75 Years of Nakba: The Catastrophe Is Ongoing - Left Voice
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Today marks the 75th anniversary of the Nakba, or “catastrophe” in Arabic. Yet the displacement and dispossession of Palestinian people from their homeland began even before the creation of the Zionist State of Israel in 1948, and continues to this day.

There are a lot of Trotskyites in my synagogue with the explanation 'Stalin was a special evil guy' which does not feel adequate. Nor does it explain later Soviet opposition to Zionism/Israel. See for instance the linked article. The extent of the explanation relies on the syllogism 'the USSR did a bad thing because it was failed socialism headed by the vile man Stalin'; no explanation is attempted:

A few days later, on May 17, the bureaucratized Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin also recognized the Zionist State after initially expressing support for the creation of a Jewish state. The following day, May 18, Czechoslovakia, which was already part of the Soviet Bloc, added its recognition and later sent weapons to the Zionists.

  • SteamedHamberder [he/him]M
    ·
    5 months ago

    I remember This article from Mosaic did a pretty deep dive. There were several reasons:

    -Israel wasn’t in lock-step with American imperial aims like it is now. Before ‘67 some would argue they were closer aligned to France.

    -Quick way to get the British out of the Middle East

    -Communist Party in Palestine was fairly strong and might have been able to make Israel closer to non-aligned

    -Eastern Bloc had a surplus of weapons, but few currency reserves. Israel had currency reserves and desperately needed weapons

      • SteamedHamberder [he/him]M
        ·
        5 months ago

        it was sort of an embryonic "operation cyclone" sure...weapons...they're fighting the british, kind of. What's the worst that could happen?