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Sderot, the High Court of Justice, and Zionism
By: Meir Margalit
Occupation Magazine
December 2007
Original Hebrew: http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=23946
Translated by George Malent

If anyone still requires evidence of the failure of Zionism, they need only examine the response of the State to the suit submitted to the High Court of Justice by residents of Sderot who were requesting that the government fortify their houses, which stated that the State is not responsible for providing absolute security to its residents. (Haaretz 11 December 2007)
A hundred and twenty years after the creation of the Zionist movement, and after mountains of declarations stating and re-stating the need for a secure haven for the Jewish people, the State now declares: too bad, but we cannot provide that secure haven that the founders of Zionism promised in their time. The entire Zionist enterprise was based on the need to defend Jews wherever they were. The entire negation of the Diaspora was based on the principle that only in a Jewish state could the Jewish people live in security. Suddenly, in a laconic response to a lawsuit, the State announces that the Zionist idea has failed.

To tell the truth we were not surprised by the response. For a long time now it has been clear to us that the Zionist ?conception? had collapsed. Jews in the Diaspora live in much greater security than the Jews of Israel, and paradoxically, in the Jewish state, which was created to defend us from various kinds of afflictions, more Jews are killed than any other place in the world. Not only that, but for a long time now we have known that the State is not able to provide security to its residents, not only along its borders but also in the city centres, in buses, cafes and shopping centres. But up to now the State of Israel had adhered to the classical Zionist pretension that it functions as a safe haven for the Jewish people, and had never wholeheartedly admitted not only that it has failed in that mission but that it does not consider itself to be responsible for providing absolute security to its residents.

The discussion about post-Zionism occurs mainly in the academic milieu. Now it is being introduced into judicial fora, not at the hands of the enemies of Israel, but at the hands of the State?s own lawyers. All that was needed was a suit by a group of Sderot residents for the fortification of their houses against Qassams for the Zionist ?conception? to be brought down forever. Not that we were surprised. It is clear that Zionism gave up that role some time ago. A state was created. Jews went there from the Diaspora, they revived the Hebrew language, they redeemed the wilderness, and thus its historical role came to an end, for better or for worse. The Zionist establishment is indeed alive and kicking, but that is the wont of giant institutions that refuse to dismantle themselves, especially as the Zionist idea is still a useful lever for mobilizing money in the Diaspora. The Zionist movement continued to stand on its foundations but it was devoid of substance, and it was only a matter of time until it collapsed in on itself. But in the surprising reply of the State lawyers, which was intended merely to save a little money for the State treasury, the State exposed the real truth in its full cruelty: we are not able to fulfill the promise of the Zionist movement to set up a corner of the world in which Jews can live in safety. How ironic it is that that historical announcement came to light because of a sum of money that was to have been used to protect the residents of Sderot. It is as if the residents of all the development towns all at once sought revenge for many years of discrimination and said to the State: now your real face is revealed, and we will settle the account for the discrimination that we have born in our hearts since the 1950s. How symbolic it is that the announcement came in the wake of the firing of Qassam missiles from the Gaza Strip. If the primitive Qassams had not heretofore succeeded in causing substantial harm to the State, now they had struck at the heart of the essence of Zionism and brought it down to its foundations.
It was Martin Buber who said in 1948 that he feared that the success of Zionism would cause the failure of Judaism. In paraphrase of his words we can now add that the creation of the State has also caused the failure of Zionism. Zionism did indeed appear on the stage of history at a time when it was necessary for the Jewish people. Within a relatively short time it achieved great success, even if that was due to the Holocaust and not to its own efforts alone. But at the time that it made its appearance in the world it also bore an expiry date. The process of disintegration began immediately upon the creation of the State. Since then it has been carrying within itself a self-destruct mechanism which has been constantly ticking and switched onto ?active? mode in June 1967 when we entered the vortex that is taking us towards the edge of the abyss. It does indeed appear that the leaders of the State have recently woken up to the dangers involved in perpetuating the occupation, but we have not yet seen any practical action to stop the deterioration. Coincidentally, in the same issue of Haaretz that carried the story of the State?s response to the Sderot lawsuit, Moshe Arens wrote that Olmert?s speech at Annapolis was a classical example of post-Zionist narrative. That is subject to debate, but what is irrefutable is the response of the State?s counsel to the High Court of Justice, which says in dry but unequivocal language: the Zionist idea has failed. What a shame that they cannot even say they?re sorry.

Dr. Meir Margalit is a member of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions and a former Meretz member of the Jerusalem city council.

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