I see a lot of talk concerning how Israel should be supported by the USA and European countries for various reasons and, notably, none of them concern with material benefits for either native Europeans or long-time American citizens, instead focusing on abstractions and ideals. As Trump has led the USA into another forever war with Iran (at the behest of Israel, per the words of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio), it is pertinent to talk about a common anti-Zionist talking point that I find counterproductive. Namely: Israel’s colonialism is the same as that of American settle colonialism from the late 18thcentury to the early 20th century.
This is incorrect as, while America is a settler-colonial state, nonetheless was founded on the basis of enlightenment principles like equality before the law and liberty, considering how the American and French revolutions at the time were leftist at the time of the events, with the notion of equality of men itself being already extremely radical at a time when absolute monarchies were the standard in Europe. That’s not all, as contrary to popular opinion the Founding Fathers themselves weren’t conservative. Whether it’s the lack of any mention specifying the USA as a “white Christian country” founded on the basis of theology in the constitution and the federalist papers, George Washington himself coming to oppose slavery before the abolitionist movement began to gain momentum, many of said fathers being at best deists or nominally Christian, the USA being effectively the first democratic republic in history with limited suffrage being a short-lived experiment that was swept away in favour of universal male suffrage, Thomas Jefferson himself owning a copy of the Quran and a version of the Bible excised of all supernatural elements and among other examples show that the USA was far from the hotbed of reactionary politics both liberals and chuds tend to portray it as. Even the Indian Removal Act that led to the infamous “Trail of Tears” wasn’t unanimously agreed upon, with strong opposition by Christian missionaries and other politicians who opposed it based on the shared humanity and parity between white settlers Native Americans.
So it’s no wonder given all this that, despite the reproduction of reactionary politics like Manifest Destiny and Jim Crow laws, the notion of equality (or pretence to it) persisted throughout American history, which laid the seeds for the civil rights, feminist, and gay rights movements of the contemporary era. And I would argue that it is said notion that distinguishes the American project from other settler-colonies that were more explicit on their racial/ethnic/theological basis, such as Argentina, Australia, Canada, and of course, Israel.
It should also be noted that the USA, for all of its faults, isn’t currently segregating Native Americans from mainstream American society via a state-sponsored countrywide system of racial segregation, nor bombing every Indian reserve and sponsoring white Americans (immigrant or not) to steal land from indigenous people and kicking out of their home by force. So, one could counter-argue that it’s a difference of ‘degrees of coloniality’ rather than absence of it. But I digress. Not to peddle Whig history slop, but it’s undeniable that America was founded on a notion of equality between races and faiths that is completely absent in contrast to the founding of Israel.
Israel just isn’t analogous to America, especially given how Israel both defines itself in particularist ethno-centric ways and has a theological basis that America lacks, as well as how Israeli settler-colonialism follows along the models of standard European colonialism combined with state terrorism both against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza (to the point that Israel is engaging in genocide there). So while the USA isn’t currently engaging in genocide against its natives, the same can’t be said for Israel and its society, where the grand majority of Israelis are effectively kahanists per the latest opinion polls. And that goes for the entire political right and most of the political left in Israel, so let that sink in.
From a leftist standpoint, it can be said that settler-colonialism in the Americas played a historically progressive role in developing productive forces, while simultaneously producing deeply reactionary social relations. The same cannot be said of modern Israeli settler-colonialism, which does not represent a transition to a higher mode of production, but rather a reproduction of imperial domination in a more concentrated form. Ultimately, the claim that “Israel is just like America” obscures more than it reveals. Both are products of colonial history, but they occupy different positions within the global capitalist system. Recognizing this distinction allows for a clearer analysis of imperialism today, especially as Palestinians (unlike the indigenous peoples of the Americas) had their own conception of private property alongside their own bourgeoisie that predates the Balfour Declaration.
Now, if we had to give the closest western analogue, that would be Australia. Back when he was just a war-mongering liberal instead of a war-mongering white nationalist neocon, Drew Pavlou debated (and lost) against neo-nazi Joel Davis on immigration, with Joel making the interesting point that Australia was ran as a white nationalist colonial state and that the founding fathers of Australia and its past PMs were under no delusion that Australia was anything more than a white nationalist state, the “White Australia Policy” being the formalisation of such ideals into law. Indeed, since the dominion’s government lacked any significant armed opposition on the part of Aboriginals of Australia, it can be said that the current Australian policies towards mass immigration and multiculturalism were less about equality than they were about chasing after cheap labor per the needs of the capitalist elites and perhaps tailing after America. The same can be said in the cases of the republic of Argentina and the dominion of Canada, both of which were ran explicitly as white nationalist states, albeit with special emphasis on their links with their metropoles (formerly Spain and currently the UK/France, respectively), the liberalisations of immigration laws and moves towards a less racially-exclusionary definition of their identities only occurring in the late 20th century long after the US did the same.
All in all: There’s nothing inconsistent between being an anti-Zionist and being an American patriot on the basis of opposition to genocide and anti-imperialism.
Sources:
https://newrepublic.com/post/207325/donald-trump-marco-rubio-israel-iranhttps://www.newarab.com/news/poll-huge-majority-israelis-back-gaza-ethnic-cleansinghttps://southasiajournal.net/the-problem-isnt-just-netanyahu-its-israeli-societyhttps://www.meforum.org/middle-east-quarterly/the-conundrum-of-israeli-arab-citizenshiphttps://www.britannica.com/event/White-Australia-Policy