they would not only become engaged and do the prodding, they would insist that their governments use the leverage they have to call and hold Zionism to account.
Problem Number Three arises from the fact that in order to get the truth of history to the peoples of nations, you have to overcome Zionism’s veto on truth-telling.
The following are indicators of my titanic struggle to date to do so.
To publish the first hardback edition of Volume One in the UK, I had to set up my own publishing company, (World Focus Publishing). This despite the fact that my literary agent had on file letters of rare praise for my work from some of the chiefs of our major, conglomerate-owed publishing houses. One letter, as I note in the Acknowledgments of Volume One which was published last October, described my manuscript as “awesome… driven by passion, commitment and profound learning.” This letter added: “There is no question it deserves to be published.” But, out of fear of offending Zionism, they were all too frightened to publish. Nothing new there. That’s par for the course as very many authors know.
The media – newspapers, tv and radio – refused to give the book any attention, review or other, which is why the general (as opposed to the activist) reading public is not aware of it. This despite the fact that in the months prior to publication of the first hardback edition of Volume One, I put considerable effort into seeking the interest of the literary editors and/or editors of most major newspapers in the UK and Ireland, and programme decision makers in tv and radio organisations. In addition to briefing them in writing on what I regarded as the significance of the book, I invited them to receive advance copies of both volumes. Not one, repeat not one, had the courtesy even to acknowledge my overtures.
In most cases the media’s refusal to come to grips with the primordial substance of the Palestine problem is born of self-censorship out of fear of offending Zionism, either too much or at all. In addition to not wanting to be accused (falsely and maliciously) of anti-Semitism, the fear in the newspaper world is punishment by the pulling of advertising revenue plugs. Knowing this I went out of my way to make the media fully aware that ZIONISM: THE REAL ENEMY OF THE JEWS is the opposite of anti-Semitic, and contains the call of a concerned and caring Gentile, me, for the Jews to become the light unto nations. My summary view of how the Jews could become that light is in the text on the back jacket of Volume Two (which is on hold for printing and publishing). It reads as follows:
If the Jews of the diaspora can summon up the will and the courage to make common cause with the forces of reason in Israel before it is too late for us all, a very great prize awaits them. By demonstrating that right can triumph over might, and that there is a place for morality in politics, they would become the light unto nations. It is a prize available to no other people on earth because of the uniqueness of the suffering of the Jews. Perhaps that is the real point of the idea of the Jews as Chosen People… Chosen to endure unique suffering and, having endured it, to show the rest of us that creating a better and more just world is not a mission impossible.
I have been left with no choice but to make my book a Freedom of Speech issue; and on every public platform on which I speak, I am indicting the media with complicity in the suppression of the truth of history and betraying democracy.
When I had secured access for Volume One to the UK retail trade (bookshops and on-line Amazon), something I was not supposed to have been able to do, I had to some extent overcome Zionism’s veto on truth-telling. But powerful supporters of Israel right or wrong then exerted their influence with the retail trade to limit sales of the book and where possible suppress it. One of the two major wholesalers ordered 1,000 copies of Volume One and returned 1,000 copies. It probably took only one telephone call – “It’s not in your interest to have anything to do with this book” – to achieve that.
The unsolicited and extremely positive feedback I am receiving from readers of all faiths and none in the UK has confirmed my view that there is a big potential readership for this book out there – in many countries of the world and, most importantly, across under-informed, confused and troubled (and dangerous) America.
The question I am now asking aloud is this: Given that no American or continental European publisher will take the book on - How can it be made available or, put another way, how can Zionism’s veto on truth-telling and freedom of speech be overcome?
A Plea for Collaborative Assistance
The answer, I believe, is in collaborative ventures with activist groups of all faiths and none across North America and continental Europe. For such ventures the book would be printed locally with distribution by participating networks of activist groups at a substantial discount for their members.
