MEMOIRS OF AN ANTI-ZIONIST JEW

171 Pages·2016·10.38 MB·English

by  THE INSTITUTE FOR PALESTINE STUDIES

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The Institute for Palestine Studies
MEMOIRS OF
AN ANTI-ZIONIST JEW
BY
ELMER BERGER
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THE INSTITUTE FOR PALESTINE STUDIES
1978
The Institute for Palestine Studies is an independent non-profit Arab research
organisation not affiliated to any governmenty political party or group, devoted
to a better understanding of the Palestine problemBooks in the Institute
series are published in the interest of public information. They represent the
free expression of their authors and do not necessarily indicate the judgement
or opinions of the Institute.
Copyright © 1978 by the Institute for Palestine Studies, Beirut
Monograph Series No. 48
THE INSTITUTE FOR PALESTINE STUDIES
Anis Nsouli Street, Verdun —P.O. Box 11-7164
BEIRUT, LEBANON
CONTENTS
Page
Introduction . i
Chapter I
The Beginning. 1
Chapter II
Letting People Know. 9
Chapter III
Coping with “the Reality” of Israel. 27
Chapter IV
The Years Between. 77
Chapter V
1967 — The End of Innocence. 108
Chapter VI
A New Beginning. 131
INTRODUCTION
When Dr. Elmer Berger, in response to the invitation of Dr. Hisham
Sharabi, editor of the Journal of Palestine Studies, wrote his “Memoirs of
an Anti-Zionist Jew,”1 the members of the Editorial Board of the
Journal and its editor were deeply impressed with the high quality and
permanent contribution of those reminiscences. I am sure that this
impression has been shared by readers of the Journal, whether or not
they were previously acquainted with Dr. Berger’s relentless endea¬
vour for justice and peace in Palestine. Dr. Berger was then requested
to expand these “Memoirs” for separate publication by the Institute
for Palestine Studies, and I was given the privilege of writing an
introduction.
I accepted this assignment with mixed feelings. On the one hand,
I regarded it, as I said, a privilege to present to the reading public
this stirring account of a dedicated life which many like myself
have followed with admiration and respect. But, on the other, I have
felt that any comment that I may be able to make on it would either be
superfluous or would spoil its effect on the reader. The Memoirs speak
for themselves. They present the facts so simply and they ring with
such sincerity and conviction that they gain immediate access to the
reader’s mind and heart. For this reason, I will try to be brief, hoping
to avoid any interference with the impact which Dr. Berger’s account
will, I am sure, have on any one who will have the opportunity to read
it and to be inspired by it as I personally have been.
Dr. Berger’s life and work have been distinguished both by his
deep insights into one of today’s most harassing problems—the
problem of Palestine —and by his courage and persistence in defend-
1 Journal of Palestine Studies, N° 17/18 (Autumn 1975/Winter 1976), pp. 3-55.
ii INTRODUCTION
ing the truths that these insights revealed. He has regarded it as his
duty to expose the blind neglect and deliberate distortion of those
truths and to combat the pernicious attitudes, policies and decisions
which resulted from this neglect and distortion. His struggle has been
one of the few noteworthy and consistent attempts to go to the heart
of the issue and “to advocate the fundamentals.’’2 For there is
perhaps no problem in human history which has been surrounded
with as much misrepresentation, deception and emotional manipul¬
ation as has been the problem of Palestine. The Zionists have created
and put into operation such a powerful machinery of information, or
rather of misinformation, of calumniation and of intimidation that
the fundamentals have not been allowed to appear; they have been
almost completely submerged by a mass of untruths and irrele-
vancies.
What are the fundamentals ? They are, briefly, that the Palestinians
have long been denied the universally recognized right of self-
determination ; that they stand today as a people who is denied this
right, not only in fact, but also—by the Zionists and their mighty
supporters—in principle as well; that they have been deprived of
their ancestral homeland and are presently living either as second-
class citizens in Israel, or under direct domination in the occupied
territories or as refugees in other Arab countries; that they have been
dispossessed of most of their property; that they have endured tragic
misery and suffering and have been forced to take up arms and to
battle for their rights; and that, in spite of all of this, they still have a
long, tortuous and bloody way to go before they win recognition and
implementation of these rights.
Equally fundamental, on the other side of the picture, is the
aggressive, colonizing character of the world Zionist movement
which, through its widespread influence in Western countries —and
now primarily in the US —has succeeded in robbing the Palestinians
of their rights, in establishing the state of Israel on their historical land
and in building up Israel’s military power to serve its domineering
