Anti-Zionist Committee of the Soviet Public

"From the Soviet Leadership"

On April 1, 1983, the CPSU official newspaper Pravda ran full front page article titled From the Soviet leadership:
: "...By its nature, Zionism concentrates ultra-nationalism, chauvinism and racial intolerance, excuse for territorial occupation and annexation, military opportunism, cult of political promiscuousness and irresponsibility, demagogy and ideological diversion, dirty tactics and perfidy... Absurd are attempts of Zionist ideologists to present criticizing them, or condemning the aggressive politics of the Israel's ruling circles, as antisemitic... We call on all Soviet citizens: workers, peasants, representatives of intelligentsia: take active part in exposing Zionism, strongly rebuke its endeavors; social scientists: activate scientific research to criticize reactionary core of that ideology and aggressive character of its political practice; writers, artists, journalists: fuller expose anti-populace and anti-humane diversionary character of propaganda and politics of Zionism..." (highlights preserved)

Background and history

By 1983, the Soviet regime needed a new propaganda weapon in the Cold War, as well as against increasingly active internal dissident movement, to arrest or discredit the mass emigration of Soviet Jews and to alleviate the Arab concerns about its effects to Israel's demographics. By dramatic step-up of "anti-Zionist" activities, the AZSCP was designed to solve these problems.

The ethnic Jews made its core. Using Jews to destroy Jewish culture and institutions was a proven tactics to avoid accusations of anti-Semitism.
(See, for example, Yevsektsiya or Judenrat).
Unofficially, they were known as the pocket Jews, a derogative implying their corruption by high positions in the hierarchy.

David Abramovich Dragunsky, Colonel-General, twice the Hero of the Soviet Union, the World War II hero (he was the commander of the 55th Guards Tank Brigade), well known inside the country and abroad, was designated its chairman.

The writers who specialized in the Soviet-invented and sponsored doctrine of Zionology ("сионология") considered any expressions of Jewishness as Zionist and therefore subject to being stamped out. In November 1975, the leading Soviet historian academic M. Korostovtsev wrote a letter to the Secretary of the Central Committee, Mikhail Suslov, regarding the book The encroaching counterrevolution by prominent Zionologist Vladimir Begun: "...it perceptibly stirs up anti-Semitism under the flag of anti-Zionism".

In addition to propaganda in the mass media and publishing, the AZSCP projects included "International symposium on contemporary problems of anti-Zionism" and preparation for "International anti-Zionist congress".

By the end of the 1980s, with the new policies of glasnost and perestroika, and with impending collapse of the Soviet Union, the old Soviet regime had lost its stability and many of those plans had to be cancelled.

Some materials produced by the AZCSP were used by ultra-nationalist groups such as Pamyat.

List of members