And yet, every single time communism has been tried it closely resembles the Soviet version.
Only every time it has been tried on a super-community level, which, it could be argued, is not necessarily the level on which the societal change to a communistic world should occur. There are many communistic organisations that do
not, or at least have not, become authoritarian, as well as many which were and are critical of the Soviet Union, but who still self-identify as communistic.
The same holds true in most of Europe, does it not? And this is why I feel that much of the anti-Israel sentiments are really just anti-semitism finding a legal/socially acceptable outlet. Anti-semitism didn't disappear from Europe after WWII.
I agree, but hold that we find this anti-semitism masquerading as anti-Israelism within the racist, neo-nazi, nationalist, and conservative groups, who continue their tradition of mistrust and outright hatred of perceived threats to society: Jews, Romani, foreigners, and so on. This is quite obvious when you look at these groups, and borders on the indisputable.
I do not agree, however, that all anti-Israel sentiments are the result of anti-semitism, whether open or latent, as I have argued above. To me, the anti-Israel sentiments expressed by a large part of the left fits better into the pattern I described in a previous post, that is, as one part of a movement against perceived oppression in general, whether the perceived oppressor is Jewish or not. This, to me, implies that the religion, ethnicity or nationality of the target for the protests is irrelevant compared to the targets actual or perceived actions. As evidence for this, I will reiterate my points above:
- Leftists (1) do not, in my experience, treat Jewish people any different from other people in contexts where Israel is not important. They do not discriminate or incite against them, attack them, slander them, and so on in general;
- Leftists do protest against what they perceive as oppression similar to how they see the Israel-Palestine conflict in other contexts, where Jewish people are only marginally involved, if at all;
- Leftists are generally "pro-Palestine" rather than "anti-Israel". However, this should be taken as a statement that they are generally for a solution where both people can co-exist peacefully, rather than, for instance, a simple reversal of status;
- Leftists are unique in the political spectrum in that they arrange anti-nazi rallies, protests and meetings, arrange counter-protests whenever genuine anti-semites march or meet, and so on. They are also very active in the part of the publishing industry that works against genuine neo-nazis, racists, nationalists, and other conservatives.
Of course you could find genuine left-wing anti-semites if you looked, but I hold that if they exist, they are certainly in the (vast) minority. Otherwise, I cannot get the pieces to fit together with my experience with the left. Why, if they are anti-semites, do they not treat Jews any different from other people in non-Israel contexts? Why are they actively marching against genuine anti-semites, like the neo-nazis instead of joining up with them? Why are people on the left being murdered and beaten up by genuine anti-semites for publishing anti-nazi books, magazines, and journals, or for being active in anti-nazi protests, marches and debates? Why would the left risk their lives protesting against the genuine anti-semites if they secretly agree with the anti-semites' core ideology?
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(1) I will use this term instead of the incommodious "people who self-identify as communists", but do not mean to shift the meaning of the phrase, so feel free to exchange one for the other.
