Gilad Atzmon: The Israeli So-Called 'Left'

What we saw in Tel Aviv today is an exercise in Jewish identity politics.

Learn more about Gilad; visit his Website

(LONDON) - We learned today that some 300 prominent Israeli left-wingers, including some cultural leaders, gathered in Tel Aviv to call for the Jewish state to embrace the creation of a Palestinian State.

Among the petition's signatories were 17 winners of the Israel Prize and other leading intellectuals and artists.

"We are here to welcome the expected announcement of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, according to the borders of our independence, fixed during the 1949 armistice," the petition reads.

The Israeli so-called ‘Leftists’ are welcoming the expected Palestinian State as long as the Palestinians stay behind the wall and do not exercise their right of return. The Israeli humanists basically endorse the Palestinian diplomatic initiative so they can keep dwelling on Palestinian land forever. I am not impressed at all.

"The complete end of the occupation is an essential condition of the liberation of the two peoples," the petition says. Someone should remind the Israeli ‘doves’ that the whole of Israel is located on historic Palestine.

I would actually expect the Israeli so-called ‘Left’ to be far more radical, to stand up and say, enough is enough, we are now calling all Palestinians to return to their homes, villages, cities, fields and orchards. Such a declaration would prove for the first time that the Israeli so-called ‘Left’ has internalised the real meaning of peace and harmony.

Don’t hold your breath, this is not going to happen soon.

What we saw in Tel Aviv today is an exercise in Jewish identity politics. A few so-called ‘Leftists’ engaged in a superficial self-loving pseudo ethical Hasbara campaign.

Gilad Atzmon was born in Israel in 1963 and had his musical training at the Rubin Academy of Music, Jerusalem (Composition and Jazz). As a multi-instrumentalist he plays Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Baritone Saxes, Clarinet and Flutes. His album Exile was the BBC jazz album of the year in 2003. He has been described by John Lewis on the Guardian as the “hardest-gigging man in British jazz".

Gilad Atzmon's essays are widely published. His novels 'Guide to the perplexed' and 'My One And Only Love' have been translated into 24 languages.

As a member of the Blockheads, Gilad has also recorded and performed with Ian Dury, Robbie Williams, Sinead O'Connor and Paul McCartney. Gilad has also recorded with Robert Wyatt, the Water Boys and many others. Learn more about Gilad by visiting his Website