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PARTISAN REVIEW
that it shares similarities with Israel, or is buying arms from Israel ,
or was supported by Israel in the days when its existence was still a
debatable issue? We take Marxist opposition to Israel for granted.
Yet there is neither an ideological nor a practical reason for this
hostility to exist. Although honest people may honestly disagree
about Zionism, no one seriously believes that Israel is a threat to any
communist state, nor is it possible to think that Israel may be a
danger to Marxist ideology. Despite the accomplishments of its
defense forces, its military situation is inherently precarious. Its
most controversial policies in recent years, the invasion of Lebanon
and the establishment of settlements on the West Bank, are con–
sidered by many people to be examples of injustice and violence, but
they are minor wrongs indeed when compared to Cambodia's
autogenocide, the Iran-Iraq War, China's conquest of Tibet, In–
donesia's massacre of ethnic Chinese, or any number of other events
of the past few decades. On the other hand, even the most fervent of
anti-Zionists will concede that Israel has achieved a remarkable
degree of civil liberties for a country that has never been at peace.
Nevertheless, Israel is an outcast. Israeli nationalism has been de–
clared racism. The Arab League enforces secondary and tertiary
boycotts against Israel. Jews may not enter Saudi Arabia. Malaysia
forbids the performance of 'Jewish" music. This endless policy of
boycott and nonrecognition is officially the policy of most Arab
states.
It
is also the official policy of most Marxist states. Yet coun–
tries like Libya, Iraq, or Saudi Arabia have never suggested that
they would make peace if Israel did
x
or
y
or
z.
Their opposition to
Israel, supported diplomatically by communist states, is one of per–
manent enmity. Since such a stance excludes the possibility of peace ,
it is implicitly genocidal.
Anti-Zionism is one of the great hatreds of our time. Why do
Marxist nations join in this extremism, or at least pretend to;> There
doesn't seem to be any reason other than lack of originality, a com–
mon failing in countries with no structure for the expression of op–
position. Marx's anti-Semitic essay, "Zur Judenfrage," might ex–
plain the situation, but few people care about this work and even
fewer have read it. No doubt it is useful for the Soviet Union and
China to maintain friendly relations with the Islamic world, but
these bonds have survived even the Soviet intervention in Afghani–
stan. What seems to have happened is that shortly before the begin–
ning of the Six-Day War, anti-Zionism became an essential part of