To make collaborative ventures possible, modest funding has to be raised for first print runs in countries other than the UK, the priority being America where ignorance of the truth of history is greatest. After a first print run the book would become self-financing. As author and publisher I am open to any proposition which will secure the modest sums needed to get collaborative ventures underway. (As I have done in the past, coast-to-cast across North America especially, I will play my part in discussion and debate on public platforms of all kinds).
I have no shame in seeking collaborative, anti-spin assistance because there is one thing above all others I am sure of, would bet my life on… Without informed and honest debate of the kind ZIONISM: THE REAL ENEMY OF THE JEWS was written to make possible, by definition debate on something other than Zionism’s terms, politics and diplomacy are going nowhere because they have nowhere to go.
The naked reality on the ground in Israel-Palestine is that Israel’s annexation-and-separation strategy has made a genuine two-state solution impossible. Which means that there are now only two options – ONE STATE FOR ALL or CATASTROPHE FOR ALL.
What do I mean by catastrophe?
Short answer: A clash of civilisations, Judeo-Christian v Islamic with, along the way, the monsters of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia going on the rampage.
This author and public speaker will welcome all assistance for his efforts to try to prevent that happening. (The task of stopping the countdown to Armageddon would not be quite as awesome as it is if President Bush([search]) and Prime Minister Blair were not recruiting sergeants for violent Islamic fundamentalism, but that’s another story).
References:
[1] Though mainstream publishers and the media chose to ignore it, there is a lot of material available about all aspects of “true” and/or “ultra” Orthodox Jewish opposition to Zionism. The particular quotations above are from the record of the writings and speeches of Rabbi Ahron Cohen, the spokesman in the UK for Neturei Karta. His e-mail contact is ahroncohen (at) ukonline.co.uk
[2] Yehoshafat Harkabi, Israel’s Fateful Hour (Harper & Row, 1988), pp 219-220; and Alan Hart, ZIONISM: THE REAL ENEMY OF THE JEWS, (World Focus Publishing, 2005), Volume One, p. xxviii.
[3] Jeff Halper, “Hamas in power because Palestinians have had enough” (Toronto Star, 26 March 2006).
http://www.spinwatch.org/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=478
17 April, 2006
By author and former ITN and Panorama reporter Alan Hart who, with his latest book, ZIONISM: THE REAL ENEMY OF THE JEWS, is engaged in what he calls a “titanic struggle” to tell the whole and unexpurgated truth about how the Palestine problem became the cancer at the heart of international affairs, and who must do what and why if this cancer is to be cured before it consumes us all.
In my opinion there is one reason above all others why a just and durable peace has remained beyond the reach of politics and diplomacy. What is that reason?
Since the obscenity of the Nazi holocaust and Israel's unilateral declaration of existence in 1948 to the present, informed and honest debate about who must do what and why for justice and peace in the Middle East has not been possible throughout the mainly Gentile Judeo-Christian world. Why not?
Because its first and still existing draft of history as provided by the media is constructed on Zionist mythology or spin.
For anti-spin doctors of all faiths and none, Problem Number One (I’ll be addressing three problems in this posting) is that most Gentiles and, it seems, many Jews, either have no idea or a wrong idea about what Zionism actually is. The wrong idea exists because of Zionism’s breathtaking success in convincing pretty much all of the Judeo-Christian world that Judaism, the religion of Jews, and Zionism are somehow one and the same thing. And it’s because of this success that Zionist spin doctors, feeding off the obscenity of the Nazi holocaust (a Gentile not a Moslem crime), are able to play their blackmail card – the false and malicious charge of anti-Semitism – to silence critics of Israel right or wrong and suppress debate.
The truth, which Zionism does not want the world to know, is in two related parts. The first is that Zionism and Judaism are not one and the same thing. The second is that knowledge of the difference between Judaism and Zionism is the key to understanding why it is perfectly possible to be passionately anti-Zionist without being in any way, shape or form anti-Semitic.