expansionist ideology and policies. This influence has reached such an
extent that Israel has been able to disregard UN decisions arrogantly
and with impunity, to resist pressure by governments and public
2 See p. 153 of the text.
INTRODUCTION iii
opinion, and to demand acquiescence in its own terms and conditions
(as evidenced by the results of President Sadat’s peace initiative). It is
even questionable whether Israel and the world Zionist movement
behind it have ever wanted peace, since much of their support comes as
a result of their falsely manipulated appeals for assistance to defend
their “security”—a support which will undoubtedly dwindle once
peace and real security have been established.
The fundamentals have, as I said, been veiled by a vast array of
untruths and irrelevancies which Zionism has not ceased to evolve and
to spread, such as: that the Jews are a nation as well as a people; that
their God has promised them the land of Palestine; that they “have
made the desert bloom” and brought to the whole Middle East the
benefits of technological development and progress; that Israel is
the only democratic state in the Middle East and forms the bastion of
democracy in the region; that it serves and protects Western inter¬
ests against communist infiltration in an area which, through its oil
wealth, has become vital to those interests; and so on.
These and other untruths and irrelevancies, when properly exam¬
ined, reveal two anachronistic and dangerous concepts—that of a
theocratic society whose people have been singled out by God for a
unique mission in Palestine, and that of colonization with a mission
civilisatrice which justifies conquest and exploitation through superior
technological capacity. The winds of change have played havoc with
these outdated concepts, but they are still alive and dominant in
Zionism.
Through his own personal activities, and through the American
Council for Judaism of which he was for two decades the organizing
mind and the moving spirit, Dr. Berger fought to expose these
untruths and irrelevancies, to point out their evil implications in
the ugly machinations of the Zionists and in the dangerous and
inequitable policies and decisions of the U.S. government, and to call
attention to the basic human rights and values which they violate.
If Dr. Berger’s advocacy and defence of fundamentals stirs our
admiration, we are no less struck by the spirit in which he has carried
on this task. No one who has followed his career, or who reads the
following pages, will fail to be impressed by the sincerity of his
IV INTRODUCTION
conviction, his personal courage and the depth of his commitment.
These qualities assume their due measure when they are viewed in the
light of the formidable odds with which he or any other seeker of the
truth about the Palestine problem is confronted: the ruthless and wide-
flung Zionist machine particularly in the US, the pressures which it
exerts, and the intimidations and subtle attacks to which it resorts,
especially in the case of a Jew who is considered to have deserted the
flock and betrayed the cause. Even the American Council for Judaism
had ultimately, following the 1967 war, to flinch in the face of these
pressures, and Dr. Berger found himself forced to resign from it. But
he remained undaunted and continued to pursue his light through
the American Jewish Alternatives to Zionism and otherwise.
In this life-long fight and his disdain of its dangers, Dr. Berger has
been moved and strengthened by three basic convictions: the uni¬
versal moral and spiritual message of Judaism and the dangers
which are brought to it by the “racist, discriminatory political sov-
ereignization of Zionism;”3 the fact that Zionism is contrary to
every principle he cherished as an American;4 and the priority of
principle over expediency and of morality and justice over the
cynical improvisations of political “leaders.”5
Although, after thirty-odd years of struggle. Dr. Berger says: “In
a sense, I suppose I feel I have fpaid my dues,5”6 yet, as he looks to¬
wards the future, he hopes “to be around for some time” and believes
that it is not yet time for him to write the last chapter.7 We wish him
continued health and good fortune so that he will remain around for
many more years, for “the effort to make morality and reason the
directors of the scenario must continue.”8 We hope that he will live to
see his dreams realized in a just and peaceful conclusion of the Pales¬
tinian tragedy and to write the last chapter of this admirable account
of his involvement in it. In these wishes and hopes we include also
his wife Ruth—his constant companion and support.
3 p. 57.
4 P* 2.
5 p. 144.
6 p. 140.
7 p. 157.
8 p. 141.
INTRODUCTION v
The Institute for Palestine Studies is proud to be associated in the
publication of these Memoirs and takes this opportunity to pay
tribute to its author—a remarkable Jew and US citizen, and a man
who stands “upon those great, monumental rocks of human values
which, despite the parochialism of so much of life, are the genuine
universalisms.”9
C.K. Zurayk