My Israel Question
By Antony Loewenstein
Melbourne University Press, 2006
340 pages, $32.95
REVIEW BY KIM BULLIMORE
Australian Jewish writer and journalist Antony Loewenstein has set the cat among the pigeons with his first book, My Israel Question. Loewenstein has been variously accused of being "a self-hating Jew", who is part of "the pro-Hezbollah cheerleading squad", an ally of deceased Jordanian-born terrorist Abu Musab al Zarqawi and a part of a cluster of "dumb leftist Jews who vilify Israel", while suffering from a "Demidenko-Darville" disorder. His work, according to Zionist detractors, is an "ill-informed rant", a work of "vanity" that should "lie in the tip alongside such other works as Mein Kampf and the Protocols of Zion".
Loewenstein's book was always destined for controversy. In August 2005, federal ALP MP for Melbourne Ports Michael Danby called in the Australian Jewish News for Melbourne University Press to "dump the whole disgusting project". Danby exhorted AJN readers, "If, God forbid, it is published, don't give them a dollar. Don't buy the book." Unfortunately for Danby and others, My Israel Question is a hot item, selling out of its first print run within a week.
The book is as much a personal journey as it is an examination of the relationship between diaspora Jews and Israel, and the influence of the pro-Israel/Zionist lobby. Loewenstein was originally inspired to write the book as a result of the Israeli lobby campaign to strip Palestinian politician Hanan Ashrawi of the 2003 Sydney Peace Prize. When Ashrawi was announced as the winner of the prize, the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) went into hyperdrive in an attempt to discredit Ashrawi and to get the award revoked.
According to Loewenstein, "within weeks virtually every mainstream Jewish organisation was expressing its opposition to the award". Loewenstein notes that the AIJAC campaign against Ashrawi backfired, spotlighting the arrogant, aggressive antics of the pro-Israel lobby. For Loewenstein, the Ashrawi affair was an awakening, leading him to question the ability of the Australian Jewish community to rationally debate the Israel-Palestine question.
In the wake of the Ashrawi affair, Loewenstein travelled to Israel to experience for himself the occupation of Palestine. In the first section of My Israel Question, Loewenstein reveals many of the dissenting voices in Israel: Uri Avnery, Amira Hass and Gideon Levy. While these voices are a welcome inclusion, Loewenstein unfortunately gives little space to a critique of the contradictory nature of "left Zionism" in either Israel or Australia.
Loewenstein's heartfelt account of his journey into the Occupied Palestinian Territories reveals the shock that many have experienced, including myself, when you first travel into the region. Nothing can prepare you for the way Palestinians are treated at the hands of the Israeli military. Nothing prepares you for the vicious racism of many, but not all, Israeli soldiers and settlers and other Israelis against the Palestinian people.
It is, however, the second half of Loewenstein's book that is the most valuable, as it examines in depth the pro-Israel lobby in the USA and Australia. Loewenstein notes that the reason why lobby groups like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee(AIPAC) have a strong influence on government policy in the US is because their "aims tend to coincide with the superpower's own perceived strategic interests in the Middle East". He notes that other factors also shape the US support for Israel, including "the politics of oil; the arms industry and its influence in Congress; the sentimental attachment of US liberals to Israel's internal democratic institutions; the Christian right's messianic beliefs; racist attitudes to Arabs and Muslims; and the failure of progressive movements to challenge US policy on Israel successfully".
While these factors no doubt have some influence on US policy, Loewenstein fails to identify the root cause of US support for Israel. What is missing is a solid analysis of the role of US imperialism in the Middle East and the strategic role that Israel plays. Israel is US imperialism's chief ally in the region, with the US-Israel alliance based on shared political interests — opposition to any form of Arab radicalism that would threaten Western economic domination of the region.
In his examination of the Israel lobby in Australia, Loewenstein particularly focuses on the shock troops at the forefront of the public relations war waged in Australia by Zionists, the AIJAC. Loewenstein's exploration of how the AIJAC works, especially in relation to the Australian media, is essential reading.
Loewenstein notes that despite anti-Palestinian bias being prevalent in the Australian media, AIJAC constantly lays charges of anti-Israel bias. According to Loewenstein, "In AIJAC's opinion, any news story that portrays Israel in a critical light is biased, irresponsible" and a sign of anti-Semitism.
Unable to prove any real systemic anti-Israel bias in the media, AIJAC resorts to filing complaints that are "narrow, nitpicking" and focuses "on the use of single words in coverage", Lowenstein argues. He notes this is a key characteristic of the pro-Israel lobby in the US and Australia — the relentless challenging of matters of fact such as the use of the words "occupation", "settlement" or "Occupied Palestinian Territories". The use of such words, which are descriptions of fact, are regarded as a sign of bias.
In trying to discredit My Israel Question, the AIJAC and its fellow travellers have sought to utilise the same tactics against Loewenstein as revealed in the book. Ted Lapkin (AIJAC), Andrew Bolt (the Herald Sun) and Jeremy Jones (AIJAC) focus on a number of small errors in the book rather than actually engaging with the arguments put forward by Loewenstein.
In My Israel Question, Loewenstein achieves what he sets out to do. Whether you agree with all his arguments or not, it does act as a catalyst for debate. It brings into public view dissident Jewish voices that are often crowded out and shouted down by the Zionist lobby.
And while Jeremy Jones' review of the book in AJN urges readers "not to waste your money buying it or your time reading it", I would encourage readers of Green Left Weekly to do both. It will be a valuable addition to your bookshelf.
[Kim Bullimore is a member of the Melbourne Palestine Solidarity Network and the Socialist Alliance. In 2004, she lived in the West Bank, where she worked with the International Women's Peace Service.]