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The Struggle Between Communism and Zionism: Jewish Identity Between Class and State in Revolutionary Russia and Historic Palestine Author: Mirjam Limbrunner

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The Struggle Between Communism and Zionism: Jewish Identity Between Class and State in Revolutionary Russia and Historic Palestine Author: Mirjam Limbrunner Global histories a student journal The Struggle Between Communism and Zionism: Jewish Identity Between Class and State in Revolutionary Russia and Historic Palestine Author: Mirjam Limbrunner DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17169/GHSJ.2019.334 Source: Global Histories, Vol. 5, No. 2 (November 2019), pp. 58-88. ISSN: 2366-780X Copyright © 2019 Mirjam Limbrunner License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Publisher information: ‘Global Histories: A Student Journal’ is an open-access bi-annual journal founded in 2015 by students of the M.A. program Global History at Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. ‘Global Histories’ is published by an editorial board of Global History students in association with the Freie Universität Berlin. Freie Universität Berlin Global Histories: A Student Journal Friedrich-Meinecke-Institut Koserstraße 20 14195 Berlin Contact information: For more information, please consult our website www.globalhistories.com or contact the editor at: [email protected]. The Struggle between Communism and Zionism: Jewish Identity between Class and State in Revolutionary Russia and Historic Palestine by MIRJAM LIMBRUNNER Mirjam Limbrunner | The Struggle between Communism and Zionism 59 Hamburg University. VI - 2 - 2019 | ABOUT THE AUTHOR a Junior Scholar term at the Woodrow Wilson a Junior Scholar term at the Woodrow her MA studies in International Criminology at Before and during her studies, she traveled to she studied International Relations and History. and History. she studied International Relations times. Recently, she spent a semester abroad at times. Recently, Mirjam Limbrunner completed her Undergraduate Degree at the University of Erfurt, Germany, where Degree at the University of Erfurt, Germany, International Center for Scholars. She is now doing the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and completed Israel, the Palestinian Territories and Jordan several Territories Israel, the Palestinian Global Histories: a student journal ABSTRACT Jewish-Socialist Russians Since the end of the 19th century, have played a major part in the development of Zionist thinking their idea of building and the establishment of Israel. However, was fiercely opposed by non- in Palestine a Jewish State Jewish Russian Socialist on the one hand and by anti-Socialist How did these Russian Jews reconcile Zionists on the other. And, after their Socialist ideology with their Zionist identity? how did it influence many of them had emigrated to Palestine, their relationship with the Arabs and the British during the early understand the Socialist-Zionist worldview To 20th century? the emergence of modern political parties in the of that time, Empire and the question of Jewish alignments during Tsarist in the first part. The the Bolshevik revolution will be examined early writing “The second section analyses Ber Borochov’s which attempts to National Question and the Class Struggle” build a synthesis between Marxism and Zionism—two hitherto the fate of the Socialist-Zionist opposing ideologies. Lastly, Zion party in Ottoman and later Mandatory Palestine Poale will be traced, looking at how it coped with the realities on the ground and with the Third Communist International. Mirjam Limbrunner | The Struggle between Communism and Zionism Jewish diaspora(1903-1919) andotherplacesinthe Palestine movementinRussia, workers Socialist-Zionist ofZion”, “Workers Zion Poale (1923-1943) CommunistParty Palestine PCP funPalestine Partey Komunistische KPP Unions (1920–present) Israeli GeneralFederationofTrade Histadrut party (1905-1930) Jewishworkers’ Worker”, “The Young Hatzair HaPoel Israeli DefenseForces(1920-1948) organization andforerunnerofthe Jewishdefense “defense”, Hagana 1943) Third CommunistInternational(1919– Comintern 1920) Bund(1897- General JewishLabour Bund (1919-1930) Union JewishLabour Union”, “Labour Ahdut HaAvoda OFABBREVIATIONS LIST 60 Global Histories: astudentjournal | VI-22019 Israel beforethefoundationof Palestine of JewishPopulation Settlement”, Yishuv (1918-1929) Soviet CommunistParty anti-Zionist JewishSectionofthe YKP (Yevsektsiya) (1901 –present) andlaterIsrael in historicPalestine Organization tobuyanddevelopland Jewish NationalFund,Zionist JNF Zionism (1897–present) governmental organizationpromoting Zionist Organization,non- World WZO M i r j INTRODUCTION Long before Jewish a m immigrants from Western Europe L i m Israel is considered and the United States arrived in b r u a Western-democratic and large numbers, several generations n n e r “americanophil” State, quite in of immigrants from Eastern Europe | T contrast to the Arab region at large, and Russia laid the groundwork for h e that has received support from the building the Israeli State, founded its S t r u Soviet Union and later Russia since first agrarian settlements and many of g g l the beginning of the Cold War. Since its institutions such as the Histadrut, e b e the end of the Second World War and the Israeli Trade Union. Countless of t w e the polarization into East and West its leaders, among them David Ben- e n Israel has been a close U.S.