Balancing act is over: Israel protests are not about democracy, but ideology

The late Israeli commentator, Uri Avnery, wrote, "I am increasingly worried that the Israeli-Palestinian struggle … is assuming a more and more religious character." At first glance, the statement may seem baffling. If Israel is a 'Jewish State' that serves as a 'homeland' for all Jewish people, everywhere, does it not follow that the 'struggle', at least from an Israeli viewpoint, is essentially a religious one? If only it was that simple. Israel's dichotomy is that it was founded by an ideology, Zionism, which purposely conflated between religion and nationality. "The Zionist movement was non-religious from the start," Avnery wrote, "if not anti-religious." He went on to cite a famous quote by the founder of Zionism, Theodor Herzl, "we shall […]

from Middle East Monitor https://ift.tt/kHWLD6o
via IFTTT