Re: Edward Said - American Zionism (3)

Well, I partly agree that ideologically, "Jewish Zionism" is very much to
blame for the oppression of the Palestinians. The irony is that in some
ways, the Palestinians bear a similar relation to the Middle East as the
Jews did to Europe 65 years ago. But I would still contend that it is the
processes of capitalism/imperialism that have been   and are responsible for
a wide variety of oppressions, including the oppression of the Palestinians.
When the big capitalists (and even the little capitalists) fight, they often
use oppressed ethnic/religious minorities on one side or another, and then
often discard their own allies later. So that in appearance it seems as if
the root cause comes from those ethnic groups that are fighting on the
ground. (And indeed, they do bear some of the responsibility.)

How have the U.S. imperialists (seeking control over oil distribution and
pipelines) helped their allies in Kosovo. Or the Iraqi Kurds. How have they
played Iran and Iraq against each other, trying to keep both weak.
India/Pakistan? In other  words, the biggest imperialists are also certainly
quite capable of switching sides as it suits them and "cutting the Jews
loose" if they think that "Jews" stand in the way of the profits or
stability that they need.  This does not excuse the religious-Jewish
oriented propaganda that legitimizes the exploitation-oppression of
Palestinians, nor does it in any way excuse the actual participation by
various Jewish (or other) people in maintaining that oppression.  But keep
the main point in perspective: that there is a lot of oil in the region and
that the U.S. and others need to maintain political/military power to
control the flow of that oil, not just to themselves, but to influence the
control of that oil as it might flow to their (imperialist) competitors,
such as Russia, Germany, and France.


Alan Spector



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Sent: Saturday, November 11, 2000 11:42 AM
Subject: Re: Edward Said - American Zionism (3)


> Thanks Wagar for that reply.
>
> I agree: Post 1948 Jewish Zionism is first and foremost to
> blame for its deadly arrogance towards the Palestinians.
> Our historical analysis is only intended to complicate the
> present stereotype of a simple binary conflict between Jews
> and Arabs to one that incorporates the colonialist impact on
> the region, and hence to discredit the present image of the
> US as an honest peace broker, the one that brings these
> two squabbling groups together.
>
> On the contrary, our historical analysis is based on the premise
> that the US and Europe have been involved in the region for
> sometimes now, not on the side of peacemakers but as crusaders,
> past and present.
>
> Khaldoun
>