Telling the truth about Zionist Israel

Fikret Başkaya*

1. Not calling things by their names is a way of lying, and for the last 58 years, the truth has not been told about Israel. While everyone talks about the “artificiality” of the states created in the region in the wake of the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire, no-one ventures to make the nature of Israel a subject for discussion. Firstly, Zionist Israel is not a state that belongs to this region; secondly, its borders are more artificial than those states created by the imperialist powers; thirdly, the Zionist state is an extension of imperialism transplanted to the Middle East. It is, in fact, imperialism in the Middle East**. It is a kind of transplant, and therefore there is a problem of “tissue rejection”. If we want to express this another way, Israel is the extension in the Middle East of collective imperialism (the extension in the region of the triumvirate of USA Europe and Japan, especially the USA. Westerners (the English) were talking about founding a European state in the Middle East as early as 1840. Unless the reasons for the existence of the Zionist state and its mission are understood, all the efforts that have been made and will be made to secure peace in the region will be worthless. Since the mission and the reason for the existence of the Israeli state are to ensure compliance with the interests of imperialism, therefore, the continuance of invasions, massacres, murders and colonialist expansionism. Whatever the Zionist regime has done during the 58 years of its existence, it has done it in order to fulfill its mission. Israel’s mission is to ensure the continued imperialist looting of the natural resources of the region by continuously pushing the region into war and chaos and thus preventing the peoples of the region from standing on their own feet.

2. The Middle East is the heart of the “old world”. It was not for nothing that every imperialist power with a project for world domination throughout history had set its sights on the Middle East. Today the situation is the same. The Middle East and its extensions in the Caucasus and Central Asia as a whole have a central importance for imperialism as a whole and in particular for the USA’s hegemonic aims and its geopolitical and geostrategic aims. There are three reasons for the importance of this region to imperialism: firstly the rich natural resources of the region (oil, gas and other minerals); secondly its strategic location; thirdly the role of the region as the soft underbelly of the world system. The control of energy resources flows from control of this region. The 1967 Six Days War had been planned two years earlier in Washington as a means of opening the way to the colonialist expansion of the Zionist regime. The aim was to scuttle attempts at Arab unity. Because, a united, modern “Arab World” would mean the end of imperialist looting. Therefore, one of the first roles of the Zionist regime was to obstruct any such development, to “crush the chick while still in the egg”. As a consequence, the alliance between the Western imperialist powers and the Zionist regime is an expression of their common interests.

3. There are strong material reasons of class interest behind the unconditional and unlimited support of imperialism for the Zionist regime. Most people tie this to the powerful Zionist lobbies in the USA and to those who feel guilty about the Nazi holocaust in Europe. Undoubtedly, both of these factors exist, but they are not enough to explain imperialism’s support for Israel. The determinant factor is the common interest of imperialist capital, the multinationals and collective imperialism under the leadership of the USA. It would be naïve to think otherwise. If Israel in any way endangered the interest of collective imperialism, then neither powerful Zionist lobbies nor European feelings of guilt would save it. If the USA or another imperialist power wanted it, Israel’s withdrawal from the territories it occupied in 1967 would take only moments. As an artificial state, Israel lacks the strength to resist sanctions or even an economic embargo. When we talk about Israel’s military strength, we are really talking about the military strength of the USA and its European partners. If imperialist support was withdrawn, bringing Israel under control would be much easier than many suppose. Whatever Israel does, it is done with the open or covert support of the imperialists, principally the United States. This is confirmed once again when we look at the approach of both the USA and Europe to the recent attacks on Palestine and Lebanon.

4. The support given to the Zionist regime by the imperialists, principally the USA, and the resulting “permanent state of war,” helps to ensure the longevity of the reactionary Arab regimes. These regimes, by manipulating popular consciousness, obstruct the understanding of the true situation. Consequently, the support given by imperialism to the Zionist regime serves the interests of the triumvirate of imperialism, the reaction theocratic and autocratic regimes and the Zionist state itself. When we look at things from a historical perspective, we can see that the status quo in the region is reproduced based on these common interests.

5. The United Nations is not, as is claimed, the organization of the nations united, but is the organization of collective imperialism. It was set up with this aim, has been used in this way and it continues to be used in this way. The mission of this organization is to keep observers passive by creating illusions, to achieve acceptance for fait accompli. In just the same way that the League of Nations was set up by a few western imperialist nations to serve their own interests, the UN was set up by the same centers of power. The UN’s aim was, in a period when direct colonialism was being liquidated, to impose the “new imperialism”, to legitimize it and defend the interest of collective imperialism. The framework created by the UN does not protect the weak against the strong; rather it protects the strong against the weak. Along with the emergence of people who had at least gained formal independence as actors on the scene after World War II, and the pressure from the Soviet Union may have forced the UN to make to some limited moves for the “wretched of the earth”. However, after the 1980’s, with compradorisation of the third world regimes and the collapse of the Soviet system, the UN no longer felt the need to try to hide its true face and all doubts about in whose interests it was working were dispelled by the events of the 1990’s. To this day, every UN General Secretary has been the USA’s “man”. So he was never the servant of the member nations, but of the USA and, as a consequence, of collective imperialism. While this is the true situation, the language used may sometimes be different. Today’s UN General Secretary, Kofi Annan was a deputy General secretary during the Rwanda crisis, and by obstructing the taking of the necessary precautions gained the attention of the USA. Now he continues to speak the language of the USA about the attacks on Palestine and Lebanon. As always, he tries to win time for the Israelis. He wants the immediate return of the captured Israeli soldiers, but does not make the slightest move for the tens of thousands of prisoners, including many women and children, in Israeli hands. He proposes a multi national force for the Lebanese side of the border (the aim of this is to insert NATO forces into the region) and a committee to monitor whether the conditions of any possible agreement are being complied with. In fact, he does what he has always done – wins time for the aggressor, and tries to ensure that they make further gains.

