    The 3rd Category and the Palestinian Solidarity Movement

    Gilad Atzmon

    30.6.05

    As far as self perception is concerned, those who call themselves Jews
    could be divided into three main categories:

    1. those who follow Judaism.

    2. those who regard themselves as human beings that happen to be of
    Jewish origin.

    3. those who put their Jewishness over and above all of their other
    traits.

    Obviously, the first two categories specify an harmless group of people.
    We do tend to respect religious people, as they are generally expected
    to be living inspired by their beliefs and are expected to abide by some
    sort of a higher spiritual code. Needless to say, we have no problem
    with the second category as well. One cannot choose one’s origin. We
    agree that people must be respected and treated equally regardless of
    their origin or their racial and ethnic belonging.

    However the third category is largely problematic. Clearly, its
    definition may sound inflammatory to some. And yet, bizarrely enough, it
    is a general formulation of Chaim Weizmann’s view of the Jewish identity
    as expressed in his famous address at the First Jewish Congress: “There
    are no English, French, German or American Jews, but only Jews living in
    England, France, Germany or America.”[1]

    According to Weizmann, a prominent Zionist figure, Jewishness is a
    primary quality. You may be a Jew who dwells in England, a Jew who plays
    the violin or even a Jew against Zionism. But above all else you are a
    Jew. And this is exactly the idea conveyed by the 3rd category. It is
    all about viewing Jewishness as the key element in one’s being. Any
    other quality is secondary.

    This is exactly the message the early Zionists were interested in
    promulgating. For Weizmann, Jewishness is a unique quality that stops
    the Jew from assimilating within the nation he is a citizen of. He will
    always remain an alien. This very line of thinking was more than
    apparent in most early Zionist writings. Jabotinsky, the founder of
    right wing Zionism, takes it even further. He is more than firm that
    assimilation is impossible due to some biological conditioning. Here is
    what he had to say about the German Jew: "A Jew brought up among Germans
    may assume German customs, German words. He may be wholly imbued with
    that German fluid but the nucleus of his spiritual structure will always
    remain Jewish, because his blood, his body, his physical racial type are
    Jewish." (Vladimir Jabotinsky, 'A Letter on Autonomy', 1904). The reader
    may notice that these outrageous racist ideas predate Nazism. Jabotinsky
    wasn’t alone, even the Marxist Ber Borochov who refers the Jewish
    condition to some historical and material circumstances is suggesting a
    remedy that is particular to Jewish people, i.e. Jewish Nationalism in
    which Jews will practice some proletarian activity, namely production.
    As it seems, Borochov lets Jews be separated from the international
    proletarian revolution. Why does he do this? Just because Jews are
    uniquely Jewish or at least the Zionists tend to believe they are.

    However, one may rightly ask whether it was the Zionists who invented
    this 3rd category?

    In fact, it is not that way at all.

    Seemingly, Shakespeare had noticed this very pattern three hundred years
    earlier. Shylock, the famous money lender from Venice was a proper 3rd
    category Jew. He clearly admits that more than anything else he is a Jew
    who possesses many human features. ‘I am a Jew’ says Shylock, “Hath not
    a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses,
    affections, passions?” And yet Shylock insists that he shares many human
    features: “Fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject
    to the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a
    Christian is.” Shylock claims to be essentially similar to the entire
    humanity: “If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not
    laugh? If you poison us, do we not die?....”[2] Noticeably, according to
    Shylock the Jew is as vulnerable as an ordinary human being and yet he
    is primarily Jewish.

    This is indeed the essence of Zionism, The Zionist is first and foremost
    a Jew. He can’t be just an ordinary British citizen who happens to be of
    a Jewish descent. He is rather a Jew who dwells in Britain. He is a Jew
    who speaks English, he is a Jew who gets his health services from the
    NHS, he is a Jew who happens to drive on the left side of the road. He
    is the ultimate Other. Generally speaking, 3rd category Jews are the
    ultimate Others. Just because they are always somewhere at the margins
    of or apart from any given human condition or human landscape.

    Zionist agents

    As it seems, Shylock was a Zionist, he fitted perfectly into Weizmann’s
    model. He was a 3rd category Jew. However, Shylock didn’t make it to
    Palestine. He didn’t engage himself in confiscating Palestinian land. He
    wasn’t even an Israeli soldier. In fact the 3rd category Jew doesn’t
    have to move to Palestine. Apparently, dwelling in Zion is merely just
    one possible practice within the Zionist philosophy. In order to become
    a proper Zionist you don’t have to wander. Sometimes it is actually
    better if you stay exactly wherever you are. Let us read what Victor
    Ostrovsky, an ex-Mossad agent, is telling us about 3rd category Jews.

    "The next day Ran S. delivered a lecture on the sayanim, a unique and
    important part of the Mossad's operation. Sayanim - assistants - must be
    100 percent Jewish. They live abroad, and though they are not Israeli
    citizens, many are reached through their relatives in Israel. An Israeli
    with a relative in England, for example, might be asked to write a
    letter telling the person bearing the letter that he represents an
    organization whose main goal is to help save Jewish people in the
    diaspora. Could the British relative help in any way?.....There are
    thousands of sayanim around the world. In London alone, there are about
    2,000 who are active, and another 5,000 on the list. They fulfill many
    different roles. A car sayan, for example, running a rental agency,
    could help the Mossad rent a car without having to complete the usual
    documentation. An apartment sayan would find accommodation without
    raising suspicions, a bank sayan could get you money if you needed it in
    the middle of the night, a doctor sayan would treat a bullet wound
    without reporting it to the police, and so on. The idea is to have a
    pool of people available when needed who can provide services but will
    keep quiet about them out of loyalty to the cause. They are paid only
    costs." [3]

    I assume that it must be clear that sayanim are basically 3rd category
    Jews. People who regard themselves primarily as Jews. The sayan is a man
    who would betray the nation in which he is a citizen just to satisfy a
    bizarre notion of a clannish brotherhood.

    Zionism, an International Network

    We are now starting to realise that Zionism shouldn’t be seen merely as
    a nationalist movement with a clear geographical aspiration. It isn’t
    exactly a colonial movement with an interest in Palestine. Zionism
    appears to be an international movement that is fuelled by the
    solidarity of 3rd category subjects. To be a Zionist means just to
    accept that more than anything else you are primarily a Jew.

    Ostrovsky continues:

    “You have at your disposal a non-risk recruitment system that actually
    gives you a pool of millions of Jewish people to tap from outside your
    own borders. It's much easier to operate with what is available on the
    spot, and sayanim offer incredible practical support everywhere….Now one
    might suggest that, for example, Great Britain could use a similar
    system and recruit among WASPS around the world. But they don't, because
    they can't. It takes an extraordinary degree of racial solidarity and
    racial motivation to develop and maintain such a "non-risk recruitment
    system" and see to it that it works properly. Remember, all of these
    activities are spying, with long prison sentences if caught. Americans
    of English, Irish and Italian ancestry may have some residual loyalties
    to the old "mother country." But this residue is nothing like the racial
    solidarity of the Jews. Such racial feelings are so strong and so
    pervasive among Jews that the Mossad knew in advance that their
    recruitment system was "non-risk." Britain, Ireland, Italy and the
    Vatican know better than to try to implement such a thing. [4]

    Ostrovsky is talking here about ‘racial solidarity’. But in fact, Jews
    are far from being a single race. As funny as it may sound, most
    Palestinians are more racially Jewish than the Ashkenazi Jews.

    So if it isn’t a racial solidarity, what is it that leads the sayan to
    run the risk of years of imprisonment? What did Jonathan Pollard have in
    his mind when he clearly betrayed his country? What do those 2,000
    sayanim here in London have in their minds when they betray their Queen?
    I assume that we are left here with one possibility: the solidarity of
    the 3rd category Jews. It is namely a solidarity of the people who
    regard themselves primarily as Jews.

    I tend to regard Ostrovsky’s testimony as a very reliable report. As we
    know, at the time, the Israeli government was using every possible means
    to stop the publication of his books. In fact, this strange Israeli
    activity was more than an affirmation that Ostrovsky was indeed a Mossad
    agent and that the story that he is telling is rather genuine.

    In a radio interview Joseph Lapid, at the time an Israeli senior
    columnist, opened his heart and told the world what he thought of
    Ostrovsky: “Ostrovsky is the most treacherous Jew in modern Jewish
    history. And he has no right to live, except if he's prepared to return
    to Israel and stand trial.”[5]

    Valerie Pringle, the journalist on the other side of the line asked
    Lapid: “Do you feel it's a responsible statement to say what you've
    said?”

    Lapid: “Oh yes, I fully believe in that. And unfortunately the Mossad
    cannot do it because we cannot endanger our relations with Canada. But I
    hope there will be a decent Jew in Canada who does it for us.”

    Pringle: “You hope this. You could live with his blood on your hands?”

    Lapid: “Oh no. It's to...only it will not be his blood on my hands. It
    will be justice to a man who does the most horrible thing that any Jew
    can think of, and that is that he's selling out the Jewish state and the
    Jewish people for money to our enemies. There is absolutely nothing
    worse that a human being, if he can be called a human being, can do”.

    Lapid, later a member in Sharon’s cabinet, makes it more than clear: to
    be a Jew is a deep commitment that goes far beyond any legal or moral
    order. It is far more essential than any universal ethical perception.
    Clearly, for Lapid, Jewishness is not a spiritual stand, it is a
    political commitment. It is a world view that applies to the very last
    Jew on this planet. As he says: the Mossad can’t really kill Ostrovsky,
    thus, it is down to a ‘decent Canadian Jew’ to do the job. As is
    evident, a Zionist journalist is expressing here the most outrageous of
    views. He encourages a fellow Jew to commit a murder in the name of the
    Jewish brotherhood. In short, not only does Lapid affirm Ostrovsky’s
    report about the world of sayanim, he also confirms Weizmann’s view that
    from a Zionist point of view, there are no Canadian Jews but only Jews
    who live in Canada.

    I think that the above leaves us with enough room to conclude that at
    least in the Zionists’ eyes, Jewishness is basically an international
    network operation. Ostrovsky calls it ‘racial solidarity’, I call it 3rd
    category brotherhood and Weizmann calls it Zionism. But it all means the
    very same thing. It is all about commitment, a global agenda that pools
    more and more Jews into an obscure, dangerous fellowship. Apparently,
    Zionism is not about Israel. Israel is just a colony, a territorial
    asset violently maintained by a mission force composed of 3rd category
    Jews. In fact, there is no geographical centre to the Zionist endeavor.
    It is hard to determine where the centre of Zionist decision making is.
    Is it in Jerusalem? In the Knesset, in Sharon’s cabinet, in the Mossad,
    or maybe in the ADL offices in America? It might as well be somewhere in
    Wall Street? Who knows?

    But then, it is of course more than possible that there is no decision
    making process at all. The beauty of a network operative system is that
    not a single operator within the network is fully familiar with the
    network but is only aware of his personal role within it. This is
    probably the biggest strength of the Zionist movement.

    Looking at Zionism as a global network operation would determine a major
    shift in our perspective of current world affairs:

    The Palestinians, for instance, aren’t just the victims of the Israeli
    occupation, they are rather the victims of 3rd category Jews who decided
    to transform Palestine into a Jewish national bunker. The Iraqis, are
    better seen as the victims of the those 3rd category Jews who decided to
    transform the American army into a Jewish mission force. The Muslim
    world should be seen as a subject to some neo-conservative 3rd category
    tendency to make Nathan Sharansky’s Democratic ideology into the new
    American Bible for the 3rd world.

    It is pretty depressing indeed.

    The Jewish humanist

    The Palestinian activist Reem Abdehadi, when asked for her opinion about
    Jewish anti Zionist campaigners, said sarcastically: “they are very
    nice, all fifteen of them…”

    We must admit that not many Jews are there to fight against Zionism.
    However, amongst those few who engage themselves in this battle we find
    some people who insist upon doing so under the Jewish banner, e.g. Jews
    Against Zionism, Jews for Justice for Palestinians, etc.

    While writing this paper I have started to ask myself what category
    those Jewish leftist groups belong to. Clearly, they do not fit into the
    1st category. Jewish left is a ‘religious’ atheist tendency. They really
    don’t like to involve God in politics or in anything else. In most cases
    they are hostile to Judaism and even to those Orthodox Jews who happen
    to stand up to Zionism. But it isn’t only Judaism that they dislike.
    They aren’t fond of Islam or Christianity either. Those amongst them who
    endorse the idea of a one state solution do insist that the future
    Palestine must be ‘a secular’ and a democratic state’. Not that I am in
    any position to suggest what the future Palestine is going to be, I
    would just try to propose that it must be down to the citizens of this
    future state to decide what type of kingdom they prefer to live in.

    Anyhow, those Jewish leftists fail as well to fit into the 2nd category.
    They do not regard themselves as ordinary humanists who happen to be of
    Jewish descent. If they were, they would simply join the Palestinian
    Solidarity movement like other Jews who prefer to act mainly as
    humanists. But then, rather than joining the Solidarity Campaign, they
    form some exclusive political cells that allow them to operate under the
    Jewish banner.

    Consequently, we must admit that they all belong to the 3rd category. In
    fact they prefer to regard themselves as ‘Jews who hold some leftist
    views’. Clearly, amongst those groups you will find some wonderful
    people who genuinely believe that Zionism is wrong, that Zionism is
    racist and nationalist. But in fact these people are themselves
    operating as 3rd category Jews. They all act politically under a Jewish
    banner. In practical terms, they all follow Weizmann’s school. Rather
    than being Humanists who happen to be Jewish (2nd category), they are
    Jews who happen to be Humanists. But then, since acting politically
    under a Jewish banner is in fact the very definition of Zionism, it is
    reasonable to deduce that all Jewish left activity is in practice not
    more than a form of left Zionism. One may ask whether it is really
    possible to be a left Zionist? Is there left and right in a network
    group that is set primarily on a racial category and clannish
    brotherhood?

    The answer is no. There is no left and right within Zionism but rather
    different right wing political apparatuses. Some Zionist political calls
    are adopting the shape of left discourse. I had noticed for instance
    that Jewish Marxists insist upon calling each other comrade. In fact
    they are mainly engaged in Marxist verbal rituals. But apparently, this
    isn’t enough. Ideology is more than a mere language game. In reality,
    those Jewish left clubs are operating as the body shield of the 3rd
    category identity. This may explain the fact that as far as the
    Palestinian Solidarity Campaign is concerned, those groups are primarily
    engaged in guarding some 3rd category Jewish interests that have very
    little to do with the Palestinians and their daily misery.

    If to be more precise, those Jewish left groups are engaged mainly in
    searching for ‘anti-Semites, Holocaust deniers and Jew haters. Somehow,
    they always find them amongst the most active and devoted 2nd category
    Jews. As it seems (to me at least), for these Jewish sporadic cells,
    Palestinian solidarity is just another instrument to draw attention to
    the myth of Jewish humanism. I will try to be very clear and transparent
    here. There is no Jewish secular humanism. No doubt many humanists
    happen to be Jewish and yet there is not a single Jewish secular
    humanist theorem or text.[6] This is mainly because Jewish secularity is
    not a philosophical position. It is rather a complete abandonment of
    God. Jewish secularity is a form of ethnicity based merely on some
    exclusive tendencies and a vague collective memory of some ritual
    heritage.

    So, is there a Jewish Conspiracy to run the world?

    Not really. First it must be clear that 1st and 2nd category Jews have
    nothing to do with all the above. For 1st category Jews, being Jewish
    means practicing Judaism. To follow a spiritual call and to obey God’s
    law. As we know, Zionism is still far from being popular amongst ultra
    orthodox Rabbis. However, I must admit that some would rightly argue
    that following the teaching of the Talmudic law many religious Jews do
    regard themselves as a chosen category. For me, this simply means that
    they fall into the 3rd category rather than the 1st one. This probably
    applies to the orthodox sects that allied with Zionism throughout the
    course of time.