QUESTION. Can Zionism be defined in a few words for understanding by all? I say yes, and I offer this definition:
Zionism is the nationalism of some Jews – actually a tiny minority of the world’s Jews at the time of Zionism’s first public and dishonest mission statement in 1897 – which colonised land, Palestine, to create a state for some Jews; a colonial enterprise which required the incoming, alien Zionist colonisers to ethnically cleanse the land of most of its indigenous Arab inhabitants, the majority population at the time of the colonisation. (Zionism’s first mission statement was dishonest because of its pretence that the objective was not the creation of a sovereign state for Jews in Palestine).
* I am aware that my use of the term alien as in “alien Zionist colonisers” will offend some and perhaps even very many Jews, but the facts of real history as opposed to Zionist mythology oblige me to stand by it. A truth is that many of the Jews who went to Palestine under Zionism’s banner to create the modern state of Israel were not biological descendants of the Hebrews of biblical Israel. They were foreign nationals from many lands who were descended from those who became Jewish by conversion to Judaism centuries after the fall of the ancient Jewish kingdom of Israel and the dispersal of its people. Though it is still not politically correct to say so, the 20th century notion that there were two peoples with an equal claim to the same land does not bear serious examination.
QUESTION. Is it possible to define in a few words for understanding by all what a Zionist is today? I say yes and I offer this definition:
A Zionist today is… One, not necessarily a Jew, who (to quote Balfour) supports the Zionist state of Israel “right or wrong”, and who cannot or will not admit that a wrong was done to the Palestinians by Zionism (a wrong that must be righted on terms acceptable to the Palestinians for justice and peace).
I find myself wondering how many diaspora Jews who think of themselves as being Zionists without actually thinking about it would respond to such a definition. I believe it’s not impossible that many of them, and perhaps even some Israeli Jews, would say – “By that definition I am not a Zionist.”
For the sake of informed and honest debate it should be said that Zionism has no roots in Palestine. Zionism’s roots are in Eastern Europe, in what for a thousand years was the Russian empire of the Tsars. And Zionism’s actual birthplace, the venue in 1897 for its first dishonest mission statement, was a gambling casino (how appropriate) in Switzerland.
Judaism does, of course, have its roots in Palestine. But let’s pause for a moment to take account of what the rabbis who speak for those described as “true” and sometimes “ultra” Orthodox religious Jews say about this on the basis of what is set down in Judaism’s holy book, the Torah, and a vast code of Oral Teaching handed down through the generations… Yes, these rabbis say, God did promise Abraham land, but under certain conditions. These conditions were basically that the Hebrews had to maintain the highest moral, ethical and religious standards, which included treating those already on the land promised with justice and equality. And it was because the Hebrews did not do so that God punished them with exile.
Although most Jews today appear to be unaware of it, the fact is that the return of Jews to the land of biblical Israel by the efforts of man was PROSCRIBED by Judaism. Because the exile was decreed by Almighty God as a punishment, the return had to await the coming of the Messiah. Return by the efforts of men would constitute “a rebellion against the wishes of the Almighty.” [1]
In other words, and as “true” and/or “ultra” Orthodox religious Jews put it: “The Jewish religion absolutely forbids Zionism both on grounds of religious belief and grounds of Jewish religious values of humanitarianism.” [1]
In other words, and again as “true” and/or “ultra” Orthodox religious Jews put it: “Judaism and Zionism are total opposites, incompatible and diametrically opposed.” [1]
I think it can be said without fear of contradiction that but for the obscenity of the Nazi holocaust, Zionism would not have generated enough support and momentum to create a state. It is a fact that prior to the holocaust, most of the best Jewish minds of the time were opposed to Zionism’s colonial enterprise. Why? They believed it to be morally wrong and, given the opposition of the entire Arab and Moslem world, they feared that it would lead to unending conflict. They also feared that the creation in the Arab heartland of a Zionist state for some Jews (a minority) would not be in the best interests of those (the majority) who preferred to live, as they still do, as integrated citizens in the many lands of the mainly Gentile world.
