This morning, I was cataloging "The Encyclopedia of Race and Racism" (Gale, 2008) andas I flipped through the pagescame across an article in the third volume on Zionism that insinuates that Zionism is a form of racism.
Among the things he claims on the first page of the article: · "Because it defines Jew not by religious observance, language, place of birth, or culture, but by descent, Zionism is an ideology of race." (Last time I checked, anyone can become a Jew through conversion so the claim that Zionists define Jews solely by descent is completely inaccurate, especially since those things by which he claims we don't identify ourselves are the very things by which we do!) · "The policy of attaching more importance to the establishment of Israel than to the survival of the Jews (which was consistent with the Zionist rejection of assimilation) led the Zionists to collaborate with the Nazis (with whom they shared the belief that Jews were a racial community based on blood) in promoting Jewish emigration to Palestine." (Where have I read this claim before? Oh right! Abu Mazzen!) · "In the war that ensued, the Zionist forces, trained and equipped by Britain and with additional arms from other countries, were easily able to defeat the outnumbered and outgunned forces of Jordan, Egypt and four other Arab states, whose rulers had already accepted the partition of Palestine." (What?!!!) Were this article an opinion piece contained in a magazine or some collection of essays, I would have no problem adding it to my college library's collection despite its anti-Semitic tone. I do not believe in censorshipeveryone deserves to be heard. However, this article purports to represent factual information and appears in a reference source from a trusted publisher. I think this is going to sit on my to-do shelf for a bit while I figure out whether my ethical obligation is to put all items out there for our users or to put factual items out there for them. This is just an FYI to anyone whose library might be ordering this item and/or to anyone in AJL who might want to write Gale to complain. "Zionism is Racism" is racism. Steven +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ Steven Jay Bernstein Assistant Catalog Librarian Elihu Burritt Library Central Connecticut State University 1615 Stanley Street New Britain, Connecticut 06050 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ PHONE: (860) 832-2079 FAX: (860) 832-2053 E-MAIL: [EMAIL PROTECTED] WEBSITE: http://www.ccsu.edu/library/bernstein +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) =========================================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listproc @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 @ osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html History: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/history.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org