6. Since its foundation, Turkey has always taken the side of the Zionist regime. Whenever the Arab masses have confronted imperialism, Turkey has always supported imperialism (in the 1956 Suez crisis, the ac
ceptance of Algerian independence in 1962, in the first Gulf War etc).While remaining the most loyal satellite of the USA in the region. To be in solidarity with the people of the region, to adopt an anti-Israel stance, to have an independent foreign policy, was, in any event impossible. For one thing, the official ideology is based on anti-Arabism. This was justified by nonsense like “The Arabs always stabbed us in the back”. When did the Arabs ever “stab” the Turkish Republic in the back? I suppose that they are referring to Arab desires for independence from the Ottoman Empire. The occasional cowardly, insincere, ambiguous statements against the massacres committed by the Zionist state in order to pacify the outrage of the masses are of no significant value. In any event, most times these statements are subsequently withdrawn, showing that they are no more than a demagogic attempt to win time. In any case, it is impossible to be both a US satellite and oppose the Zionist regime, which is an extension of imperialism in the region.

7. Neither Hamas nor Hizbullah are terrorist organizations. They are part of the peoples of Palestine and Lebanon. They have a legitimate base and defend legitimate national rights. It is an “invention” of imperialism and Zionism to take a political party that has come to power through democratic elections and declare it to be a terrorist organization. So, as I have written elsewhere, the real terror is state terror; the real terrorists are states. To describe a movement that, in the last analysis, is fighting for national independence and freedom as “terrorist” is simply to talk the language of the imperialists, the global terrorists. Is it logical to treat the legitimate defense of those who are under attack as a “terrorist action”? Fatah used to be described as a terrorist organization, that is, until it was felt that it no longer posed a danger to imperialism. As long as the imperialist continue to determine the character of anti-imperialist movements, confusion and ideological slavery will continue. It is high time to free the imperialists from talking with the arrogance of the “masters of the world”.

8. The success of the struggle against imperialism and its extension in the region, Zionism, is possible if the struggle has a consistent anti-imperialist character. The success of movements that are not anti-imperialist and anti capitalist is not possible. The Islamism movements that claim to be fighting against imperialism and Zionism in the region unfortunately confuse xenophobia with anti-imperialism. Without losing this illusion, real liberation is impossible. It is, however, possible to continue the old situation “as if it is something new”. Consequently, movements without an anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist content have no chance of changing the course of events. Not only the Islamist movements in this region, but no other movement anywhere in the world has any chance of success without a socialist perspective. These movements are, in the end, condemned merely to reproduce the dependence on imperialism. The movement’s leaders are promoted to the internal agents of exploitation and looting. The laboring masses have need of something else.

9. The solution of the problems of the region, including those of Lebanon and Palestine is dependent on two things: the liquidation of the US-collaborationist, corrupt, theocratic and autocratic regimes and the expulsion of imperialism from the region. Only a regional anti-imperialist anti-capitalist movement with a socialist perspective can bring welfare and lasting peace to the region. The success of such a movement is dependent on the transformation of the Zionist regime. Otherwise, the uninterrupted wars, conflicts, terror and chaos will continue to threaten the people of Israel. The existing situation is not sustainable even for the Jewish people of Israel. For this, the people of Israel must be liberated from Zionism and from being made the tools of imperialism.

10. All the exploited classes and oppressed peoples of the planet, not only the peoples of the Middle East, must free themselves from the stupidity of talking in the language of the imperialists. For the “Wretched of the Earth” to be able to talk in their own language, to create their own concepts, an intervention in the ideological struggle is necessary. As we insist time after time, the real slavery is ideological slavery. At the moment, all the vehicles and channels of knowledge of ideological hegemony are in the hands of capital. It is both possible and necessary to intervene in this arena. The media have long ago ceased to fulfill their role and have become the weapon of a narrow elite. The same is, to a large degree, true of academia. Capitalism is rapidly degrading and emptying the meaning of scientific and aesthetic activities. Now, that field known as “social science” has been turned into a vehicle of exploitation and dumbing down. On the other hand the duty of the “wretched of the earth” is to rapidly create the alternative to all these. Is there any reason why we should not stand up for our humanity, our honor and our future?

* President of Turkey and Middle East Forum Foundation [Free University], Ankara.