-American Gurion, Golda Meir or Moshe Sharett, C o ally.1 Even before that, the British were born in the Russian Empire m m u involvement in pre-State Palestine is and experienced to some extent n i s remembered mainly for their support the beginnings of the revolutionary m a of a Jewish homeland—one only has period. They arrived in Palestine n d Z to think of such powerful statements not only as Zionists but as fervent i o n i as the Balfour Declaration. The Arab Socialists. How did they adopt and s population in Palestine, on the other reconcile these two ideologies in the m hand, let down by the British and the first place? How did their worldview West, had found its “natural” ally in evolve after having arrived in the Soviets. However, the situation Palestine, more specifically vis-à-vis in Palestine before 1948 was much the Yishuv, the Arab population, and more ambiguous than that. Since the Communist International? And having spent some time in a kibbutz does this Socialist-Zionist history still a few years back I have been aware matter today? of the Socialist traces in Israeli In this paper, I aim to examine society and have heard some stories Socialist-Zionism’s ideological and from third-generation Russian and political sustainability by answering other Eastern European immigrants the aforementioned questions. whose ancestors came to Palestine Therefore, the Socialist-Zionists’ as Socialists. However, Israel’s rich founding text—Borochov’s The Socialist Russian heritage seems to National Question and the Class have been largely forgotten. Struggle—and the history of key organizations in both Tsarist Russia and Mandate Palestine, will be 1 According to the latest Congressional Research analyzed, ranging from the 1880s Service Report, “Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of military assistance from the United until the 1930s. I intend to draft a States since World War II.” Jeremy M. Sharp, concise history of Socialist-Zionism “U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel,” Federation of American Scientists, updated August 7, 2019, both in Russia and Palestine by https://fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL33222. merging research from separate pdf; for bilateral treaties see e.g. “Friendship, Commerce and Navigation Treaty” (1951) and “Agreement on industrial investment guaranty program” (1952). Global Histories: a student journal | VI - 2 - 2019 61 m s 2 i scholarly fields and including emergence of modern political n o i Z my own observations in order to parties among the Tsarist Empire’s d n contribute a new perspective to the Jewish population and ends with a a m debate about Zionism in the context brief outline of Jewish alignments s i n u of the current Israeli-Palestinian during the Bolshevik revolution. All m m Conflict. The paper is organized into this historical backdrop is needed to o C three main sections: fully contextualize Ber Borochov’s n e e The first and second early writing The National Question w t e parts deal with my first question, and the Class Struggle, which will b e l particularly how Zionist identities be analyzed as an intermezzo part, g g and Socialist ideologies came to so to speak. Borochov attempted to u r t S be intertwined. The first section build a synthesis between Marxism e h begins with describing the socio- and Zionism—two hitherto opposing T | r economic situation as well as the ideologies. His writings constitute the e n n most orthodox ideological basis of u r b the Socialist-Zionist worldview. The m i 2 Existing literature on Communism and Zionism L third section sets out to discuss my could be divided into two different groups: m a j works that are concerned with the Soviet- further resulting questions, namely r i Internationalist perspective and those that M what happened to the Socialist- focus on the Jewish-Zionist one. While they all contribute to a more diverse understanding Zionists’ ideology when faced with of Zionism and point out the existence of the realities in Palestine. The fate different, non-hegemonic types of Zionism, they otherwise differ from each other in terms of the Palestinian Socialist-Zionist of scholarly interest. The former is usually set Poale Zion party will be traced. From within a wider geopolitical context of Soviet policy towards the Middle East conflict and its founding in 1906, continuing covers the time period from 1918/19 until or through the years leading up to transcending the founding of the State of Israel (see e.g. Walid Sharif, “Soviet Marxism World War I and during the British and Zionism,” Journal of Palestine Studies Mandate, the original Poale Zion 6, no. 3 (Spring 1977): 77–97; Johan Franzén, “Communism versus Zionism: The Comintern, passed through many inner-party Yishuvism, and the Palestine Communist Party,” splits and ideological transformations in Journal of Palestine Studies 36, no. 2 (Jan. 2007): 12-15). The latter, largely written by triggered by developments within Western-Jewish historians, is set within a wider the Yishuv, in regard to the Arab context of Jewish history, Antisemitism studies or the Jewish-Arab Conflict.
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