It's a cliche to point out that the Labor party has advanced the interests of arabs as having a higher priority than Jews. But now as after the latest registration drive Arabs are shown to form nearly a quarter of the party membership, it is time to wonder if Labor will not soon become an Arab party.
Traditionally left wing parties attempt to position themselves as defenders of minorities against the exploitationist elites. However the Labor party has always represented the exploitationist elite to begin with. Theirs was the party of socialist secular elite who thought they had a mandate to eternally govern Israel. Each new wave of immigration was an irritant to them as they realized the new immigrants were different and had their own character and way of life and could not simply be ground under to their hegemony.
As each wave came, Holocaust survivors, sefardim, russian Jews; Labor attempted to assimilate them the hard way alternating between brutality and neglect only to find that the new immigrants preffered the right. Holocaust survivors were angered by Labor's deal with post-nazi Germany, sefardim by attempts at forced assimilation and exploitation and russian Jews by discrimination and labor's weakness on national defense and fighting terrorism.
The only minority that the labor party has a hold of, is Israel's non-jewish minority, the arabs. They are the one minority they have a solid hold of and they are the future of the labor party. The militant secularists Shinui, the extreme left have Meretz\Yahad and Labor has the arabs which they have hung as a bloody anchor around the necks of the state of israel.
Traditionally left wing parties attempt to position themselves as defenders of minorities against the exploitationist elites. However the Labor party has always represented the exploitationist elite to begin with. Theirs was the party of socialist secular elite who thought they had a mandate to eternally govern Israel. Each new wave of immigration was an irritant to them as they realized the new immigrants were different and had their own character and way of life and could not simply be ground under to their hegemony.
As each wave came, Holocaust survivors, sefardim, russian Jews; Labor attempted to assimilate them the hard way alternating between brutality and neglect only to find that the new immigrants preffered the right. Holocaust survivors were angered by Labor's deal with post-nazi Germany, sefardim by attempts at forced assimilation and exploitation and russian Jews by discrimination and labor's weakness on national defense and fighting terrorism.
The only minority that the labor party has a hold of, is Israel's non-jewish minority, the arabs. They are the one minority they have a solid hold of and they are the future of the labor party. The militant secularists Shinui, the extreme left have Meretz\Yahad and Labor has the arabs which they have hung as a bloody anchor around the necks of the state of israel.
Comments
Post a Comment