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The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil,    but because of the people who don't do anything about it

Occupation magazine - Commentary Home page  back Print  Send To friend Cooperation on specific issues would serve us well Facebookpost by Ran Greenstein Sept.10, 2017 https://www.facebook.com/ran.greenstein/posts/10154877131711297 (The facebook link gives access to a discussion string) Historically there has been ONE Zionist movement, which led the process of Jewish settlement in Palestine, conquest of land, the 1948 Nakba, the 1967 occupation, all the way to the present. Its components - different parties, policies, state agencies - were not always unified, and engaged in internal debates, but the movement acted as a coherent body until 1948, and it gave rise to a unified state - a combined civilian and military apparatus - after that. At the same time, there always have been multiple Zionists (a pluarlity of people with different perspectives, united in some core ideas and practices, but also divided on concrete issues). Among these Zionists are liberal-left tendencies (Meretz in Israel, J Street in the USA, and many unaffiliated individuals and organizations). None of them support the right of return for the 1948 Palestinian refugees, but many of them support and actively favour equality of rights to Palestinian citizens, termination of the 1967 occupation, some limited form of redress and restitution for past dispossession. These people define themselves as Zionist but deviate, to some extent at least, from some of the core policies pursued by mainstream Zionist movements and the State of Israel. Hence, a potential basis for cooperation with anti-Zionist movements and activists. NOT full-fledged unity based on shared principles obviously, but cooperation on specific issues: opposition to Bedouin dispossession and land confiscation on both sides of the Green Line, equalisation of budgets and resources to Palestinian communities inside the Green Line, greater freedoms in the fields of culture and education and so on. There is no need for perfect agreement on all issues, tactical collaboration would serve us well. [bz] Links to the latest articles in this section Is there still a chance to break the cycle of revenge and bloodshed? Israelis Against Apartheid Statement Following ICJ Hearing Three weeks into the Gaza War - a somber and sober assessment, with some historical perspectives