Zionism in the Age of the Dictators

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Zionism in the Age of the Dictators
Zionism in the Age of the Dictators.jpg
AuthorLenni Brenner
CountryEngland
LanguageEnglish
GenreHistorical writing
PublisherCroom Helm Ltd
Publication date
1983
Media typeBook
Pages334 pages
ISBN978-0985890995

Zionism in the Age of the Dictators is a 1983 work by the American Trotskyist Lenni Brenner.[1] The book makes the argument that Zionist leaders collaborated with fascism, particularly in Nazi Germany, in order to build up a Jewish presence in Palestine.

Zionism in the Age of the Dictators is one of two works by Brenner on the alleged collaboration between Zionism and Nazism. Brenner returns to this topic in his 2002 work 51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration with the Nazis.

Reception[]

Upon its initial publication the book received a positive review in The Times, with Edward Mortimer describing it as "crisp and carefully documented".[2] However, C. C. Aronsfeld was critical in a review published in the journal International Affairs, stating that "Brenner has produced a party political tract that unhinges the balance of history by ignoring too many difficulties, especially psychological. For once Stalinists will be pleased with the work of a Trotskyist".[3] , a scholar of antisemitism who reviewed the book for the journal Patterns of Prejudice when it was published, described it as "about as historically accurate as J. K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” novels."[4][5][6]

The book served as inspiration for the controversial 1987 play Perdition, which was cancelled due to allegations of antisemitism.[7][8] The playwright, Jim Allen, referred to the book as a "goldmine source".[9]

In the wake of the controversy regarding Ken Livingstone's comments on Adolf Hitler and Zionism in 2016 (see below), the book attracted further critical comment. Social historian David Rosenberg argues that Zionism in the Age of the Dictators is "badly written and with poor scholarship – a piece of tabloid journalism glued together with selective facts and lots of conjecture".[10]

Thomas Weber, a professor of history and international affairs, argues that "Brenner's book lies well outside academic mainstream. It is mostly celebrated either by the extreme left and by the neo-Nazi right";[1] among others, the Institute for Historical Review – defined by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an extremist neo-Nazi organisation promoting Holocaust denial[11] – has cited the book in their research.[12] However, Brenner has criticised and condemned the use of his work by neo-Nazi Holocaust deniers.[1]

Socialist writer Gerry Ben-Noah wrote a critical review in the pamphlet Workers' Liberty. Ben-Noah argues that Brenner "creates a fantasy world in which the Zionists did wish for and expect the Holocaust, and in which the most fanatical Jewish nationalists were in reality, ardent anti-semites".[13] Highly critical of the argument that "Zionists saw anti-semites as nationalists like themselves with a common objective in the removal of Jews from Europe", Ben-Noah asks rhetorically "where does one begin to review work like this?".[13]

Ken Livingstone controversy[]

Further information: Livingstone's suspension from the Labour Party and Antisemitism in the UK Labour Party

Zionism in the Age of the Dictators was mentioned in relation to a controversy in the United Kingdom when in 2016 the former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone said that Hitler had supported Zionism in the 1930s. Livingstone argued that Zionism in the Age of the Dictators "confirms there was clearly an ongoing dialogue [between Zionists and Nazis] even if the Israeli government now tries to pretend that none of that all happened".[1] Following these remarks Livingstone was suspended from the Labour Party and indicated he intends to use Brenner's work when appealing his suspension.[1]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e Ben Quinn (29 April 2016). "Ken Livingstone cites Marxist book in defence of Israel comments". The Guardian.
  2. ^ Mortimer, Edward (11 February 1984). "Contradiction, collusion and controversy". The Times. p. 14. Retrieved 27 July 2016 – via Times Digital Archive.
  3. ^ See International Affairs, Vol 60, No. 1, (Winter 1983–1984), pp. 138–139
  4. ^ "Trust Chakrabarti to spot 'anti-Semitic anti-Zionism'". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
  5. ^ Seidel, Gill (1986). The Holocaust denial : antisemitism, racism & the new right. Leeds, England London: Beyond the Pale Collective Distributed by Turnaround Distribution. p. 86. ISBN 0-9509636-1-5. OCLC 17954500.
  6. ^ Penkower, Monty N.; Cheyette, Bryan; Fox, John P. (1983). "Reviews". Patterns of Prejudice. Informa UK Limited. 17 (3): 47–55. doi:10.1080/0031322x.1983.9969723. ISSN 0031-322X.
  7. ^ "[PDF] REWRITING HISTORY: Holocaust revisionism today. HOPE not hate". SILO of research documents. 2016-04-11. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
  8. ^ Hirsh, David (2017). Contemporary left antisemitism. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon New York, NY: Routledge. p. 16. ISBN 978-1-138-23530-4. OCLC 997459041. In 1983, Lenni Brenner wrote ‘Zionism in the Age of Dictators’ (2014). It was an antizionist polemic and not taken seriously by mainstream scholars. Paul Bogdanor (2016) notes: "Livingstone had written in his memoirs that Brenner’s work ‘helped form my view of Zionism and its history’ (Livingstone 2011: 223). The book is a fixture of antizionist and antisemitic propaganda about the Holocaust on both the far left and on the far right, and Brenner has a cult following among those convinced that ‘Zionists’ are to blame for all evil in the world." Jim Allen was inspired by Brenner to write Perdition, a play which was produced at the Royal Court Theatre in 1987.
  9. ^ Cesarani, David (1990). "The Perdition Affair". Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism in the Contemporary World. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK. pp. 53–60. doi:10.1007/978-1-349-11262-3_5. Allen prefaces the published version of the play with a bibliography of the books he consulted. However, by his own admission, he relied heavily on Brenner's Zionism in the Age of the Dictators which he calls 'a goldmine source'. Many of his 'facts' and 'quotations' had been pre-selected and edited by Brenner to fit the well-established anti-Zionist argument that Israel is a 'racist' state governed by a fascist (Yitzhak Shamir), the origins of which can be explicated by reference to parallels between Nazi and Zionist ideology and instances of concrete collaboration.
  10. ^ William Watkinson. "Benjamin Netanyahu and Lenni Brenner: What is Ken Livingstone basing his Hitler-Zionist comments on?". International Business Times UK.
  11. ^ "Institute for Historical Review". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  12. ^ Weber, Mark (July–August 1993). "Zionism and the Third Reich". The Institute for Historical Review. 13 (4): 29–37. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  13. ^ a b Ben-Noah, G. (4 October 1984). "Brenner on the Nazi Massacre" (pdf). Workers' Liberty Pamphlet, SO 199.

Further reading[]

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