Wars often create “You are with us or against us”-type of situation. The Israeli establishment loves such a great divide which it feels is essential for its existence.
Yet, in this hostile atmosphere, one needs to understand that there are many Jews, both inside and outside Israel – not to speak of others – who do not totally agree with the stand of the Israeli government. They are of the view that the Jewish state has become a pawn in the hands of Christianised Western imperialist powers.
Here one also needs to appreciate the fact that many Jews had strongly opposed the very creation of Israel on the plea that this is against their religious belief. They were of the view that a Jewish state would come only after the advent of Messiah who would bring them together. Well before the creation of Israel Josef S. Bloch, a member of the Austrian Parliament and himself a Rabbi, warned that the new state of Israel would prove to be a ‘mouse-trap’ for the imperialist powers. He was of the view that the Jews are a religious community held together by the faith of Moses.
He feared that the creation of Israel would lead to violence and suffering for Jews.
Even the famous scientist, Albert Einstein, once known for softness towards Zionism, said: “My awareness of essential nature of Judaism resists the idea of a Jewish state with border and army and a measure of temporal power no matter how modest. I am afraid of the inner damage Judaism will sustain – especially from the development of a narrow nationalism within our own ranks against which we have already had to fight strongly, even without a Jewish state,” he said in his 1938 speech “Our Debt to Zionism”.
In his June 13, 1947 letter to Jawaharlal Nehru, he wrote: “Millions of Jews perished… because there was no spot on the globe where they could find sanctuary…. The Jewish survivors demand the right to dwell amid brothers, on the ancient soil of their fathers.”
Here he referred the expression ‘brother’ to Arabs.
One should understand the difference between Judaism, an ancient religion, and Zionism, a political movement created in the 19th century by a handful of Jews who played into the hands of the Christianised western imperialist powers. Just as not all the Hindus are followers of Hindutva or all the Muslims are not associated with any hard-line Islamic organisation and all the Christians are not Evangelist, not all the Jews are Zionist. In fact, there are still some within the state of Israel who are opposed to it.
Zionism is in fact a political movement apparently launched by a Jew of Austria-Hungary origin, Theodor Herzl, in 1896 for the creation of a Jewish homeland. The first Zionist Congress was held in 1897.
Against the misplaced perception, especially in the Muslim world, that Israel was a result of the great planning of Jews, the fact is that it was an outcome of the efforts of Christianised western imperialist powers, especially Great Britain and France.
The British foreign secretary Lord Palmerston (who later became the Prime Minister in mid-1850s) first raised the issue of a Jewish homeland around 1838, that is about a decade after the independence of Greece from the Ottoman Empire, for which many in Europe volunteered to fight against a Muslim power in the heart of the world. Poet Lord Byron was one among those who died during the prolonged Greek War of Independence.
The British politicians started exploiting the sentimental and religious attachment of Jews for Palestine. Thus, the promise of a Jewish homeland was created.
As anti-Semitism was rampant in Europe then and Jews were repeatedly massacred and forcibly converted by the Christians ever since the first century C.E. – this practice increased in 19th and 20th centuries – some British and French leaders thought that the best way to get rid of the Jews was to sell a dream of Promised Land to them.
The Christian masses were convinced that the creation of a Jewish state was a natural pre-requisite before the second coming of Jesus Christ. The Christian belief is that before the final battle, called Armageddon, all the Jews would either be converted or killed.
Most of the British politicians be it Palmerston, Salisbury, Balfour, etc. to name a few worked overtime to make Israel a reality in 1948.
Mind it the idea of the Jewish homeland was conceptualised even before mid-19th century when there was no Suez Canal nor was oil discovered in the region, nor were the Jews as strong a community as now. Till 1848 there was not a single Jew on the soil of the entire United States. Yes, in Europe there were some rich Jews, who had become Christianised because without accepting this reality they were not going to rise. The idea of the Christianised western imperialist powers was to create a base in the heartland of a Muslim empire. They were well aware of the history of so many Crusades between 1099 and 1291.
So they did not ever dare to directly attack and capture Palestine, the land where Al-Aqsa, the third holiest shrine of Islam is situated. So by the early years of the 20th century the European powers with the help of some bankers, both Christians and Jews living in Europe, started funding the Zionist movement. Jews massacred and expelled from Russia in 1899-1900 were brought and settled. The truth is that initially some Zionists were not so inclined to create a Jewish state in Palestine. They wanted a piece of land anywhere. They were ready to get land in Africa, somewhere near what is now called Uganda. As Jews had an excellent relationship with Muslim Ottomans, even the Zionists among them were not inclined to opt for Palestine. But they were persuaded by the same western powers to demand a homeland in Palestine.
As directly occupying Palestine was nearly impossible for the European powers, during the World War-I the British instigated and helped the Arabs, especially the Sharif of Makkah, Husain bin Ali, to revolt against the Ottomans. As Iraq, Palestine, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Hejaz (where Makkah and Madinah are situated) were all parts of Ottoman Empire, the Great Arab Betrayal took the Turks by surprise. So it would not be an overstatement to say that the Arabs virtually opened the gates of Palestine to invite the British and French armies in this Holy Land, Husain bin Ali being among the main culprits. The present King of Jordan comes from the same family.
Otherwise, it was the same Ottoman army which decisively beat the combined Allied forces of Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, etc. in the Battle of Gallipoli in the initial months of World War-I.
But a few months later the whole situation changed after the fall of Palestine. On November 2, 1917 (that is a month before the capture of Palestine) the Balfour Declaration was passed promising the creation of the Jewish homeland. It was only that the Arab masses realised their blunder and felt cheated by their leaders, but by that time it was too late.
Britain, France and now even the United States started promoting the Zionists even though many prominent Jews continued to oppose it. The Jews living in Arab countries, especially Palestine, did not want to harm a very good relationship with Muslims. But the imperialist powers had their own design and they started bringing Jewish refugees from Europe even before Hitler started his ethnic cleansing.
So by 1920 the entire situation changed and the first ever bloody clash took place between Jews and Muslims in Palestine, then under the control of Britain. Six people each from both the communities lost their lives. Never since the expulsion of Jewish tribes from Madinah after they violated an agreement with Prophet Mohammad ﷺ the Jews and Muslims have ever indulged in any blood-letting in 13 centuries of history. This is so notwithstanding the fact that ideologically Muslims and Jews are poles apart.
After the creation of Israel, the moderate and saner voices within Judaism naturally grew weak. They had to be either with Israel or against it. Along with lakhs of innocent Arabs, the middle ground within the Jewish society too became the casualty of this design of the Western imperialist powers. Yet there are voices like Noam Chomsky and Bernie Sanders and many others, who despite being Jews, speak out more strongly against Israel than most Christian American, British and French politicians.
This reality has to be understood by Muslims before making any sweeping remark.
One should not forget President Joe Biden’s famous statement: “I am a Zionist. You don’t have to be a Jew to be a Zionist.”