The hidden history of Zionism; Which narratives have we believed about Israel?

"The Hidden History of Zionism" written by Ralph Schoenman, translated by Ebrahim Rahimi Khamenei, is published by Margh Amen Publishing House. This book is an invitation to the reader to ask himself: Which narrative have I believed?

Wishful thinking - "The Hidden History of Zionism" is a confession in its title. An admission that what was called "history" until now was only a part of the truth. Ralph Schoenman, an American political activist and executive director of the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation, challenges four myths in this book, Nine Narratives. Legends that have shaped the minds of the world for decades.

This book was produced in 1988. The years when the first intifada was going on and the world was just opening its eyes. But Schoenman doesn't just report an event. He explores the underlying layers of an ideology. An ideology that claims to be the "moral heir of the victims of the Holocaust" but, according to Schoenmann, colluded with Nazism from the beginning.

Four legends: pillars of a narrative

Schoenman names four fundamental myths:

First: "Land without people for people without land." A myth that showed Palestine as a "remote and desolate place" to make its occupation appear not as an invasion, but as a "development". But Schoenman reveals documents and statistics: a thousand villages, flourishing cities, citrus groves that were known all over the world. The land was full of people.

Second: "Israeli democracy." A myth that introduces Israel as "the only real democracy in the Middle East". But Schoenman, citing the laws, shows that 93% of the land is under the control of the Jewish National Fund, and to live, rent or work there, one must prove four generations of maternal Jewish descent. Is this democracy or apartheid?

Third: "Security." A myth that portrays Israel as a "victim" that only defends itself. But Schoenman reveals the documents and memoirs of Israeli leaders: Moshe Sharet, Ben-Gurion, Moshe Dayan—all of them spoke of "occupation" and "expansion," not "defense." The slogan of "security" has only been a cover for expansionism.

Fourth: "Inheritance of the Holocaust." A myth that presents Zionism as the "moral successor" to the victims of Nazism. But Schoenman uncovers documents that show that Zionist leaders negotiated and collaborated with the Nazis in the 1930s. The German Zionist Federation wrote to the Nazi Party in 1933 and congratulated the "rebirth of national life". Adolf Eichmann was invited to Palestine as a guest of the Haganah. And in 1944, Dr. Rudolf Kastner, a member of the Jewish Agency, signed a treaty with Eichmann that consigned 800,000 Hungarian Jews to their fate, in exchange for saving 600 prominent Jews.

Schoenman asks: How can you be the guardian of a disaster and at the same time, in the midst of the same disaster, negotiate with the executioners?

Conquest strategy: from the Nile to the Euphrates

Schoenman doesn't just dwell on the past. He also makes plans for the future. In 1982, former Israeli army intelligence officer Oden Yinon published an article in the magazine "Kivunim" in which he outlined Israel's strategy to dismember the entire Arab world.

Lebanon should be divided into five states. Syria into several ethno-religious states. Iraq into three states: Basra, Baghdad, Mosul. Egypt to several local powers. And finally, Saudi Arabia will collapse "like a disintegrated Lebanon."

Yinon writes: "Any kind of confrontation between the Arabs in the short term will help us and shorten the way to achieve the more important goal, which is the division of Iraq into religious sects like Syria and Lebanon."

Schoenman calls this strategy "divide and rule," the same old colonial rule that turned the Middle East into a "house of cards" in the 19th century.

Schoenman doesn't just deal with macro politics. He goes into detail. to prisons to torture to the dungeons

He describes how Palestinians are detained without trial in Israeli prisons. How prisoners are made to stand in 2-by-2-foot "closets" with concrete spikes in the floor. How they coerce confessions with electric shocks, rape, and psychological torture.

He opens cases: Nader Affouri, the Jordanian weightlifting champion, who after ten and a half years of administrative detention, "could neither see, nor hear, nor speak, nor walk." Dr. Elmi Shoaibi, a dentist, who was arrested and tortured seven times. Mohammad Manasra, a labor union activist, who was faced with a "closet" and electric shock in solitary cells.

How can a government call itself "democratic" when it turns human beings into "animals" in its prisons?

One of the deepest layers of the book is language analysis. Schoenman shows how Zionism, from the very beginning, turned language into a tool of conquest.

"Land without people" is a linguistic technique.

[10/9/2026 9:43 PM] Salari Arzoo Translator: By repeating it, Palestinians are deprived of existence. Not from the land, but from the truth of their existence. And when their existence is denied, it becomes easy to kill them.

"When their existence was acknowledged," writes Schoenman, "the Palestinians were rediscovered as semi-savage and primitive remnants." This linguistic strategy is what is called "linguistic colonization" today. Language is not just a description of reality. Language creates reality

"The Hidden History of Zionism" should be read because: · It is history, not propaganda. Schoenman cites documents, memoirs, newspaper reports, and interviews. He offers evidence, not slogans.

His speech is global, not local. Although it deals with Palestine, its questions are universal: What is power? How does colonialism work? Why is history hidden?

His word is alive, not historical. This book was written in 1988, but as if it was written for today. Yinon's strategy is still ongoing. The torture is still going on. And the legends are still repeated.

His narrative is mysterious, not ambiguous. From the very first page, there is a mystery in the air. A secret that makes the reader devour the pages with passion. And in the end, the mystery gets bigger.

Schoenman concludes the book with "Strategy for Revolution". Joint struggle of Jews, Muslims and Christians against colonialism. But can this dream be realized? Schoenman does not answer. He just shows the way. And leaves the reader alone with a question:

Does history always remain hidden? Or one day, the narratives will collapse