It's Ralph Seliger's turn:
Jack Ross is mostly babbling here. The fact that MAPAM had
pro-Soviet sympathies until the Khrushchev's 1956 revelations about
Stalin simply illustrates how left-wing these Zionists were; this has
no other relevance to our argument.
Obviously Nazi allies in colonized countries reasoned that "the
enemy of my enemy is my friend"; that Ross defends "the Mufti, Chandra
Bose, and the Free Iraqi Government [sic] [as having] legitimate
anti-imperialist aspirations which led them to collaborate with the
Axis," speaks volumes for his judgment and values. By way of contrast,
although the (right wing) Irgun did for a time have relations with
Mussolini, they never collaborated with the Nazis; the Irgun even suspended its war against the British until victory over the Axis was assured.
enemy of my enemy is my friend"; that Ross defends "the Mufti, Chandra
Bose, and the Free Iraqi Government [sic] [as having] legitimate
anti-imperialist aspirations which led them to collaborate with the
Axis," speaks volumes for his judgment and values. By way of contrast,
although the (right wing) Irgun did for a time have relations with
Mussolini, they never collaborated with the Nazis; the Irgun even suspended its war against the British until victory over the Axis was assured.
Meretz was formed mostly as the merger of RATZ (Shulamit Aloni's Citizen's Rights Movement) with MAPAM. Yossi Beilin and Yael Dayan left
Labor for Meretz three election cycles later. So much for Ross's much
vaunted knowledge of the Zionist movement. It is bizarre to believe, as
he contends, that two separate states is not practical while one common
state for two ethnic groups that have violently confronted each other
for close to a century somehow is.
Labor for Meretz three election cycles later. So much for Ross's much
vaunted knowledge of the Zionist movement. It is bizarre to believe, as
he contends, that two separate states is not practical while one common
state for two ethnic groups that have violently confronted each other
for close to a century somehow is.
I consider it more important to address the renewed attack by Saif
Ammous. I guess it would shock this gentleman to learn that– unless
I've missed something in his long list– that I (as well as most if not
all supporters of Meretz) oppose every policy and practice that he
indicts Zionism or Israel with. Meretz has even broken ground in appointing an Israeli Arab to the board of the Jewish National Fund
and has championed a successful court case to curtail discrimination
against non-Jewish citizens in their choice of housing. We support a
"Jewish state" primarily in one sense: that it be open to Jews seeking
refuge from antisemitism (and secondarily that it has a legitimate role
in sustaining Jewish culture), but not in privileging citizens who
are Jews over citizens who are not.
Ammous. I guess it would shock this gentleman to learn that– unless
I've missed something in his long list– that I (as well as most if not
all supporters of Meretz) oppose every policy and practice that he
indicts Zionism or Israel with. Meretz has even broken ground in appointing an Israeli Arab to the board of the Jewish National Fund
and has championed a successful court case to curtail discrimination
against non-Jewish citizens in their choice of housing. We support a
"Jewish state" primarily in one sense: that it be open to Jews seeking
refuge from antisemitism (and secondarily that it has a legitimate role
in sustaining Jewish culture), but not in privileging citizens who
are Jews over citizens who are not.
Finally,
for Ammous to ignore or deny the poisonous impact on the Arab-Jewish
conflict of the serious waves of attacks on random and largely
unarmed Jews in 1920, 1921, '29 and '36-'39, constitutes a moral
failing on his part.
