Al Jazeera opinion article challenges idea of ‘leftist Zionism’
The article argues that Zionism is incompatible with left-wing commitments to anti-racism, decolonisation and social justice, while citing political activity ahead of Israel’s 27 October elections.
An Al Jazeera opinion article has challenged the idea that Zionism can coexist with left-wing commitments to anti-racism, decolonisation and social justice.
The article cites a reported joint campaign between Israel’s Young Democrats, the youth wing of the Democrats party, and Austria’s Young Greens to support “progressive voices” ahead of Israel’s 27 October elections.
It also refers to reported plans by Hamahanot Haolim, described in the article as a leftist youth movement, to establish a kibbutz in the occupied West Bank near Jericho. The group’s director, Ilan Gazit, is quoted as saying leftists should populate settlements being built regardless.
The author traces “leftist Zionism” to socialist currents in the early Zionist movement and to institutions including Mapai, the Labour Party, Histadrut, kibbutzim and moshavim. The article argues these institutions contributed to the exclusion and displacement of Palestinians.
It also discusses the 1975 UN General Assembly resolution that described Zionism as “a form of racism and racial discrimination”. The resolution was revoked in 1991.
The article presents its conclusion that leftist Zionism is inherently contradictory from a Palestinian and anti-colonial perspective. Its claims about the youth-group campaign and proposed kibbutz are not independently corroborated in the supplied material, and Al Jazeera notes that the views are the author’s own.
