Palestinians, Zionists, Jews and Israel

Nasir Khan, January 24, 2017

My new facebook friend Phil Clarke said to me in one of his comments, “You seem to think that all Jews and all Israelis are Zionists – that is not an accurate picture.” I will take only this point and add the following few lines:

I do not think that all Jews and Israelis are Zionists. In fact, no person can think so who has any knowledge of the historical background to Israel’s establishment in 1948 and the consequences of this event for the people of Palestine. However, under the incessant barrage of the Zionist propaganda many Jews in Israel become Zionists and believers in their supranational status as the exclusive children of their god, and who have an exclusive right to the whole of Palestine. The captive population of Palestine has no significance in their calculations. Under an apartheid, racist system that exists in Israel as a matter of state policies, they will gradually disappear from the political scene.

The number of Israeli Jews who are still not Zionists or upholders of Zionist outlook is fast shrinking and more and more extreme right-wing militants and fanatic, terrorist settlers are spreading throughout Israel and in the occupied territories.

But there are also Jews who have rejected Zionist plans for an exclusive Jewish state, which in practical terms will be a Zionist state based on the Jewish religious law, more of a prehistoric theocratic state, not a democratic one. The extreme right-wing Zionist rulers of Israel have their sights on such a project.

Among the Jews we reject an anachronistic Zionist state are a few prominent academics and historians, lan pappe, Avi shlaim, Miko Peled, for instance. Besides these, there are some orthodox Jews both in and out of Israel who do not see this Israel the same that was mentioned in the Old Testament.

There are many Zionists in the West and they come from mostly Christian denominations of various types. Such non-Jewish Zionists also come from other religions and rightist forces. In America, they wield much leverage and political clout and influence the US policies in the Middle East, mostly to bolster Israel and ostracise and marginalise the Palestinians. The Zionist organisations operate systematically to advance the Zionist projections through Europe and the rest of the world.

If we take into account all the objective conditions that prevail at present, there can never be any peace in the Middle East as long as Israel has the power over the United States and is able to control its foreign policies with regard to the Middle East.

In fact, with the new US administration in place under President Trump, Israel will use its power to persuade America to attack Iran, which will inevitably lead to Israel as the only regional superpower in the Middle East. The prospects for any solution to the Palestine issue, according to the U.N. resolutions becomes no more than a pious wish of some noble souls if Israel continues on its dangerous path.

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Religious fanaticism versus humanist values

Nasir Khan, January 19, 2017

The only reasonable way to get out of the mindset of religious fanaticism is to turn to humanism and humane values that fanatics fight against. It is true the road is long and hazardous but it is worth trying to explore. If rational people start thinking on these lines, they will also start walking along these lines and they will influence others. Otherwise, we will remain mired in the mud of religious fanaticism and barbarism.

There are many people who are justifiably afraid of the enormous influence the right-wing forces wield and exploit religions for their nefarious political agendas, communalism, hatred against other religious communities, creeds, oppose social justice and equal socio-political rights for all. These forces are a danger to all and are very active. They are a big danger to all human values, which are foundation stones of modern democratic societies, their organisation and functioning.

But we should keep in mind that there are also many people who are actively involved in combating and fighting against these forces of darkness and inhumanity. What our friends and sympathisers can do in this struggle is not to become only silent spectators and leave the field open to the fanatics but to side with those who are involved in political struggles against the reactionary forces.

This work involves, among other activities, using the media for highlighting the harm the fanatics have caused by their indoctrination and falsehoods. This process strengthens the struggle of creating common bonds of humanity and respect for all members of society where the development of all in a fair and democratic way is possible. That means to reject religious fanaticism in all its forms and advance the cause of democratic values and humanism.

Religious fanatics in India and Pakistan

Nasir Khan, January 18, 2017

(I wrote the following piece in reply to a comment by a Facebook friend.)

Both Hindu and Islamic architecture have influenced each other in many ways. By its appearance, Jejuri Temple seems to be a clear example of this interaction in architecture.

Regarding your views on the division of Hindus and Muslims, my reply is: If these people, Hindus and Muslims, regard one another as human beings first where people’s religious beliefs are left as their personal matters and nothing more, then a common human and humane bond will emerge that will allow cultural diversity but wherein all people will stand for common humanity and common political, social and economic rights and obligations.

But in India and Pakistan things are working in the reverse order. In these countries, the first consideration is towards religious identity while what is obviously common, our common humanity and our oneness as human beings, is pushed out of sight! The result is fanatics and fundamentalists in Hindus and Muslims have made living for ordinary people difficult.

The Hindutva fanatics in India have poisoned the minds of vast numbers of Hindus and have made them anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan by their continuous propaganda. Many feel that is the only way to make India a purely Hindu state by preaching the mantra of Akhand Bharat. There is so much hatred against Muslims and Islam in Indian right-wing Hindus, which I find hard to believe.

In Pakistan, the right-wing religious and political parties have equally viciously poisoned the minds of millions of people for establishing a theocratic state instead of a modern democratic state.

Consequently, their continuous indoctrination and misleading information against the non-Muslims has relegated religious minorities in Pakistan to a secondary status. The victimisation of some innocent people for having violated the so-called blasphemy laws of Pakistan under concocted charges is a living proof of the cancerous fanaticism and primitive mindset that once flourished in the early middle ages.

What sort of productive system Marx and Engels saw in Britain

Nasir Khan, January 8, 2017

The following photo is from Victorian England, which in those days had the largest empire in the world. It gives a small glimpse into the living conditions of young children.

Where did the wealth by trade and commercial activity with the colonies and the rest of the world go? Certainly, it didn’t go to the working class people, the poor, the paupers, and their children but only in the coffers of the ruling elite and the bourgeoisie.

Many writers and social historians wrote about the wretched conditions under which the poor and underprivileged people lived. Among them were two friends of German origin, Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, who witnessed the condition of the working class and poor people in Britain.

In their prognosis, the expanding capitalist system was based on greed and profit-making, where the social, economic welfare of the working class had no meaning for the owners of means of production and the control they exercised over the process of production.

Such an unjust and inhumane system needed to be replaced by a system where the means of productions were not to be left in the hands of a tiny minority but were held jointly by the majority to create a humane and caring society. Marx and Engels formulated their ideas in their books and papers that form the basis of Scientific Socialism.

Anita Sullivan

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