Marek Edelman was the deputy commander of the Jewish Combat Organization (ZOB) and the last surviving fighter of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. He was a member of the Bund and remained a socialist opponent of Zionism until his death in 2009. In 2002, during the Second Intifada, Edelman wrote a letter „to all the leaders of Palestinian military, paramilitary and guerrilla organizations — to all the soldiers of Palestinian militant groups.“ The text is very moderate: Edelman called on Palestinians to begin a peace process under the auspices of U.S. imperialism.
Like all socialists, Edelman supported the Palestinian struggle for self-determination while criticizing reactionary strategies that target civilians. Despite this moderate content, the letter provoked outrage in Israel because Edelman did not denounce „terrorists.“ Edelman responded: „I do not make any distinction between terrorist and partisan. The terms are interchangeable.“ He and his comrades had also been accused of „terrorism.” It’s noteworthy that the Israeli government never honored Edelman. Instead, they try to prop up the memory of the right-wing Jewish Military Union (ZZW), which played a much smaller role in the uprising, and at least part of its history appears to be pure fiction. The ZZW represented „revisionist Zionism“ which aligned itself with Mussolini’s Italy — revisionist Zionism is the predecessor of today’s Likud. Many people believe that after the Holocaust, all Jews became Zionists. But Edelman is just one example of the internationalists who continued to reject nationalism. Another example: There is an excellent documentary film from 2012 called „Bunda'im“ about the activists who continued organizing as the Bund in Israel. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#39639): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/39639 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/116666837/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
