Category Archives: Doikayt

False Comrades: Unmasking Labour Zionism’s Abuse of Socialist Symbols

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by Andrej Ivanovic

One of the most persistent myths about Zionism is the illusion that it once embodied genuine socialist ideals. Labour Zionism, falsely labeled “progressive” or “socialist,” was, in reality, fundamentally colonialist, imperialist, and racist. Its appropriation of socialist symbolism and rhetoric served only to conceal its reactionary and oppressive core, directly contradicting the essence of socialism: international solidarity with all oppressed peoples.

Socialism and Anti-Colonial Solidarity vs. Zionist Colonialism

Socialism, from its origins in Marxist thought, stands firmly against colonialism, imperialism, and all forms of racial oppression. Lenin explicitly argued for the unconditional right to self-determination, sharply condemning annexation and colonial exploitation. Genuine socialist movements, whether the Bolsheviks or anarchists in revolutionary Spain, supported oppressed nations against imperial powers.

Labour Zionism, from its inception, violated these fundamental socialist principles. Under leaders like David Ben-Gurion and Golda Meir, Labour Zionism actively collaborated with imperial powers—initially the British, then the Americans—to facilitate the settler-colonial project in Palestine. The Zionist narrative of “Hebrew Labour” explicitly promoted Jewish racial exclusivity, systematically excluding Palestinian Arabs to maintain colonial control, reflecting Lenin’s condemnation of imperial annexation.

Pseudo-Socialist Symbolism: Zionism’s Commonality with Fascism

Labour Zionism’s misuse of socialist iconography was not unique; it shared this trait with classic fascist movements. Mussolini’s Italy and Nazi Germany both cynically appropriated socialist symbolism to gain popular legitimacy, all while perpetuating racist and nationalist policies. Similarly, Zionist leaders employed socialist imagery—kibbutzim, red flags, and collective farming—to mask ethnic cleansing, apartheid, and racist hierarchies.

This pseudo-socialism did not genuinely empower workers but reinforced racial stratification and colonial privilege. The Histadrut, promoted as a progressive labour union, excluded Palestinian workers from its founding and deliberately undermined solidarity across ethnic lines. Its primary goal was to solidify colonial dominance rather than dismantle capitalist oppression.

Systemic Racism within Labour Zionism

Labour Zionism was explicitly racist—not only toward Palestinians but also toward non-white Jewish communities. Mizrahi Jews from Middle Eastern, North African, and Central Asian backgrounds were subjected to severe discrimination and marginalization by the Ashkenazi-dominated Labour establishment. Forced into impoverished “ma’abarot” camps and stigmatized as inferior, Mizrahi Jews’ struggles against systemic racism culminated in movements like the Israeli Black Panthers, which Labour Zionist governments violently suppressed.

Similarly, Ethiopian Jews faced harsh racism upon migration to Israel. Labour Zionist institutions manipulated their immigration for propaganda purposes but systematically excluded them socially and economically, even resorting to forced sterilization policies—a brutal expression of racist eugenics.

Leninist Perspectives on Zionist Colonialism

Lenin’s explicit condemnation of Zionism as reactionary, combined with his emphasis on supporting unconditional self-determination and anti-imperialist struggles, offers a clear socialist critique. Lenin argued that socialism must stand unequivocally against colonial oppression, clearly positioning Zionism as an enemy of genuine socialist ideals. According to Lenin, Zionist settlements were fundamentally imperialist annexations, incompatible with socialism’s core internationalist commitments.

Conclusion: Labour Zionism—A Betrayal of Socialism

Labour Zionism, far from a socialist movement, was fundamentally colonial, imperialist, and deeply racist. Its distorted socialist rhetoric only served to legitimize settler colonialism, racial hierarchy, and class exploitation. Genuine socialism, grounded in internationalist solidarity, stands in unconditional opposition to Zionism. Today, recognizing the anti-socialist and reactionary essence of Labour Zionism means reaffirming solidarity with Palestinian liberation and all struggles against imperialist oppression.

If Not Here, Then Where?

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(Gershom Pesach Teitelbaum)

Rabbi Hillel’s wisdom rings down the ages: “If not now, then when?” Today, Jewish activists, from the movement “IfNotNow” to those challenging every form of oppression in the places they call home, have resurrected this question to confront Zionism’s demands. But perhaps an equally urgent question echoes alongside it: If not here, then where? It’s a question that challenges the notion that liberation depends on any specific land or place, asking instead what it means to be fully present in our struggles, right here, right now.

For the Bundist and the Jewish worker, this question asks us to reconsider the dangerous logic of nationalism—the idea that Jewish people must uproot themselves, claim another’s land, and bind their liberation to a “Jews-only” state. Zionism tells us that there is only one place in the world where Jews can be safe, secure, and fulfilled. But doikayt—the principle of “hereness”—refutes this myth. If not here, then where? Why must our liberation require a distant land, violently torn from another people, rather than be woven into the soil of the places we have lived and struggled?

When we ask If not here, then where? we are asking Jewish people to consider who we stand with and who we serve. Are we truly united with Jewish elites and state-builders simply because we share an identity? The Jewish worker has infinitely more in common with the exploited workers and oppressed communities around them than with the capitalist who merely happens to be Jewish. The unity that Zionism seeks to impose upon Jews is an illusion, an attempt to deflect the truth: that real liberation is found in solidarity with fellow workers, not in separation.

Doikayt urges us to recognize that our fight for justice is here, with the exploited and oppressed in every region, in every community. “Think globally, act locally” echoes the heart of doikayt: to think with a vision of universal justice, yet to act with deep-rooted commitment to the people and places around us. For the Jewish worker in New York, or Warsaw, or Buenos Aires, liberation is found not in a far-off “homeland,” but in the streets and homes and workshops they share with neighbors. If not here, then where?

And so we return to Hillel, and to the activists who have reignited his words. If not now, then when? If not here, then where? If we defer liberation to a single land, we lose the opportunity to root it where we are. In this hereness is the potential to transform not only Jewish life, but the lives of all who yearn for justice. Doikayt reminds us that our “homeland” is the world itself—and that only by standing here, with our neighbors and fellow workers, do we make real the vision of justice and peace.