[Buddha-l] Zionism and Marxism?

[Eric Nelson]

Since off-topic discussions continue, I will add a few things:

The discussion of Zionism on Buddha-L blurs a number of different phenomena:
Historically, Zionism does not mean only the establishment of a Jewish
state (Dan's sense) but a particular kind of state: modern secular
nationalistic. A number of Jewish thinkers were and are critics of
Zionism in the latter sense. For example, Levinas rejected Zionism for
being nationalistic, and thus inevitably unethical and "pagan," while
still supporting Israel.
One should also distinguish those who criticize Israel for particular
practices, such as land expansion and removing people from their
homes, from calling for the destruction of the state and its people.
Otherwise, a number of Israelis are antisemitic and it seems everyone
except neoconservatives would be "anti-semitic." This attitude of
turning everyone other into the enemy creates cohesion, as the fascist
political thinker Carl Schmidt argued, but I would disagree since it
ideologically strengthens the fanatics and real anti-semitism that
dominates the thinking of the likes of the president of Iran and that
is dangerously resurging throughout the world today.

As for Marxism, one should not conflate all Marxists with being
totalitarians: What about the many western Marxists who rejected the
Soviet model and argued for democratic versions (especially the
Frankfurt school if you think Sartre compromised too much)? What of
the Nineteenth-century understanding of Marxism that led to the
creation of the labor movement and social democratic, socialist, and
labor parties? One might accuse them of having become corrupt and
bureaucratic in the meantime, but that is different from being
totalitarian. You might think that they are no longer very Marxist,
but some still cultivate those roots: the SPD organization for budding
young socialists still runs the Marx house in Trier as well as
teaching Marx at its institute. Marxism is not incompatible with
Buddhism if both allow for pluralism. Eric