Israel's long history of anti-Black racism
Angel NalubegaMay 28, 2021 1,2904 minutes read
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Liberation News
Israel presents itself as a "homeland for all Jews" that welcomes and
provides safe haven to all Jewish people. The ironically-named Law of
Return, passed on July 5, 1950, declared that all Jewish people had the
right to come to live in Israel. But does Israel actually accept all Jewish
people? Of course this law is inherently racist towards the Palestinian
people, whose land was stolen to create the state of Israel. And it is also
clear that the Zionist political movement has a particular history of
anti-Black racism.
This helps us understand not only the contradictions within pro-Israel
ideology, but also the deep connections between the Black struggle for
freedom and the Palestinian struggle.
The Uganda Scheme
At the Sixth Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland in 1903, a proposal
titled "The Uganda Scheme" was put forward by the founder of Zionism,
Theodor Herzl. Herzl had been approached the year before by the infamous
imperialist and Colonial Secretary of Great Britain, Joseph Chamberlain.
Chamberlain had a vested interest in the ongoing settlement of the African
continent and the pillaging of the continent's resources. He once wrote, "It
is not enough to occupy great spaces of the world's surface unless you can
make the best of them. It is the duty of a landlord to develop his estate."
The British had already carved up most of the continent after the Berlin
Conference of 1884 - the meeting of imperial powers where they decided what
lands they would occupy. Chamberlain had a special interest in East Africa,
specifically the colonies of Kenya and Uganda.
On a trip to Uganda, Chamberlain thought of Herzl and the budding Zionist
movement while on the Uganda Railway. He said, "If Dr. Herzl were at all
inclined to transfer his efforts to East Africa; there would be no
difficulty in finding land suitable for Jewish settlers." He offered 5,000
square miles of land between Kenya and Uganda. Herzl was greatly interested
in the idea of a Jewish homeland in Africa, and presented it at the Sixth
Zionist Congress. It was formally supported by the Congress but caused
controversy amongst members.
Chamberlain eventually rescinded the offer, but eventually the Zionist
movement with the essential assistance of imperialist powers succeeded in
setting up the state of Israel in Palestine. Israeli leaders worked for
years alongside Britain and the United States to create a white supremacist
colonial state. The Uganda Scheme shows that Zionism, at its core, is about
taking the lands of Indigenous people in order to steal their resources.
Racism towards Ethiopian Jews
Racism is integral to Zionism, and we see this not just in the treatment of
Palestinians, but also in how they treat Jewish people of African descent.
The Zionist project is fundamentally about capitalism, settler-colonialism
and maintaining an "ethnically" Jewish state. The Ethiopian Jewish community
has existed for thousands of years, tracing its history to the ancient
kingdoms of Aksum and the Ethiopian Empire. Many Ethiopian Jews immigrated
to Israel in the late 20th century.
Since arriving in Israel, many Ethiopian Jews have faced constant
discrimination.Their faith was questioned by rabbis and their communities
ostracized from the rest of Israeli society. In 1990, the National Israeli
Blood Bank routinely destroyed blood donated by Ethiopian Israelis because
they were "afraid that the Ethiopians carried HIV." There was a cap on the
number of Ethiopian Jews entering Israel until relatively recently.
The minority status of the Ethiopian Jewish community creates poor material
conditions. They have the highest poverty rate among the Jewish population
in Israel, and face the highest levels of police violence after
Palestinians. Israel calls itself a bastion of human rights and progress,
while denying rights to both Palestinians and Ethiopian Jews. The treatment
of Ethiopian Jews is completely different from the warm welcome offered to
Jewish people from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, for
instance.
The anti-Black racism is consistent. And it doesn't stop with the Ethiopian
Jewish community - it also affects Jews of African descent around the world.
Israel's discrimination towards the Abayudaya
For example, in Uganda there is a community called the Abayudaya, which in
Luganda means "people of Judah." They practice both Conservative and
Orthodox Judaism. The Law of Return was meant to provide Jewish settlers
from all over the world citizenship and a "homeland" on Palestinian land.
However, this Law of Return does not apply to the Abayudaya.
Even though this community keeps Jewish law by keeping kosher, observing the
Sabbath, and converting according to Jewish religious doctrine, they are not
able to access citizenship. Israel's interior ministry claims that the
Ugandan Jewish community and their conversions are invalid because they were
not part of a "recognized" or "established" Jewish community. Several
attempts by the Abayudaya to be formally recognized have failed.
Netanyahu has likened the Ugandan Jews seeking citizenship as "outsiders."
The Law of Return does not apply to Palestinians nor does it apply to many
non-white Jewish people.
The very existence of Israel relies on racist, settler-colonial logic.
Zionism privileges a select few while dehumanizing, discriminating and
killing others that are deemed lesser by white supremacist ideology.
Black people around the world have been victims of settler colonialism,
imperialism and war. We have had our lands taken, our bodies dehumanized and
our communities decimated. Whether it's the Congo, Ferguson or Sheikh
Jarrah, our struggles are the same. The struggles of Black people worldwide
and that of the Palestinians are connected. We must connect Israel's history
of anti-Black racism with its abhorrent history of occupation and genocide
towards the Palestinian people as we fight for freedom.