Discussion with Judith Butler and Micha Brumlik
organised by the ICI Kulturlabor Berlin and the Jewish Museum Berlin
Lily Fürstenow-Khositashvili September, 2012
Zionism
came into being under the influence of the national emancipation
movements in Europe in the second half of the 19th
century. The idea behind it was the “national liberation movement
of the Jews,” based on the sources of the Jewish religious
“longing for Zion.” It was presumed to “resolve the Jewish
issue” by means of setting up a Jewish state in the “land of the
fathers.”
The
Zionist movement in Germany set itself the goal to prevent the
assimilation of the Jews that was particularly strong in Germany.
Although in the 1905-1920-ies the headquarters of the Jewish World
Zionist Movement was in Germany, Zionism itself was never a mass
movement in the country the way it was in East Europe.
What
Zionism was then and what it has developed into now, has been the
question analysed at the discussion “Is
Zionism an Integral Part of Judaism?” with
Judith Butler, Micha Brumlik and Andreas Öhler organised by the ICI
Kulturlabor Berlin and the Jewish Museum Berlin on September 15,
2012. The discussion received immense public attention, especially
triggered by Judith Butler's polemic against the politics of Israel
towards Palestine. Of course, Zionism is part of Jewish history and
taking a closer look at the milestones of its development and
historical origins provides clues to solving the problems of today,
namely that of the state of Israel and its policy towards the
Palestinian population.
If
cultural Zionism is something that one could identify with, Zionism
as a form of colonialism exploiting the Palestinian population is
something difficult to accept, especially now when the time of
national states is outdated. As Judith Butler put it, from a Jewish
nation with a centuries-long history of exile, persecution and
co-habitation with other nations, Israel is expected to develop an
ethics of co-habitation within a binational state. It is never late
to start learning how to live together and an open debate especially
in Germany with its history of the Holocaust, will hopefully provide
one more impetus towards remedying the situation.
With
the Palestinians making up to 30 per cent of the population of
Israel, settler colonialism in Palestina is presumed hardly
acceptable. Thus the basic requirements put forward by Judith Butler
come down to: ending of occupation, securing equal rights to
palestinians and granting them the right of return.
Ironically
centuries of exile and persecution of Jews throughout history appear
to result in a state of Israel that itself causes exile and
persecution. A state with the population of former refugees to
produce refugees upon its foundation – seems like an unresolvable
contradiction with all the economic, socio-political and cultural
implications involved.
As for
the role of gender in the issue of Jewish-Palestinian co-habitation,
the topic is according to Ms. Butler as urgent as ever, with
masculinisation of society, the questionable reproductive technology
pursued by the state of Israel and homophobic violence to name but a
few.
Clearly
the problem of Jewish-Palestinian relationships can hardly be
resolved by podium discussions only, neither the policy of world-wide
boycotting of the current politics of Israel appears to be the best
solution. There are too many cliches, feuds and traumas to be
overwhelmed. Both sides have too much at stake. The solution thus
cannot be reduced to simple formulas and prescriptions for peaceful
co-existence. Yet unless it is all expressed in language it would be
difficult to speak of any progress whatsoever. Language is the
source of oppression and simultaneously the only way to fight the
oppressive regime on condition that both sides are granted equal
right to speak, which does not necessarily mean to forgive and to
forget but to remember and to move on.
The
podium discussion “Is
Zionism an Integral Part of Judaism?” was organised by the ICI
Kulturlabour Berlin and the Jewish Museum Berlin. It was hosted by
Judith Butler, a US philosopher, Micha Brumlik, professor of
education at the Goethe
University of Frankfurt am Main,
and moderated by Andreas Oehler. Judith Butler, famous for her theory
of performative gender, received the prestigious
Theodor Adorno award for excellence in the field of humanities on
September 11 in Frankfurt am Main.
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