A more recent expression of the latter fear can be found in Israel’s Fateful Hour by Yehoshafat Harkabi, Israel’s longest serving and most enlightened Director of Military Intelligence. In this seminal book, published in English in 1988, Harkabi wrote the following (my emphasis added):
“Israel is the criterion according to which all Jews will tend to be judged. Israel as a Jewish state is an example of the Jewish character, which finds free and concentrated expression within it. Anti-Semitism has deep and historical roots. Nevertheless, any flaw in Israeli conduct, which initially is cited as anti-Israelism, is likely to be transformed into empirical proof of the validity of anti-Semitism. It would be a tragic irony if the Jewish state, which was intended to solve the problem of anti-Semitism, was to become a factor in the rise of anti-Semitism. Israelis must be aware that the price of their misconduct is paid not only by them but also Jews throughout the world.” [2]
It is my view, which I know is endorsed by some of the best Jewish minds of our time, that the “misconduct” of Zionism’s child, self-righteous and arrogant Israel, is a prime cause of the re-awakening of the sleeping giant of classical anti-Semitism. And that’s why I insisted on ZIONISM: THE REAL ENEMY OF THE JEWS as the title of my book.
The core assertion of Zionism’s version of history is that poor little Israel has lived every day of its life in danger of annihilation – the “driving into the sea” of its Jews. The truth of history, which flows fully documented through both volumes of my book, is that Israel’s existence has never, ever, been in danger from any combination of Arab force. Zionism’s brilliantly effective propaganda or spin to the contrary was the cover which allowed Israel to get away where it mattered most – in America and Western Europe – with having is aggression perceived as self-defence.
Take, for example, the Six Day war of June 1967. (For ITN I was the first Western correspondent to the banks of the Suez Canal with the advancing Israelis; and because of the quality of my contacts, I was privy to some of the plotting on the Israeli side in the countdown to war).
Nearly four decades on almost all Jews everywhere, and very many Gentiles, still believe that Israel went to war either because the Arabs attacked first (that was Israel’s first claim), or because the Arabs were intending to attack (thus requiring Israel to launch a pre-emptive strike).
The truth about that war only begins with the statement that the Arabs did not attack and were not intending to attack. The complete truth includes the following facts:
* Israel’s prime minister of the time, the much maligned Levi Eshkol, did not want to take his country to war. And nor did his chief of staff, Yitzhak Rabin. They wanted only very limited military action, an operation far, far short of war, to put pressure on the international community to cause Eygpt’s President Nasser to re-open the Straits of Tiran.
* Israel went to war because the military and political hawks insisted that the Arabs were about to attack - they, the hawks, knew that was not so, and then undermined Eshkol by portraying him to the country as weak. (One of the jibes at the time had Eshkol being asked if he wanted tea or coffee and replying, “Half tea, half coffee.”) The climax to the campaign to rubbish Eshkol, who was wise not weak, was a demand by the hawks that he surrender the defence portfolio and give it to Moshe Dayan, Zionism’s one-eyed warlord and master of deception. Four days after Dayan got the portfolio he wanted, and the hawks had secured the green light from the Johnson administration to smash Eygpt’s air and ground forces, Israel went to war.
* What actually happened in Israel in the final countdown to that war was something very close to a military coup, executed quietly behind closed doors without a shot being fired. For Israel’s hawks the war of 1967 was the unfinished business of 1948/49 – to create Greater Israel. (In reality Israel’s hawks set a trap for Nasser and, for reasons of face, he was draft enough to walk into it).
To make possible the informed and honest debate needed if a catastrophe for all is to be averted, I have re-written the entire history of the conflict, replacing Zionist mythology with documented real history - events as they actually happened not as Zionism’s spin doctors assert they happened. And I've given the events their necessary global context, which is why what happened behind closed doors in London, Paris, Washington and Moscow has its place in the book as well as events in Palestine that became Israel and Arab capitals.
