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Israel and the European Left: Between Solidarity and Delegitimization
Why has the European Left become so antagonistic towards Israel? To answer this question, Colin Shindler looks at the struggle between Marxism-Leninism and Zionism from the October Revolution to today.
Is such antagonism in opposition to the policies of successive Israeli governments? Or, is it due to a resurgence of anti-Semitism? The answer is far more complex. Shindler argues that the new generation of the European Left was more influenced by the decolonization movement than by wartime experiences, which led it to favor the Palestinian cause in the post 1967 period. Thus the Israeli drive to settle the West Bank after the Six Day war enhanced an already existing attitude, but did not cause it.
Written by a respected scholar, this accessible and balanced work provides a novel account and analytical approach to this important subject. Israel and the European Left will interest students in international politics, Middle Eastern studies, as well as anyone who seeks to understand issues related to today's Left and the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Is such antagonism in opposition to the policies of successive Israeli governments? Or, is it due to a resurgence of anti-Semitism? The answer is far more complex. Shindler argues that the new generation of the European Left was more influenced by the decolonization movement than by wartime experiences, which led it to favor the Palestinian cause in the post 1967 period. Thus the Israeli drive to settle the West Bank after the Six Day war enhanced an already existing attitude, but did not cause it.
Written by a respected scholar, this accessible and balanced work provides a novel account and analytical approach to this important subject. Israel and the European Left will interest students in international politics, Middle Eastern studies, as well as anyone who seeks to understand issues related to today's Left and the Arab-Israeli conflict.
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
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About the author
Colin Shindler
28 books12 followersColin Schindler is emeritus professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. He became the first professor of Israel Studies in the United Kingdom in 2008 and was the founding chairman of the European Association of Israeli Studies (EIAS) in 2009.
He is a lecturer and broadcaster and has written and edited a number of books including: A History of Modern Israel, Israel: A History in 100 Cartoons and, most recently, the Routledge Handbook on Zionism.
He is a lecturer and broadcaster and has written and edited a number of books including: A History of Modern Israel, Israel: A History in 100 Cartoons and, most recently, the Routledge Handbook on Zionism.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 29, 2015
I have been confused by the transition of Israel from a state that was being championed by the left to a pariah state. Where valid criticism of the crimes of the Israeli state becomes tainted with antisemitism and crimes of Arab states are studiously ignored. Many of the critics of Israel appear to be more concerned with the identity of the criminal rather than the identity of the victim. This book goes some way towards explaining the transition that has occurred. Some of fault lies with Israel but much of the fault lies in the ideological blinkers of the left.
June 20, 2018
This book is so frustrating.
On the one hand, it covers a lot of material which I find quite fascinating - the left-wing political currents in Russia and the British Mandate in the late 19th and early 20th century, especially. It discusses interesting examples of sources and events which I've not come across elsewhere. And it gives the author great credit to sort out the interweaving views of different strands of Marxist thought relating to Israel and Palestine.
But on the other, it continually conflates left-wing thought with that which is said about it, and frames so many things through the lens of official Israeli narratives. This comes through most strongly of all in the final chapter, discussing BDS, the Durban conference, the second intifada and the siege of Gaza. Everything is framed in terms of the official Israeli narrative, in terms of justifying why Jews in the west (or at least, Jewish institutions) increasingly moved into the embrace of the Israeli far-right and saw existential threats in the asserting of Palestinian rights.
But despite that tendentious view, seeing the author trace anti-Semitic tropes from their origins amongst late 19th century European peasants through the Soviet era to today has given me some food for thought. Like a good Israeli friend who pointed out that the Smurfs are an anti-Semitic fable writ large, I won't be able to see a lot of protest banners in a positive light again.
Anyway this book will make great fodder for expanding Wikipedia's coverage of a lot of things, but I remain strongly unconvinced by its narrative. The final paragraph talks about comprimise being the road to peace and rejectionism as a dead-end - but in the six years since this was published, it's only become clearer that there can be no comprimise, and that peace will only come through a fundamental national change in Israel/Palestine.
On the one hand, it covers a lot of material which I find quite fascinating - the left-wing political currents in Russia and the British Mandate in the late 19th and early 20th century, especially. It discusses interesting examples of sources and events which I've not come across elsewhere. And it gives the author great credit to sort out the interweaving views of different strands of Marxist thought relating to Israel and Palestine.
But on the other, it continually conflates left-wing thought with that which is said about it, and frames so many things through the lens of official Israeli narratives. This comes through most strongly of all in the final chapter, discussing BDS, the Durban conference, the second intifada and the siege of Gaza. Everything is framed in terms of the official Israeli narrative, in terms of justifying why Jews in the west (or at least, Jewish institutions) increasingly moved into the embrace of the Israeli far-right and saw existential threats in the asserting of Palestinian rights.
But despite that tendentious view, seeing the author trace anti-Semitic tropes from their origins amongst late 19th century European peasants through the Soviet era to today has given me some food for thought. Like a good Israeli friend who pointed out that the Smurfs are an anti-Semitic fable writ large, I won't be able to see a lot of protest banners in a positive light again.
Anyway this book will make great fodder for expanding Wikipedia's coverage of a lot of things, but I remain strongly unconvinced by its narrative. The final paragraph talks about comprimise being the road to peace and rejectionism as a dead-end - but in the six years since this was published, it's only become clearer that there can be no comprimise, and that peace will only come through a fundamental national change in Israel/Palestine.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews