What is the reason for a schizophrenic western attitude toward Fascism versus Zionism? Without meaning to ignore the differences between these ideologies, why is it that their similarities are ignored? Fascism is mostly condemned, but Zionism is embraced by many westerners despite its inherent colonialist and racist elements. I think this may be caused by inherent racism in the West.
In (ugly) truth, genocide, as practiced by fascism was nothing new to the west other than in its method. Slavery, colonialism and mass murder were quite common in how the British, French, Spanish and some other Europeans treated the native populations of non-European countries. And they did this through direct dehumanisation and commoditisation of their victims, who were seen as an inferior race. Germany had little part in any of this up till the 1930s when they launched mass slaughter of a minority race within their own region. But, for the first time, a white minority race was the victim.
Fascism brought the true ugliness of racism and genocide home to white people on their own turf. Indignation and sympathy for its European victims was mixed with abhorrence for racism precisely by the biggest perpetrators of racism, who were genuinely and collectively guilty of anti-Semitism too. Westerners latched on to Zionism as salvation not just for the Jewish victims, but also for the collective conscience of Western Christians fully aware of their own guilt. Zionism became the vehicle for collective salvation, and its inherent racism and colonialism were ironically missed or deliberately ignored.
The white Jewish victims of fascism could not be imagined as perpetrators of a racist ideology. Palestinians and Arabs thus became a barrier to the west’s salvation from racism, and were branded as Nazi collaborators. Thus, the west once again proved that racism was embedded deep in its psyche even when it was looking for salvation from racism and genocide.
The Zionists’ shockingly brutal treatment of non-Jewish Palestinians and other Arabs in the name of alleviating Jewish suffering at the hands of racism and fascism in Europe presented a major dilemma and caused serious inter-faith dislocations across the M.E.. A version of India’s partition repeated itself, and many Jewish communities across the M. E. migrated to Israel over the following decades, while millions of Palestinians were driven from their land and roots when the new European colony was established in Palestine.
A few generations down the line, and with no hint of peace or justice in sight, it is plausible for many to look at the effect of Zionism and from there to question its officially stated and legally unchallengeable final determining cause, namely, the Holocaust. How could the victims of the Holocaust be so brutal with the Palestinians? Could it be that the stated cause and the existing effect were not really linked? This is the mystery people like Ahmadinejad cannot solve. The situation makes little sense to anyone outside the west. It would make more sense to imagine that the Holocaust did not happen in the way it is said, but that the story was made up to conquer Palestine.
To many non-westerners, this scenario would be more humane and plausible than the official version. This is a romantic form of revisionism based on justice as its only unchallengeable truth. Its flaw is simple: the white Jewish victims of racism in Europe were Europeans, with racism and colonialism embedded in their culture. To the Zionists among the Jews and Christians, anti-white and anti-Jewish racism were abhorrent. Racism toward others was quite justified or even necessary.
