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Remnick ignores the Nakba’s role in Israeli ‘democracy’

Editor’s Note: Earlier today Phil posted on a recent New Yorker article by David Remnick titled “Threatened“. Omar Barghouti emailed out this response to Remnick’s piece and gave us permission to publish it.

How sickeningly typical, predictable, and utterly immoral of soft Zionists!

Nakba denial is always an indicator of deep-seated racism and a profound deficiency in intellectual honesty, not to mention moral decency. But in this article Nakba denial, indeed denial of the existence of 62% of the Palestinian people (those outside the occupied Palestinian territory), is taken to a whole new level, whereby Israel’s “birth” becomes a glorified “experiment in Jewish power, unique after two millennia of persecution and exile” and where Israel’s “structures of governance are point of pride.” Alas, according to the editor of the New Yorker, this wonderful democracy is currently (only currently) undergoing an “impasse.” Jewish fundamentalists (and settlers are largely assumed to be part of that camp, without much justification) are gaining power and undermining an otherwise flourishing Israeli Jewish “democracy” that is closer to the European social-democratic model. The fact that almost all of Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people and other Arab peoples for the last six decades have been committed predominantly by avowedly secular Jews — of European descent — is lost on this influential author.

The fact that Zionist gangs ethnically cleansed in a well-documented, pre-meditated crusade of massacres, expulsions and terror, most of the indigenous Palestinians to establish a Jewish-dominated state in Palestine is never mentioned. Only “the occupation” has corrupted the otherwise innocent, thriving, miraculous Israel.

Palestinians are revolted by this relentless Zionist revisionism, deleting most of us out of existence and only recognizing an ever shrinking subset of our rights, with the not-so-hidden intent of saving Israeli apartheid.

True, by US mainstream “media” standards, this article passes as revolutionary–after all, the author describes Israel with such taboo terms as “apartheid,” “fundamentalism” (in reference to the Jewish brand, for a change), “xenophobia,” “racism,” etc. But the omission of the foundational injustice committed by the Zionist movement and later Israel against the Palestinian people is inexcusable, professionally, morally, or otherwise.

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Right on

“But the omission of the foundational injustice committed by the Zionist movement and later Israel against the Palestinian people is inexcusable, professionally, morally, or otherwise.”

Every time they bomb Gaza they come fact to face with the Nakba. They will never escape it.

It is always good to be reminded of stark historical truth for it is easy for even the most critical of us to be soothed by liberal Zionist pablum.

However, Remnick’s position is an improvement from where he was a few years back. He then existed in a state of certainty. Now some serious doubts are creeping in and he is beginning to glimpse the internal contradictions that are inherent in liberal Zionism.

Liberal Zionism is partnered with occupation and ethnic cleansing just as are Siamese twins a single entity. David Remnick doesn’t recognize that Israel’s ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians is a problem because he doesn’t see it happening in the first place. Sheldon Adelson is proud to promote occupation as a positive thing. Remnick chooses to do his part by serving as a noteworthy enabler of those racist policies.

Mr. Barghouti – Thank you for these observations. One of the things that most struck me when I first started looking into the various accounts of the IP conflict for myself was the countless “sins of omission.”

Even when I’d read something that overall seemed to be shedding some light on an otherwise clouded narrative, the more I learned, the more I realized just how much was actually being left out of the story.

I am grateful to you and others who hold a consistant and uniform standard of truth. I have learned much from you all and continue to do so.