"Mr Foot, do you hate the Jews?"

Submitted by AWL on 15 July, 2005 - 12:19

Column by Paul Foot in Socialist Worker, 18 May 1996

I got this letter recently from a woman in Surrey.

Dear Mr Foot,

I was so disappointed in you when I heard your hysterical outburst against Israel on 'Any Questions'.

I have admired your column in the Guardian and your cogent socialist views for a long time. However, you did yourself no good in the programme in revealing your up-till-now well-hidden anti-Jewish bias.

You took no account of the provocation received by Israel for such a long time from the terrorist group, Hezbollah.

You just hate Jews - it was perfectly obvious, and you should be honest enough to say so instead of hiding it behind your criticism of Israel.

Here is my reply.

Thank you very much for your letter. Almost every time I manage to publicise my strong views about the state of Israel, I get attacked for being anti-Semitic and for "hating Jews".

My instinctive reaction - "No, I don't hate Jews at all" - harks back to the old and notoriously patronising, "Some of my best friends are Jews".

So let me explain why I am against Israel. The idea of a safe homeland for Jews gained a lot of sympathy among socialists after the long years of Nazi persecution.

The problem with the chosen homeland, Palestine, however, was that it was already populated by Palestinians. A Jewish state could not be created there without the forcible expulsion from their homes of a million people, most of whom have been living as refugees ever since.

This expulsion was followed by the grossest discrimination against the Palestinians living in Israel, and periodic outbursts of unashamedly imperialist aggression and occupation of neighbouring countries.

The Six Day War in 1967 was a war of conquest in which thousands of miles of other people's territory were added to Israel by force of arms.

Naturally, all this led to violent resistance among the expelled and stateless Palestinians, which in turn led to Israeli counter-terrorism in an apparently endless spiral.

Throughout, the Israeli aggressions were supported by the United States government, whose greed for cheap oil is always threatened by Arab nationalism and especially by Arab socialism, both of which have been sidetracked and contained by the very existence of Israel.

The arguments which gave rise to sympathy for a Jewish homeland on the left were turned on their head. The persecuted became the persecutors, the oppressed the oppressors.

One result is that Jews are far less secure in Israel than they are, say, in Britain or the United States or most other places in the world.

This brings me to your accusations. It is you, not I, who automatically connect the state of Israel with Jews, and construe every attack on or defence of Israel as an attack on or a defence of Jews.

In this, it seems to me, you are cutting yourself off from the best Jewish socialists and reformers who have consistently been anti-Zionist.

So, although it's true, I don't rely on the fact that some of my best friends are Jews.

More optimistically, I conclude that some of the fiercest fighters for human emancipation are Jews, and all of those are anti-Zionist.

This website uses cookies, you can find out more and set your preferences here.
By continuing to use this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.