    The second category Jews have no intention of taking part in any global
    Jewish networking. They regard themselves as an ordinary and liberated
    human beings with no special privilege. Amongst the 2nd category Jews we
    find the most enlightening emancipated humanists. Those very great
    intellects that contributed to 20th century liberal and humanist
    thinking. As we all know, hardly any of them came from Israel or a
    Zionist faction.

    When it comes to the 3rd category, we are faced with a slight problem. I
    tend to believe that the 3rd category Jews are mutually acting together.
    But then whether they are fully aware of it or not is a big question.
    Throughout the years they have formed a network that operates as a
    global Zionist body shield. They simply act in harmony, they protect
    each other. Even when they fight against one another, they depict an
    image of pluralism. I think that this is the essence of Zionism’s
    miraculous success.

    A week ago I read a brilliant insight by Rowan Berkeley on
    Peacepalestine website. Rowan, a Londoner whom I know vaguely, had been
    flirting in the past with the idea of becoming a Jew. In the following
    comment he is aiming to explain the common Jewish take on Zionism. In
    fact, without realising it, he describes the 3rd category tactic:

    “First they ask, Do you believe that (Jewish) Nationalism is a Good
    Thing, or a Bad Thing?

    If you say it is a Good Thing, they will direct you to the Jewish Right,
    which will tell you that Jews have as much of a right to be
    nationalistic as anybody else does.

    If you say it is a Bad Thing, they will direct you to the Jewish Left,
    which will tell you that you are not allowed to protest against Zionism
    on any basis other than Marxist or Anarchist Proletarian
    Internationalism - thus disqualifying almost all the actually existing
    anti-Zionist movements in the Arab world.

    They can get away with this ideological shell game because each
    individual discursive arena is controlled by one or another Jewish
    faction.”[7]

    Yes, I do believe that Rowan’s insight hits the nail right on the head.
    He is absolutely correct. But then, unlike Rowan I do believe that Jews
    Against Zionism are genuine. They simply fight Zionism without realising
    that they themselves are Zionists. Without realising that they are the
    most orthodox followers of Weizmann’s school. If they are really
    interested in bringing Zionism down, their tactics are obviously wrong.

    I wrote to some of them about the subject before, I have seen some
    discussion about my views in many different Jewish left circles and yet,
    I have never come across any argumentative response from any of those
    sporadic exclusive groups. Rather than being confronted with my
    thoughts, they are solely engaged in labeling. I have already been: ‘a
    self hating Jew’, ‘a Christian fundamentalist’, ‘a Holocaust denier’,
    ‘an apologist for Holocaust deniers’, ‘a neo-nazi’, ‘a Stalinist’, ‘a
    Zionist agent’, ‘an anti-Semite’ and many more.

    Two weeks ago, a small group of Jewish leftists picketed against me in
    front of a Marxist bookshop. I tried to write to them arguing that if
    Palestine is on top of one’s agenda, a protest in front of the Israeli
    embassy or any other 3rd category Jewish institute would be far more
    effective. They dismissed my call.

    I am fully aware of the fact that crucifying me and burning my books is
    no doubt a proper 3rd category practice, but unfortunately it isn’t
    going to help the Palestinian at the checkpoint. It isn’t going to help
    the millions of refugees who have been living for almost six decades
    without elementary rights.

    Israel is an inhuman political setup and we therefore must fight it as
    human beings rather than as sporadic ethnic or religious groups.

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    [1] (Chaim Weizman, First Zionist Congress 1897).

    [2] (Shylock, The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare).

    [3] By Way of Deception", Victor Ostrovsky , St. Martin's, 1990 pg 86-7

    [4] Ibid pg 87

    [5] http://www.washington-report.org/backissues/0195/9501017.htm

    [6] If anything, Zionism in its early days was aiming towards the
    establishment of such a philosophy, a form of Jewish secular ethics.
    Obviously such an attempt was doomed to failure. Just because Zionism is
    unethical by definition, being that it engages in the continual ethnic
    cleansing of the indigenous Palestinian people.

    [7] http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/