De-constructing Zionist mythology cannot be reactive, it has to tell the whole story. And that's why my book is epic in length (two volumes) as well as sweep and substance. It’s not a work that should be read ten minutes here and ten minutes there. It requires dedicated reading time but… To make the book accessible to all, so-called ordinary folk especially, and to empower them to participate in informed and honest debate, I’ve written it to read more like a novel than a conventional history, in plain, everyday, sometimes earthy, language. At a point, for example, I write: “In effect, Ben-Gurion was telling President Eisenhower to get stuffed.” And I dare to suggest that the reward for readers who give the time will be understanding, perhaps for the first time ever, of how all the pieces of the most complicated jig-saw puzzle fit together.
QUESTION: Why, really, is it so important for there to be informed and honest debate about who must do what for justice and peace in the Middle East?
ANSWER: Our governments are never going to use what leverage they have to insist on an acceptable amount of justice for the Palestinians unless… Unless they, our governments, are “prodded” to do so by informed citizens. (I like the term “prodded” in this context and I’ve borrowed it from a recent article by Jeff Halper, one of Israel’s most courageous campaigners for justice and a candidate for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize). [3]
Problem Number Two is that in all the nations of the mainly Gentile Judeo-Christian world, and America especially, there are simply not enough citizens who are informed enough to do the prodding.
I devoted more than five years of my life to researching and writing ZIONISM: THE REAL ENEMY OF THE JEWS in the hope that it would assist the lighting of a fire of informed and honest debate and empower all citizens, so-called ordinary folk especially, to participate in it – to make democracy work and the prodding happen.
* It’s my view that IF the mass of ordinary decent peoples of Western Europe and North America had been properly informed about the tyranny of Israeli occupation and the cause-and-effect relationship of Israeli occupation and Palestinian violence, there would by now have been, very probably, pressure on governments to end Israel’s occupation.
* I also believe that IF the mass or ordinary, decent peoples of Western Europe and North America could be made aware of the unexpurgated truth of the history of this conflict and what, really, has sustained it, they would not only become engaged and do the prodding, they would insist that their governments use the leverage they have to call and hold Zionism to account.
Problem Number Three arises from the fact that in order to get the truth of history to the peoples of nations, you have to overcome Zionism’s veto on truth-telling.
The following are indicators of my titanic struggle to date to do so.
To publish the first hardback edition of Volume One in the UK, I had to set up my own publishing company, (World Focus Publishing). This despite the fact that my literary agent had on file letters of rare praise for my work from some of the chiefs of our major, conglomerate-owed publishing houses. One letter, as I note in the Acknowledgments of Volume One which was published last October, described my manuscript as “awesome… driven by passion, commitment and profound learning.” This letter added: “There is no question it deserves to be published.” But, out of fear of offending Zionism, they were all too frightened to publish. Nothing new there. That’s par for the course as very many authors know.
The media – newspapers, tv and radio – refused to give the book any attention, review or other, which is why the general (as opposed to the activist) reading public is not aware of it. This despite the fact that in the months prior to publication of the first hardback edition of Volume One, I put considerable effort into seeking the interest of the literary editors and/or editors of most major newspapers in the UK and Ireland, and programme decision makers in tv and radio organisations. In addition to briefing them in writing on what I regarded as the significance of the book, I invited them to receive advance copies of both volumes. Not one, repeat not one, had the courtesy even to acknowledge my overtures.
In most cases the media’s refusal to come to grips with the primordial substance of the Palestine problem is born of self-censorship out of fear of offending Zionism, either too much or at all. In addition to not wanting to be accused (falsely and maliciously) of anti-Semitism, the fear in the newspaper world is punishment by the pulling of advertising revenue plugs. Knowing this I went out of my way to make the media fully aware that ZIONISM: THE REAL ENEMY OF THE JEWS is the opposite of anti-Semitic, and contains the call of a concerned and caring Gentile, me, for the Jews to become the light unto nations. My summary view of how the Jews could become that light is in the text on the back jacket of Volume Two (which is on hold for printing and publishing). It reads as follows:
If the Jews of the diaspora can summon up the will and the courage to make common cause with the forces of reason in Israel before it is too late for us all, a very great prize awaits them. By demonstrating that right can triumph over might, and that there is a place for morality in politics, they would become the light unto nations. It is a prize available to no other people on earth because of the uniqueness of the suffering of the Jews. Perhaps that is the real point of the idea of the Jews as Chosen People… Chosen to endure unique suffering and, having endured it, to show the rest of us that creating a better and more just world is not a mission impossible.
