Zionism is a false idol that betrayed every Jewish value: Naomi Klein
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In light of this year's Jewish Passover, Naomi Klein writes, "We reject the false idol of Zionism. We want freedom from the project that commits genocide in our name."
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Pro-Palestinian protesters take part in a demonstration on Al Quds Day, in London on April 5, 2024. (AP)
In an article for The Guardian, acclaimed writer Naomi Klein digs deep into her Jewish roots and the rise of Zionism, which she stresses defies all values of Judaism.
She begins by referring to a story of Prophet Moses when he enlightened the people to refrain from idolizing what is considered "small and material, rather than the large and transcendent."
Based on this, she describes Zionism as "a false idol" that motivated the Jewish population, which is driven by the Zionist movement, to turn the idea of "the promised land" into a "deed of sale for a militaristic ethnostate."
In the article, Klein argues that Zionism "is a false idol that takes our most profound biblical stories of justice and emancipation from slavery – the story of Passover itself – and turns them into brutalist weapons of colonial land theft, roadmaps for ethnic cleansing, and genocide."
"It is a false idol that has taken the transcendent idea of the promised land – a metaphor for human liberation that has traveled across multiple faiths to every corner of this globe."
'Zionism shredded the core commandments of Judaism'
Klein explained that the Zionist movement and the concept of political Zionism were built on the idea of "the mass expulsion of Palestinians from their homes and ancestral land in the Nakba," adding that Zionism contradicts the core theme of the Seder, which celebrates "the dream of liberation and self-determination of the Egyptian people."
While referring to Biblical scripts, Klein argued that Zionism created a "kind of freedom that saw Palestinian children not as human beings but as demographic threats – much as the pharaoh in the Book of Exodus feared the growing population of Israelites, and thus ordered the death of their sons."
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"Zionism has brought us to our present moment of cataclysm and it is time that we said clearly: it has always been leading us here," she argued, adding that "It is a false idol that has led far too many of our own people down a deeply immoral path that now has them justifying the shredding of core commandments: thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not covet."
In the report, Klein emphasized that Zionism equated Jewish freedom with "cluster bombs that kill and maim Palestinian children," adding that it has "betrayed every Jewish value."
"We, in these streets for months and months, are the exodus. The exodus from Zionism"
'Zionism justified the bombardment of Gaza'
Regarding the ongoing Israeli aggression on Gaza, Klein contended that Zionism, depicted as a false idol, has rationalized the bombing of every university in Gaza, the destruction of numerous schools, archives, and printing presses, and the killing of hundreds of academics, journalists, and poets. She referred to this as "scholasticide," the deliberate destruction of educational resources.
She stressed that "the false idol of Zionism has been allowed to grow unchecked for far too long. So tonight we say: it ends here," adding that Judaism should not be contained by an ethnostate and be protected by " the rampaging military of that state, for all that military does is sow sorrow and reap hatred – including against us as Jews."
Read next: 'Not in our name': The Jewish movement for Palestine
According to Klein, it is not solidarity with Palestine that threatens Judaism, arguing that Judaism is inclusive and recognizes that "unity with others in advocating for Palestinian rights ensures both its security and the collective liberation of all involved," regardless of race, ethnicity, gender identity, and generations.
"We don’t need or want the false idol of Zionism. We want freedom from the project that commits genocide in our name. Freedom from an ideology that has no plan for peace other than deals with murderous theocratic petrostates next door, while selling the technologies of robo-assassinations to the world," she stressed.
"We seek to liberate Judaism from an ethnostate that wants Jews to be perennially afraid, that wants our children to be afraid, that wants us to believe the world is against us so that we go running to its fortress and beneath its iron dome, or at least keep the weapons and donations flowing."
