Yoshie:
>The CPRF's program, such as it is, can never be achieved by the
>CPRF's means. I'm afraid that the anti-Semitic rhetoric employed by
>some officials of the CPRF is not just a reflection of "a society in
>deep crisis" but also rooted in the CPRF's social democratic
>orientation, easily harnessed by someone like Putin. Anti-Semitism
>is an index of the very limited criticism of capitalism (e.g., a
>criticism of finance & "foreign" profiteers, with no readiness to
>reject capitalism wholesale); it's a "socialism of fools." Not
>surprisingly, Putin is _not at all_ afraid of the CPRF:
Rooted in "social democratic orientation"? Hardly. It is rooted instead in
the 19th century when Czarism fanned peasant hatred against the Jews in
order to provide an escape valve for built-up resentments against economic
suffering.
In 1917 the Bolshevik party took aim at these backward social structures
and Jews enjoyed a measure of freedom unparalleled in the world. Even when
Stalin allowed pre-1917 prejudices to creep in the back door, the USSR
remained a haven for the Jews. That is the main explanation for the
ferocity of Operation Barberossa, which was aimed at destroying the
Bolshevik-Yid conspiracy at its heart.
The charges that the USSR was anti-Semitic gained new currency in the 1960s
when Zionists like Natan Sharansky took advantage of real problems to
create a stampede into the state of Israel. For all of his demagogy, the
Soviet Union remained a beacon of tolerance.
Part of the problem in dealing with anti-Semitism in Russia today is that
some of the best known Yeltsinite capitalist thieves are of Jewish origin,
like Boris Berezhovsky. So you get a certain amount of resentment directed
against a national group because of the sins of its leaders. In the United
States we have a similar phenomenon. It is called "black anti-Semitism" and
often reflects itself through demagogic attacks on Jewish-owned newspapers
and television stations that put across a racist message.
In any case, the sparks that are flying on this mailing list has little to
do with this problem. Before Owen got thrown off, we were confronted with
just one in a long series of attempts to create false amalgams between
leftists like Jared Israel and "fascists" or "anti-Semites". The real issue
is not anti-Semitism or fascism, but the stubborn refusal of some radicals
to get on board the hate Yugoslavia campaign. Now that this is a dead
issue, the demagogues have turned their attention to Russia. Anybody who
does not take an oath of allegiance against the Communist Party of the
Russian Federation is once again tarred with the brush of the ultraright.
Louis Proyect
Marxism mailing list: http://www.marxmail.org
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