Zionism is a prison of the Jewish mind
JVL Introduction
Less than 48 hours after the polls closed and Britain whole-heartedly ejected the Tories and half-heartedly elected a Starmer led Labour government a hundred thousand took to the streets of London. They marched to remind our politicians of a truth they tried to ignore: the British people do not share their enthusiasm for aiding and abetting the Israeli genocide in Gaza.
We reprint the speech delivered to the rally outside Parliament by Mike Cushman on behalf of the Jewish Bloc for Palestine.
RK
Mike Cushman:
I’m honoured to be speaking on behalf of the Jewish Bloc for Palestine just two days after Jeremy Corbyn was re-elected by the people of Islington.
Jeremy’s dismal successor Keir Starmer talks about change. The change we want is a change in the policy of arming and excusing Israel. A change that will only come about if we force it to come.
Starmer and his friends say, yes, we are Zionists, but we are liberal Zionists who care about Palestinians. But liberal Zionism is a concept as meaningful as ethical genocide.
Zionism is based on a hierarchy of rights and privileges and a history invented to justify Jewish supremacism between the river and the sea.
Insisting on hierarchies can never be liberal. Hierarchies always enable a far right who reject the rights of people not like them.
In Israel, it leads to the promotion of fascists like Ben Gvir and Smotrich. Politicians who support and encourage the violent settlers who are every day trying to drive Palestinians off their land in the West Bank; fascists who allow the abuse and torture of Palestinians held in Israel gaols, often without charge or trial
Politicians who poison the minds of young soldiers who are led to believe it is honourable to kill any and every Palestinian in Gaza that they encounter.
The Israel far-right is aligned with the far-right here and elsewhere across the world. That is why we see Israeli flags at far-right rallies. It seems there is no contradiction between being a fascist antisemite and a supporter of Israel. As Jews – just like our Muslim, black and lgbt+ brothers and sisters – we have good reason to fear the rise of the far-right. A far-right emboldened and strengthened by Britain’s tolerance of Israel’s crimes
- We demand that Starmer steps away from arming Israel and backs the international courts’ attempts to uphold International Humanitarian Law and hold Israel to account.
- We call for the release the Palestinian prisoners and the release of the hostages
- Gaza needs a permanent ceasefire and an end to the killing today.
Zionism is a prison of the Jewish mind so Jews will not be free until Palestine is free. But very soon, from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.
Solidarity!
Great speech, thank you Mike.
Every proof that Zionism is NOT Judaism and that millions of Jews worldwide oppose Zionism makes me so emotional still.. proof of the basic Humanity of Most of the World. I thank every single one of them who speak out with all my heart.
Great speech! Thank you Mike.
Congratulations Mike! A very bold final sentence!
Can we take Starmer to ICC for genocide complicity?
Well said.
Warm Regards
malcolm
Spot on!
Utterly brilliant speech, Mike!
THANK YOU for your dedication and tireless diligence!
Mike, you and your comrades publicly spout this puerile and dangerous hate against the Jewish people, singing the river to the sea nonsense, the terrorist anthem which naive fellow travellers are trying to sanitise. There are ways to criticise but this is not one of them. I often wonder if any of you in this group really care about the future of the Jewish people and if so how do you demonstrate it beyond your extreme Far Left vision.
I totally agree, Judaism needs rescuing from the Zionists otherwise it will disappear into oblivion
Great line Mike, will go into the book of quotable quotes, and very true. Though, as you often said in your speeches, not every Jew is a Zionist, and not every Zionist is a Jew.