Colonialism represents the politics of exploitation built on the principle of a superior race’s right to invade the lands of others, build colonies there and bring in immigrants to make it their “home”. Naturally, when the land becomes the usurper’s “home”, the rightful owners become “savages,” “rebels,” or “terrorists” who must be extirpated. The labels stick because whose who make the labels and calls the names have the power to beat down any opposition and silence any dissenting voice.
This has been happening in Palestine for over half-a-century now. Land continues to be taken, aliens from distant continents continue to arrive to claim it as their home and eliminate those who resist. The latest call for immigrant colonizers to go out and conquer came in Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s invitation to French Jews. He asked them to immigrate to Israel to avoid anti-Semitism. Promoting the call, hundreds of representatives of Jewish agencies spread out across France to convince the largest possible number of French Jews to emigrate to Israel.
Sharon’s demand angered the French president who considered it an insult to the French government and nation and prompted President Chirac to say that Sharon would not be welcome in his country. Damage-control exercises is in full swing immediately. A spokesman for the Israeli government, a former Israeli ambassador to France, said that there was no crisis — only a cultural misunderstanding. Sharon, he explained, was addressing Jews of the world and not just the Jews in France and that the call to come to Israel was one of the fundamental principles of the state of Israel.
The trouble may blow over in the coming days, as all diplomatic spats do. However, Sharon’s invitation to French Jews and their response have underlined a fact that history has proved again and again — the lack of loyalty Jews have for the countries they live in and whose nationals they are. This is not the failing of any individual or a group. It is, as the Israeli government spokesman explained, a fundamental principle of Israel. It is a state established for Jews and no one but Jews. It is racism by any definition of the term, and most recognize it as such — but no one dares to say it; that will be anti-Semitism.
This racism and the exclusivism that comes along with it are not directed against the people of other races and faiths alone, but also at their own different sects. After the state of Israel was imposed on the world, large numbers of Jews flocked to it. There were rich people among them, but most were poor. However, when they arrived at the “promised land”, they found that though all Jews were equal, some were more equal. Eastern Jews and Western Jews are two streams that refuse to meet. Many of the new immigrants find themselves as outsiders even when they are inside. That is one of main reasons why the flow of immigrants has become a trickle in recent times. A writer in the July 14 issue of Yediot Ahronot bemoaned the fact when reporting the arrival of 400 newcomers to Israel. The springs of immigration has dried up, he noted. In 2003, an estimated 3,000 Russian immigrants fled Israel, 2,000 of whom returning to Russia and the rest going to other countries. There are a large number of Israelis permanently living outside Israel; the efforts of the government to persuade them to return have failed. Europe’s and America’s Jews have chosen to support the state from afar. They are not ready to come any closer.
Hence Sharon’s invitation to French Jews. It has the aim of preserving the Hebrew state and is an attempt to keep the community coherent.
