(Your Voice in a World where Zionism, Steel, and Fire have

turned Justice Mute)

 

Zionism and Judaism: Jewish law and relations with non-Jews.

 

 

Translated from Arabic by Muhammad Abu Nasr By Ibrahim Alloush

 

Ever since the recoil in the 19th Century from the Haskalah - the Jewish enlightenment movement that called for the assimilation of the Jews on the basis of equality into the peoples among whom they lived-, general Jewish disdain could not have taken on the racist, Zionist, colonialist bent in which it appears nowadays, had it not been for the existence of fundamental features in the Jewish religion itself that supported those tendencies and enabled them to flourish.

 

Some might object that to say that Judaism is responsible for the excesses of Zionism is methodologically incorrect except to the extent that any religion or ideology can be held responsible for the excesses of which a group of its followers might be guilty.

 

But Judaism is not like other known mainstream religions and beliefs, because racism and colonialism are not so much a deviation from Judaism as they are its basic interpretation, if not its only interpretation.

 

The (now-deceased) writer Israel Shahak, in his book “Jewish History, Jewish Religion: The Weight of Three Thousand Years,” translated ancient Hebrew texts from the Talmud concerning how Jews should manage their dealings with other people.  It is impossible to find anything like those provisions in any other religion or creed.

 

And we should particularly note that all these provisions in Jewish law are based on the vital condition that when a Jew puts them into practice their consequences must not blow back on any other Jew, through vengeance or in any other way.

 

So for example, the Jew must curse when he passes the graves of non-Jews, but he must pray for mercy on the occupants of Jewish graves.  He must not provide aid to non-Jews if they are sick or injured or drowning or if they have fallen into a pit – unless such behavior will result in someone taking vengeance on the Jews.

 

According to classic Jewish law, known as the Halakha, intentionally and precisely killing non-Jewish civilians in time of war is an unavoidable obligation, and the Jew who does not observe that regulation exposes himself to the wrath of God.  This is something that cannot be separated from current Zionist practices in Palestine.  When a Jew intentionally kills a non-Jew in a situation other than war, he is considered a sinner before God, but not before the law.  When a Jew kills a non-Jew by mistake, he is neither a sinner before God nor before the law.

 

One privilege Jews enjoy under Jewish law is their right to deceive the non-Jews – in politics, business, and personal relations.  For example, it is absolutely forbidden for a Jew to steal from another Jew.  But he has a right to rob a non-Jew indirectly in business if that is “by using his head” (as opposed to outright theft).

 

He may practice fraud, and even armed robbery of non- Jews when they are under the authority of the Jews, i.e., when there is less likelihood that another Jew might suffer from someone seeking vengeance.

 

The Jew has the right, under Jewish law, to practice usury or not practice usury in loans to other Jews, but he is required to practice usury in loans to non-Jews, unless he has some interest in not doing so, for the Halakha  prohibits Jews from giving gifts to non-Jews unless they receive something in return.

 

Israel Shahak presented many more such examples in his translation of Jewish laws.  Dr. Abdel Wahhab al-Messiri has objected to generalizing these Jewish laws to cover all Jews, inasmuch as those who established the state of “Israel” were secularists and atheists who did not necessarily recognize Jewish law.

 

But that view ignores the fact that Judaism, like any religion, is not merely a set of laws and regulations but a whole culture from which the members absorb a great many of their values and concepts from childhood.  Islam, as a culture – naturally a different one – can be readily seen in all strata of Arab society.

 

Perhaps the most excellent and enlightening examples here from the Arab left are those of Abd al-Khaliq Mahjub of the Sudanese Communist Party who used to observe the five daily prayers, and the Iraqi Resistance communiqués issued by the Iraqi Communist Party (Cadre) that begin with this phrase from the Qur’an: “[kill them] wherever you find them” (referring to enemies who have attacked you).