The Logic of German Anti-Zionism
from Workers’ Liberty
The following is an abridged translation of a speech given by Haury in Halle (Saale) in 2003. His speech summarised the arguments he had developed at greater length in “The Logic of German Anti-Zionism”.
Introduction:
In the 1990s the question of left anti-semitism triggered strong emotions and even aggression: surely it is impossible for people on the Left to be anti-semitic? How can the two go together? After all, left-wingers are anti-fascist, leftist, and revolutionary; therefore, they cannot be racist and anti-semitic.
By way of an introduction, let me quote five statements:
“Do not buy from Jews!”
The “Jewish world movement” is led by “Jewish multi-millionaires who are to be found everywhere in the world,” and who “meet up again and again in private conferences.”
“The domination of the world’s media by Jewish propaganda” is an established fact.
“The goal of Jewish politics: World domination?!”
Jewry is “the enemy of all people.”
These are anti-semitic statements. But all five statements are to be found in left-wing propaganda against Israel. The second one is from the Palestine Solidarity magazine Al Karamah in the 1980s, the third is from the Anti-Imperialist Information Bulletin in 1971, the fourth is from the “Vienna Anti-Imperialist Co-ordination” in 2002, and the fifth is from the “Hamburg Autonomous Middle East Group” in 1989.
But I have falsified the quotes in one decisive respect: where “Zionist” or “Zionism” is mentioned, I have replaced these terms by “Jewish” and “Jewry”. The statement “Do not buy from Jews!”, however, is to be found in exactly those words in the Green Calendar, published by “Edition Sunshine” in 1982.
There is therefore clearly anti-semitism on the Left which manifests itself as anti-Zionism. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, it must be said, this was not a question of individual persons or individual groups, but of the mainstream Left. There were differences in degree, but the basic positions were the same everywhere. How is this anti-semitic anti-Zionism of the Left to be explained?
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