By: Dr Andrej Umek
The article “(DOCUMENTS) The Antisemitism of Slovenian Neo-communists Has a Long History”, published on the Demokracija website, and the descriptions of events in Gaza in our mainstream media have made me wonder whether the Slovenian public really knows nothing about where the blind hatred of (neo)communists towards Israel comes from. I aim to answer this question in this column, but to ensure credibility, I must delve into history.
After World War I, the Ottoman Sultanate dissolved, and Great Britain was given a mandate to lead Palestine on its path to becoming an independent state. This mandate expired in 1948. However, before it ended, World War II occurred, initiated by the allied blocs of Nazis-Fascists and Communists with their attack on Poland and the Baltic states. Due to a dispute between the Nazis and the Communists, World War II then unfolded primarily as a conflict between Nazi-Fascism on one side and democracies and Communists on the other. In this conflict, Arab Islamists and nationalists chose to ally with the Nazis. They hoped this would help them rid themselves of British dominance and, specifically in Palestine, establish a caliphate. Thus, the leader of the Arab Palestinians, Al Husseini, went to Berlin in 1941 and, on his way there, established two SS divisions, Handžar, in Bosnia. One of these later fought at Stalingrad and was captured there, while the other spent the entire war conducting massacres in Bosnia. He sent his nephew, the future Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, to be educated by Mussolini in Rome.
The close collaboration of the Arab Palestinians with Hitler led Stalin, at the Allied Conference in Yalta in 1944, to demand the post-war division of Palestine into Jewish and Arab parts, arguing that two nations – one of which had suffered so much under Nazism and the other that had so evidently collaborated with it – could not live in the same country[1]. This thesis was supported by the American president, while Churchill was more reserved, believing it conflicted with the mandate given to Great Britain. This issue was ultimately resolved, and the division of Palestine was confirmed by a vote in the UN General Assembly in 1947. This vote was recorded by American television. I personally saw it on the 25th anniversary of this event during my studies in the USA. It clearly showed that the entire communist bloc of states voted for the division. When it was confirmed, the Israeli delegation, which at the time did not have voting rights, jumped for joy and ran to embrace the Yugoslav delegation.
If we go back a year or two, it is worth mentioning that immediately after World War II, Great Britain blocked immigration to Palestine. However, the communist countries did not respect this, breaking the British blockade and massively transporting Jewish refugees and arming them. I also saw this with my own eyes when my uncle, Evgenij Ravnihar – Gregor, took me along when, as the Assistant Minister of Transport in Belgrade, he visited the ship Durmitor in the port of Rijeka. There, I saw that the ship was full of refugees and weapons, and my uncle handed the captain wartime credentials to break the British blockade. Among these refugees were numerous Jewish partisans who had fought in Bosnia during the war.
When Great Britain withdrew from Palestine in 1948 after the expiration of its mandate, this withdrawal was followed by an attack by Palestinian Arabs and neighbouring Arab states on the newly established Israel. The Arab forces expected a swift victory but instead encountered Tito’s partisans, led by Moshe Dayan, a Jew from Sarajevo and a former partisan. Before departing for Israel, he was a major in the Yugoslav People’s Army (YPA), a bearer of the Commemorative Medal of the Partisans, and decorated with the Order of the People’s Hero. This Israeli army decisively defeated the Arab forces, leading to a ceasefire in 1949.
Considering what has been said, it is not difficult to imagine that, after the Israeli victory, both Stalin and Tito expected Israel to become a communist state. When this did not happen, both responded with immense anger and hatred towards Israel. Stalin exiled most Russian Jews to the border with China, while Tito severed all relations with Israel and began aligning with its enemies, such as the fascist sympathiser Arafat. Tito’s resentment was also responded to by his former partisans in Israel. They sent back to him a full crate – a wooden military chest of the YPA – filled with medals, including twenty Orders of the People’s Hero[2].
The resentment and hatred of Tito and his communist cadres towards Israel were also passed on to the younger party cadres and eventually to today’s Slovenian (neo)communists. This is, in some ways, an incomprehensible story, but on the other hand, it is also expected. It is somewhat understandable that the proud successors of the criminal Communist Party and later the League of Communists blindly follow their leader. Of course, like, I believe, the vast majority of respected readers, I hope that the Republic of Slovenia will abandon a foreign policy based on the grudges of communist dictators. However, we will likely have to wait for the next government.
[1] Larry Collins, Dominique Lapierre, O Jerusalem, Cankarjeva založba, Ljubljana 1975.
[2] IBID