Palestinianism makes the conflict in the Land of Israel a zero-sum game.
By Victor Rosenthal, ISRAEL HAYOM
Palestinianism is a closed system of memes that includes a historical narrative, a cause to which its believers aspire and an idiosyncratic language in which familiar words have special meanings. In this, it is similar to Marxism, which is not surprising, given its origins. Believers in this system include those who self-identify as Palestinians and many in the Western left who support the Palestinian cause.
Palestinianism originated in the 1960s and was created by the cognitive warriors of the Soviet KGB. At the time, the Soviets were supporting pan-Arab nationalists like Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser in order to counter American and British influence in the Middle East. With the decline of pan-Arabism, Palestinianism became a useful way to incite the Arab world against the West. It also provided an excuse for opposing Israel, which the USSR now considered an enemy. Ironically, the Soviet dictator Josef Stalin had initially hoped that Israel would join the socialist camp, but it had become clear by the mid-1950s that Israel was drawing closer to the West.
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