Zionism and The Power Elite
This is a picture of President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu meeting in Tel Aviv, Israel this past November. They both look pretty pleased with smiles on their faces. They are sitting on comfortable, big armchairs that highlight their importance. Biden is wearing a Black suit with a blue and white tie (the colors of the Israeli flag), which could represent Biden's solidarity with the country. Netanyahu is wearing a blue suit with a white shirt, which could represent his solidarity with the country he governs. They are backdropped with three US flags and three Israeli flags intertwined with each other. The overlap of the flags symbolizes the allyship of the two countries to each other. There are also two little flags next to each country’s leader with their respective flags next to them. These flags make clear which nation each leader comes from.
In “The Power Elite,” Mills argues that modern societies are dominated by an elite group of leaders from the highest ranks of business, government, and the military; he calls this group the “power elite.” The power elite share privileged social statuses and similar worldviews while moving in overlapping social circles and attending the same elite universities and social clubs. The power elite make national and international decisions behind closed doors, excluding citizens and subsequent democracy. Economic, political, and social power is consolidated among exclusive organizations and people. Economic power is highly concentrated in the hands of a few hundred giant corporations and financial institutions, while, political power is centralized in the federal government and national executive branches. The military has also grown immensely in size, budget, and decision-making power. The power elite work together on behalf of no exterior group, but in their own self-interest and their decisions shape the major events of modern society.
Zionism is a political movement that holds the widely held belief that the Jewish people should be granted an ethno-religious nation; this has manifested itself in the brutal colonization of Palestine which is now widely known as the country of Israel. The power elite, political and military leaders (i.e., Biden and Netanyahu), have convinced the majority of the Jewish people (and others) that the only way that Jews can be safe is if they have a Jewish nation-state. The power elite have and continue to weaponize the immense grief of the Jewish people to satisfy their own political needs. The myth that Zionism is the only path for the Jewish people and that one is anti-Semitic for being anti-Zionist is a facade created by the power elite to further their own colonial, imperialist wants. Not only has the political ideology and militarization of Zionism led to the genocide of thousands of Palestinians, but it also puts Israeli and Jewish people in danger. The Israeli and US governments and militaries want us to believe that a militarized, surveillance state makes citizens safer, but in reality, it doesn’t and is another way for them to garner more power. Not only are the implications of Zionism horrific in its applications of genocide, apartheid, and systematic racism, but it also completely goes against the main values of the Jewish people. The political ideology of Zionism shows how powerful the power elite is in manipulating and exploiting the people into believing lies that only grant the power elite more economic, political, and colonial powers.
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