Política, nação e imperialismo nos séculos XIX e XX: diálogos com Johanna Cohn Arendt

Abstract

The process of creation of the State of Israel, we seek the origin of the concepts and the historical process involved. When the Zionist movement emerged stating the desire for a nation of its own, it was important to look for the origin of this term. Arendt discusses how this concept transformed in Europe (from a group with a common language, genealogy, and customs to a modern concept based on territory, language, history, and culture). This change influenced anti-Semitism and the creation of a homogeneous nation-state. In the centuries before the 19th, the Jewish people maintained cultural isolation, not incorporating themselves into the culture of the place they lived, it was a culture within another. The greater the consolidation of a homogeneous culture, the greater the isolation of the Jewish people. The Jews were not part of the nobility, but had a prominent social position as they financed the kings and nobility where they lived. The emergence of Imperialism changed this. The State management model emerged from the 19th century and sought, more than controlling the territory, new markets and opportunities. At the beginning of imperialism (coinciding with the emergence of industrialization) Jewish financing was important, but with the expansion of business, this dependence ceased to exist. To maintain the prominence of the empire and its citizens, imperialism pushed racist thoughts and dehumanized colonized populations. Along with the loss of prestige among the elites, the ethno-cultural isolation of Jews made them more exposed to the racist anti-Semitic movement. According to Arendt, Zionism emerged in this context and, together with the Jewish financial elite, implemented the project of creating the Jewish nation. Adding the concept of the Promised Land and the need for a territory, Zionism, with the support of the main imperialist nations (Great Britain, USA and France), encouraged the emigration of Jews to Palestine where there were already other peoples. Arendt was an opponent of anti-Semitism, was deported from Germany and later fled France to the USA during the Nazi occupation and took a stand against some of the Zionists' ideas and, mainly, their way of acting. With the influence of Zionism and the main post-war nations, the State of Israel is created by the UN, despite the opposition of the Arab peoples of the region. Thus, new conflicts (terrorism and wars) and a clear colonialist policy on the part of the State of Israel emerged. For Arendt, there would not be a free Jewish nation if it did not consider and respect the region's Arab population. For her, the idea of two peoples living in harmony would be a necessity. By understanding the historical roots and political dynamics of the conflict, we see that Hannah Arendt's ideas remain relevant today.