Israel Labor ‘no place for radical leftists;’ JLM ‘no place for Palestine advocates’
Recalling Herzog’s anti-Arab racism, the Haaretz columnist Sayed Kashua mused today that, ‘The choice of the name “Zionist Union” left no room for doubt.’ Isaac Herzog is Chairman of the Zionist Union and leader of the Israeli Labour Party, which is affiliated to the UK Jewish Labour Movement (JLM).
Haaretz reports that Herzog has maintained there was “no place in Zionist Union for the radical left.” Here, the Jewish Labour Movement are trying to impose a rule change on the Labour Party that could see members (often labelled the hard left) suspended for using Zionist as a pejorative.
Herzog was referring to former leader Shelly Yacimovich and other party members who opposed his move to join the government. He added that his resignation from the leadership of the party following the failure of his negotiations to enter the Likud-led coalition would,
“provide dubious satisfaction to left-wing radicals… and the radical right who dragged along [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu.”
On Saturday, Herzog – who insisted in April that his party were no ‘Arab lovers’ – maintained that the failure of his coalition negotiations with the Netanyahu government had prevented him from taking “a step that would definitely have changed the entire region:”
With the launch of a regional diplomatic initiative, which I was planning with Netanyahu and international elements, Israel would for the first time have related positively to elements of the Arab peace plan and begun, for the first time, to negotiate with the Arab states.
Sayed Kashua is creator of the popular Israeli TV series ‘Arab Labour’ and was recalling an encounter he had with Herzog three years ago. His producer had suggested they offer the part of the character of a Labor politician based on Herzog to the man himself. In the course of their meeting the latter betrayed his casual racism towards Palestinian Arabs:
I started to talk about Arab society. I thought he’d respond with politics. I don’t recall his exact words, but I know I was surprised to the point of not believing my ears. Not that he was against Arabs, heaven forbid, absolutely not, he’s completely for them, of that there’s no doubt. But I definitely remember comments such as, “Your grandchildren will have to act differently.” And something like, “But with you people, there’s this whole thing of family and violence.”
I remember that at a certain point I wondered whether Herzog had indeed related to the script as a satire. Did he even have a sense of humor, or did he think that Ajmad’s “respect” speech was one that was worthy for a prince of the Labor Party? I remember well that at the end of the conversation I said to my producer, “The speech makes them look less racist than they are in reality.”
Good Lord, I never thought that a smart guy could talk like he was still in the Palmach – invoking outdated terms and flaunting an arrogant ignorance that showed a basic lack of understanding of Arab society.
I’d always loathed the Labor Party, but in that meeting I realized I’d been too gentle in my feelings. The choice of the name “Zionist Union” left no room for doubt. They don’t even want to pull the wool over the Arabs’ eyes anymore with a few games of respect.
