How to avoid being a left-wing anti-Semite.
Step #1: Read this post
Step #2: Avoid doing everything the Race and Class journal does.
The editor of the journal (who wrote the poem alleging that atrocities in Gaza were done "all in the name of Moses.") is one A. Sivanandan. He apparently considers himself highly influenced by the American Black Power movement. It is interesting to me that he does not see the clear parallels between Zionism and Black Power. But perhaps not surprising.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
If his understanding of Black Power is that it was "not an attempt at black separatism," I'm not sure why he'd pick up on its parallels to Zionism.
"...but rather the reflection of the historic powerlessness of black people."
I think we can play ball.
Wow, that poem is...really bad. On a literary level, not just a political one.
It is nice when political ugliness is matched with aesthetic hideousness, Kace.
David,
This might just reflect my highly incomplete knowledge of Zionism, but my understanding is that it is fundamental to Zionism to desire the establishment and maintenance of a Jewish state. That does not seem to be true of everything that goes under the heading of "Black Power." The historic powerlessness of Jewish people is a sound justification for establishing a Jewish state that is run by Jews and that provides refuge to Jews, but I'm puzzled as to how Zionism can be defined as NOT separatism.
Actually, there were Zionist-identified individuals pre-partition who conceptualized their support within binational frames. This quickly became unfeasible, of course, but the camp always existed. So this required a "state", yes, but not necessarily a "separate/ist" one.
Post a Comment