Gowans expands on some comments by Trump to illustrate the latter's ignorant view that all Jews look to Israel for their identity. This is only a short step away from seeing Jews as a foreign element in an otherwise Christian society and a legitimate target for hostility. However, this attitude of Jews belonging in the apartheid state of Israel is also shared by Zionist Jews.
Jews as an ethnic group have always excelled in finance because of the Christian and Muslim history of forbidding their members to charge for lending. (Jews also could not charge interest on loans to other Jews.) The almost instinctive attitude against usury was common before capitalism first rose in the 17th century. After the capitalist ruling classes overturned feudal authorities, usury became a common feature of our world. Because Jews had already established a foothold in this business, they became prominent financiers and as such played a very significant role in capitalist enterprise. Ruling classes, both feudal and capitalist, in the past often used hostility against Jews, who were mostly workers, as a "divide and rule" weapon against workers throughout the Christian world.
Gowans goes on to argue that anti-Semites among Western nations favored Zionism and its support for Jews having their own state and thus getting rid of them. This dovetailed well with Zionist objectives. However, Zionist leaders, especially in the 20th century, have nearly always allied themselves with powerful ruling capitalist classes in order to achieve their objectives. Zionist leaders even negotiated with Nazis to facilitate the emigration of German Jews to Palestine. And, as they say, the rest is history.
At this point he argues:
It is not Christian Zionism, or a sincere (though misplaced) effort to protect Jews from anti-Semitism, that motivate Western governments to support Israel. Nor is US foreign policy in thrall to wealthy Jews and their lobbying efforts, a theory propounded by people whose grasp of the forces that shape US imperialism is tenuous at best. Instead, Western support for Israel is grounded in economic interests.Then he introduces us to British communist Rajani Palme Dutt and his views to further explain why Western capitalist countries have historically supported the state of Israel. Read the article to find out.