I have been left with no choice but to make my book a Freedom of Speech issue; and on every public platform on which I speak, I am indicting the media with complicity in the suppression of the truth of history and betraying democracy.
When I had secured access for Volume One to the UK retail trade (bookshops and on-line Amazon), something I was not supposed to have been able to do, I had to some extent overcome Zionism’s veto on truth-telling. But powerful supporters of Israel right or wrong then exerted their influence with the retail trade to limit sales of the book and where possible suppress it. One of the two major wholesalers ordered 1,000 copies of Volume One and returned 1,000 copies. It probably took only one telephone call – “It’s not in your interest to have anything to do with this book” – to achieve that.
The unsolicited and extremely positive feedback I am receiving from readers of all faiths and none in the UK has confirmed my view that there is a big potential readership for this book out there – in many countries of the world and, most importantly, across under-informed, confused and troubled (and dangerous) America.
The question I am now asking aloud is this: Given that no American or continental European publisher will take the book on - How can it be made available or, put another way, how can Zionism’s veto on truth-telling and freedom of speech be overcome?
A Plea for Collaborative Assistance
The answer, I believe, is in collaborative ventures with activist groups of all faiths and none across North America and continental Europe. For such ventures the book would be printed locally with distribution by participating networks of activist groups at a substantial discount for their members.
To make collaborative ventures possible, modest funding has to be raised for first print runs in countries other than the UK, the priority being America where ignorance of the truth of history is greatest. After a first print run the book would become self-financing. As author and publisher I am open to any proposition which will secure the modest sums needed to get collaborative ventures underway. (As I have done in the past, coast-to-cast across North America especially, I will play my part in discussion and debate on public platforms of all kinds).
I have no shame in seeking collaborative, anti-spin assistance because there is one thing above all others I am sure of, would bet my life on… Without informed and honest debate of the kind ZIONISM: THE REAL ENEMY OF THE JEWS was written to make possible, by definition debate on something other than Zionism’s terms, politics and diplomacy are going nowhere because they have nowhere to go.
The naked reality on the ground in Israel-Palestine is that Israel’s annexation-and-separation strategy has made a genuine two-state solution impossible. Which means that there are now only two options – ONE STATE FOR ALL or CATASTROPHE FOR ALL.
What do I mean by catastrophe?
Short answer: A clash of civilisations, Judeo-Christian v Islamic with, along the way, the monsters of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia going on the rampage.
This author and public speaker will welcome all assistance for his efforts to try to prevent that happening. (The task of stopping the countdown to Armageddon would not be quite as awesome as it is if President Bush([search]) and Prime Minister Blair were not recruiting sergeants for violent Islamic fundamentalism, but that’s another story).
References:
[1] Though mainstream publishers and the media chose to ignore it, there is a lot of material available about all aspects of “true” and/or “ultra” Orthodox Jewish opposition to Zionism. The particular quotations above are from the record of the writings and speeches of Rabbi Ahron Cohen, the spokesman in the UK for Neturei Karta. His e-mail contact is ahroncohen (at) ukonline.co.uk
[2] Yehoshafat Harkabi, Israel’s Fateful Hour (Harper & Row, 1988), pp 219-220; and Alan Hart, ZIONISM: THE REAL ENEMY OF THE JEWS, (World Focus Publishing, 2005), Volume One, p. xxviii.
[3] Jeff Halper, “Hamas in power because Palestinians have had enough” (Toronto Star, 26 March 2006).
http://www.spinwatch.org/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=478
Alan Hart