Arendt and Zionism

Have any Zionist leaders really advocated policies that protect Jewish people in Israel? So far, Israel's policies have been unable to protect its citizens from violence. It is ironic that Jews, who founded Israel seeking protection from the European systems that marginalized them because of their religion and ethnicity, now rely on a political system that discriminates based on religion and ethnicity. One writer who took note of Zionism's contradictions was the German-Jewish political theorist Hannah Arendt. A number of her books are being re-published this month and the below article from the London Review of Books includes information if you're interested in reading them. While most students of politics are probably familiar with her great work The Origins of Totalitarianism, many might not have been assigned her more controversial writings on Zionism.

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v29/n01/robi02_.html


She also co-authored in 1948, along with many prominant Jewish intellectuals (including Albert Einstein), a letter to the New York Times protesting the visit of the leader of the Herut party, to the U.S. The leader, who by the way was future Israeli prime-minister Menachem Begin, had been linked to several massacres of Palestinian villages during the 48 war. It is important for all of us to remember the Jewish voices from the past to remind us that there is a history of alternative Jewish opinions about Zionism. The letter is a quick and interesting read.


http://www.globalwebpost.com/farooqm/study_res/einstein/nyt_letter.html